How to split a parking cost: per car, per night or per person

Why is parking different from splitting gas?

Gas follows distance, and parking follows the car. A lot usually charges a flat fee per car, or a rate per car per day, so the question is which cars were parked, for how long and who each one carried. For fuel by distance, see how to split gas on a road trip.

Four situations cover most shared parking, and each has a sensible default.

Situation	What the lot usually charges	A fair default
Event or stadium lot	A flat fee per car	Split among the people the car carried
Hotel garage or valet	A rate per car per night	Split by person-nights
Apartment parking space	A monthly fee for the space	Split among the people with cars
Street meter	A rate per hour	Split among the people with the car at that stop

How do you split a flat fee at an event?

Split it among the riders in each car, or pool every car into one total. Say five friends go to a game in two cars and the lot charges $35 a car. Ana’s car carries three people and Ben’s carries two.

• Per car. Ana’s car pays $35 ÷ 3 = $11.67 each, with one rider at $11.66 so the total is exact. Ben’s car pays $35 ÷ 2 = $17.50 each.
• Pooled. Two fees make $70, and $70 ÷ 5 = $14.00 each.

The fee is per car, so a fuller car pays less per head. Pooling treats the two cars as one trip, which moves about $2.33 onto each rider in Ana’s car and takes $3.50 off each rider in Ben’s. Pool when the cars went for the same reason and left together. Use per car when one car had its own plan, such as leaving early.

How do you split a multi-night garage or valet bill?

Count person-nights, then divide the total by them. Say a hotel charges $48 a night to park, and the car stays 4 nights, so the bill is $192. Dana drives, Eli rides with her, and Fay arrives by train and stays only 2 of the 4 nights.

1. Add the person-nights. Dana 4, Eli 4, Fay 2 is 10.
2. Divide. $192 ÷ 10 = $19.20 per person-night.
3. Multiply. Dana pays $76.80, Eli pays $76.80 and Fay pays $38.40.

An equal split would be $64.00 each, which charges Fay $25.60 more than her nights call for. The same arithmetic works for an airport lot billed per day. Say it charges $27 a day for 6 days. The bill is $162.00, and three travelers away the whole time pay $54.00 each.

What about a monthly space in a shared apartment?

A space is used only by people with cars, so split it among them. Say a garage space costs $180 a month and four roommates share the apartment. Two roommates have cars, so each pays $180 ÷ 2 = $90.00. An equal split would charge the two without cars $45.00 each for a space they never use.

If the space comes with the lease rather than as a separate fee, it is already inside the rent. In that case adjust the rent weights instead, as in how to split rent fairly, and do not charge for the space twice.

What about tickets and tips?

A parking ticket is the driver’s cost, unless the group agreed otherwise. A valet tip belongs in the same expense as the parking fee, so the people who share the fee also share the tip. Add it when you log the cost, rather than as a separate line that someone has to remember.

How do you log parking in EvenOut?

Use a “Trip” group and add each parking cost as its own expense.

1. Tap “Add expense”, type the amount and choose the Parking category. Set “Paid by” to whoever paid the attendant.
2. For a flat fee per car, choose “Split equally” and tap anyone who was not in that car to leave them out (“Not in”).
3. For person-nights, open “How to split” and choose “Shares”. Type 4, 4 and 2. The sheet reads “10 shares · $19.20 a share” and shows $76.80, $76.80 and $38.40 under the names.

EvenOut splits to the cent and shares out the leftover cents, so $35 over three people comes out as $11.67, $11.67 and $11.66. For the same arithmetic on any weights, the split by shares calculator does the division for you.

What should you agree before you park?

Settle three things in one message: whether the cars are split one by one or pooled, whether the driver counts as a person, and who pays the attendant. For a whole trip, how to split a hotel room cost covers the room that the garage belongs to.