Early bird gets the park (and also eats lunch)

NICOLA Wood says she needs to park in the city, even if it means paying $63 a day for the privilege. If Wood arrives seconds late for the 'early bird' $15 rate at the Grand Hyatt - which happens about once a fortnight - she pays the top price and cuts down on other things, including lunch.

While parking can cost as little as $11 a day in the western and northern ends of the city, drivers hoping to park in the CBD can pay a high price for arriving after the morning peak. A Sunday Age survey found that drivers who arrive mid-morning pay up to $69 for a day's parking.

Every day about 150,000 people drive into the CBD to work, shop, study or dine. Parking rates vary enormously.

The survey found the highest price was at 200 Queen Street, a Wilson car park that charges $69 for six hours or more. That equates to $17,940 for weekday parking for a year (not including holidays).

The next most expensive parking rates were $66 a day at Rydges Hotel, in Exhibition Street, and $65 at Scots Church in Little Collins Street.

While some offer discounts to drivers who arrive by 10am, others such as Collins Place and Optus House don't reward early birds. The cost for a day's parking? $64.

Cheaper parking can be found in the northern end of the city, where a car space at 151 Franklin Street costs a maximum of $13 a day. A full day's parking at the RMIT car park in Victoria Street will set you back $16 - less than the hourly rate at many of the more expensive parking facilities in central Melbourne.

Wilson Parking's chief executive officer - parking, Craig Smith, said prices were based on the market rate and followed commercial building lease trends.

Wilson operates eight of the top 10 most expensive CBD parking facilities.

'The parking charges are reflective of the office market and the eastern end of Melbourne has the premium office towers and relatively higher levels of rents and car parking is pretty much in line with these,' Mr Smith said.

Melbourne's 90 city car parks mostly offer early-bird rates of between $11 and $18 a day for drivers who arrive before 9.30am or 10am.

Arriving later can mean a spiralling hourly rate of $18 for up to three hours.

When Ms Wood, a sales assistant at Bulgari jewellers, is slugged with the full price, she boycotts the offending car park for a week or two and uses another.

To offset the parking expense, she buys cheaper lunches.

'Once I have been stung, I'll often go to the other one just to make myself feel better, but the parking companies don't feel it and I eventually go back again,' she said.

Ms Woods pays for her own parking, but many city workers don't. Of the 100,000 or so workers who park in the CBD each day, three quarters have parking paid for by their employer or it is part of their salary package, according to a Monash University study.