I agree with the Amsterdam Council, it is a small city with excellent tram, bus and train not to mention metro so why take a car in? Keep the air clean and leave the car at home.

By Andy Taylor | July 17, 2009 3:58 PM

Yes but for €5.50 you can use P&R for 24hrs including 2 tram tickets or use of 2 bikes. I don't know of a similar scheme in any other major capital

By Cpt. Strangepork | July 17, 2009 4:10 PM

I'm sorry to say, this is a false statement. I lived in the U.S. last 10 years before moving to Amsterdam, and I worked in Manhattan, New York. for over years. The last time I checked, it costs an average of $10 - $12 an HOUR, to park in Manhattan during the week. So calculate that, per day.

By Pinaki Ghatak | July 17, 2009 4:31 PM

Can we possibly have the figures in Euro's please as we are not part of the USA (yet) Thank you

Editor's note: the survey was carried out in dollars. Amsterdam parking fees are about €50 a day, says the Parool.

By Karl H | July 17, 2009 5:24 PM

With the excellent and relatively cheap transport system, people have a choice and so in principle I have no objection to high charges. London is a different situation: transport costs are high, parking costs are high, congestion charge is high; there is no choice. So I object to high parking costs in London

By Marek Leszczynski | July 17, 2009 6:13 PM

What the survey omits to include is cost and convenience of the park & ride schemes in the above cities.

For example in Amsterdam, for €6/day you can park at Sloterdijk, Olympisch Stadion or one of the numerous other P&R facilities around the city and reach your destination in the center quickly with public transit (included in the price).

Keeping traffic out of the city centre means more room for bikes and trams, and less pollution, so I am all for it. Go Amsterdam!

By Chris Wik | July 17, 2009 7:30 PM

I'm a New Yorker - i love A'dam and keep a fiets there, as I visit often. New York City parking is at least the equal if not more expensive than A'dam. I'm very grateful that i've been able to live most of my life in nyc without a car. Bravo to A'dam for superb mass transit AND bike lanes!

By joseph DeCola | July 17, 2009 10:30 PM

They say they want to keep the city clean. But, like with the 'speeding' cameras, how much of that money actually ends up in the city councils's pockets? Some people will say I'm cynical, but it sounds like another way to make extra money to me.

By Keith Beker | July 18, 2009 9:12 AM

One thing that is never mentioned are the various selection of motor bikes. Why doesn't Amsterdam regulate these accident causing motor vehicles? They are dangerous and disruptive to the calmness that we want. BIKE LANES FOR BIKES, NOT MOTORBIKES...I don't know why the rudest and worst riders choose these...but it is out of control!

By alanposting | July 18, 2009 11:14 AM

Its a tough one. I personally think Amsterdam should just ban cars outright cause the citys just too small. The problem with having expensive parking charges is that only the rich can afford them and I dont see many rich people driving around in Fiat 500s. They all seem to have nice big 4x4s which as you know are necessary for the off road conditions that us Amsterdamers have to deal with every day on our bikes. So Job Cohen just ban the stupid car from the city. It cant be that hard you're banning everything else. One more thing cant hurt too much.

By langer | July 18, 2009 11:27 AM

Look at the traffic in NYC and they have several types of public transportation. But Americans are addicted to their autos and oil. Perhaps NYC should raise their rates and get the people off the road and onto the rails. Then NYC could do something about the smell.

By Paul Martin | July 18, 2009 11:58 AM

great city great rates
why people come in central area with car and make a lot of rush

By sohail | July 20, 2009 12:02 AM

To make the reference to cost of keeping AMS clean, that's a joke. AMS is a dirty toilet bowl at times! Rubbish everywhere.

By Michael | July 20, 2009 8:07 AM

Yeah, ban cars, hail to the tram and bakfiets!

If you've 2 or 3 small kids, and you want to go downtown, then 2 adults riding a tram, will be some 10Eur, plus keeping more than 1 kid with you in either overcrowded or hot tram will make you think of possible suicide notes. Otherwise, it costs what it costs. People who need to park there - can find free spots and are willing to pay, who want to P+R - have an option too. Everyone's happy.

By Jimbo | July 20, 2009 1:48 PM

Try being disabled, not speaking Dutch, and just visiting A'dam for a day, having an EU Disabled Blue Badge Parking Card that you have been told by A'dam Parking Attendants is valid and allows you to park "just about anywhere", and then one day being chased about by a rude men on scooters telling you that as a disabled person you can no longer park on normal parking bays and that "you must park on special bays for cripples, and that you should read their website before visiting the town (but it's all in Dutch & running it thru Google translate made less sense!)". which you do, taking photos of, and still get parking fines ... No info at street level, no info even on the new electronic meters regarding Disabled parking and then they cheekily use words like "we tolerated disabled before Oct1 2008 in A'dma". Lovely! My eyes are not so good for reading anymore so here's hoping what I typed is okay

By Gerard | July 20, 2009 2:43 PM

You can keep your crowded public and feel like cattle being transported en-mass. I quite like parking within 100 metres of my office in our central business district and paying 5 euros a day for the privilege. I enjoyed the heated leather seats in my car and the solitude of environment, no one coughing their flu germs on me and listening my own music (not through headphones).

By Viv of Adelaide, South Australia | July 21, 2009 1:52 AM

We need much higher parking and fuel rates in the U.S., via taxation which would be used to subsidize better and affordable public transit.

By Marcus | August 11, 2009 10:00 AM