Safe & legal parking

Parking signs and road markings are used to show where parking is allowed. Most signs show:

• how long you can park (for example, 2P means you can park for up to 2 hours)
• whether the parking space is paid parking (the sign will display ‘METER’ immediately below the maximum time allowed)
• what days parking management applies
• what times parking management applies.

For more detail about parking signs used in the City of Gold Coast, please refer to our Safe and legal parking guide(PDF, 5MB)

Local traffic areas have time-restricted parking in every street within the area. Local traffic areas are signed at the boundary to the traffic area. For more information, please see Traffic Area and Parking Permit Scheme.

To regulate the flow of available parking in identified traffic areas, we need to enforce restricted time parking. This helps to minimise congestion and allow everyone reasonable access to businesses or high demand areas.

Timed parking areas are designed to:

• provide turnover in parking spaces and
• ensure that as many people as possible have access to parking in a high-demand area.

Note: You cannot move your car to a different spot in the same timed parking area and continue to park there.

If you do not move your car entirely out of the timed parking area after the designated time limit has expired, you may still be subject to a parking fine. This is because the regulations are based on the total amount of time that a vehicle spends in the timed parking area, not just the time that it spends in a particular parking spot.

Metered parking and designated Traffic Areas are both examples of timed parking areas. For more information about each type of timed parking area, see the sections below.

Metered parking

Parking meters operate in a number of locations across the City of Gold Coast. Signs in each area explain when payment is required and how long you can park.

When you park in a metered parking space, make sure you check the parking time limits. You must not park for longer than the time shown on the sign. For example, in a 2P space, you must not park longer than 2 hours. You must move your vehicle on or before the maximum 2-hour period is reached. If you stay longer than the displayed time, you may be fined.

We use in-ground sensors in most metered parking areas to record when a parking space is occupied and how long the vehicle stays.

For more information, please see Metered parking.

Traffic Areas

Traffic Areas are geographical areas with time-limited parking on all streets. The maximum time you can park varies, depending on the Traffic Area and the time of day.

Traffic Areas are signed at their boundaries. Timed parking limits apply to all streets within the Traffic Area, even if the specific street is not signed.

For more information, please see Traffic Area and Parking Permit Scheme.

On public holidays, time-limited parking applies unless signed otherwise. In a 2P space you may only park for up to 2 hours on a public holiday.

Normal parking fees apply on public holidays in these areas:

• Burleigh Heads
• Surfers Paradise
• Broadbeach.

In other parts of the City of Gold Coast, parking is free on public holidays.

For more detail about parking signs used in the City of Gold Coast, please see our Safe and legal parking guide(PDF, 5MB)

Heavy and long vehicles, such as trucks, caravans, trailers, boats and buses, must not stop on a residential road or a commercial built-up area for longer than one hour.

Heavy and long vehicles are defined as:

• heavy vehicle - a gross vehicle mass (GVM) of 4.5 tonnes or more
• long vehicle - 7.5 metres or longer (with any load or projection).

You may need a permit to park a heavy vehicle on private land. For more information, see Heavy vehicle parking permits.

If you want to report a problem with an illegally parked heavy or long vehicle, please see Report a problem - Vehicles.

No stopping areas are places where vehicles must not park or stop.

No stopping areas are clearly marked with signs and yellow lines.

In some places, no stopping areas apply at specific times (such as school pick-up times or peak times). These time limitations are shown on the parking signs.

Loading zones are places where vehicles can stop for a limited time to load and unload goods or passengers. We have two types of loading zones:

• commercial loading zones - only vehicles displaying a commercial vehicles parking permit can use these zones, and only for the amount of time shown on the sign. For more information, see Commercial vehicle parking permits
• loading zones - any vehicle may park in a general loading zone, but only for the amount of time shown on the sign and only for loading or unloading goods or passengers.

In a general loading zone, if the sign does not display a maximum stopping time, you can stop for:

• private vehicles - 20 minutes maximum
• commercial vehicles - 30 minutes maximum.

You must not stop for more than 2 minutes across a driveway or across any other access for vehicles.

You can stop for up to 2 minutes if:

• you are dropping off or picking up passengers
• you do not leave your vehicle unattended
• you move your vehicle within 2 minutes.

If you need to report a vehicle that is obstructing a driveway, roadworks or other vehicle access, please see Report a problem - Vehicles.

School zones are controlled traffic areas around schools. Within a school zone, your speed and parking are limited.

For more information, please see our School zone road rules brochure(PDF, 477KB)

If you want to report a problem with parking in a school zone, please see Report a problem - Vehicles.

You must not stop or park your vehicle on a footpath, shared path, bicycle path, dividing strip or nature strip.

To report a problem with a vehicle parked on a footpath, nature strip or pathway, please see Report a problem - Vehicles.

You must not drive or park on a reserve or park unless signs indicate the area is approved for motor vehicle access.

To report a problem with vehicles driving or parking on reserves or parks, please see Report a problem - Vehicles.

You must not park less than 3 metres from a continuous dividing line or dividing strip, that is:

• a single continues centre line
• a single continuous centre line to the left or right of a broken dividing centre line, or
• two parallel continuous centre lines.

To report a problem with illegally parked vehicles, please see Report a problem - Vehicles.

You must not park a vehicle on a road or on council land and advertise that it is for sale or hire.

Yellow lines show places where you must not stop or park.

You must not stop or park on the side of a road that is marked with a continuous yellow line.

You must not stop or park on an area of road which contains white painted stripes or hatched (chevron) markings.