Local authorities in Scotland made more than £40m surplus from car parking fines and charges during the last financial year, according to the RAC Foundation.
It says the total £79.3m collected by the 32 councils in charges and penalty income from on- and off-street parking was 12% higher than in 2014-15.
The combined cost for councils of running their parking activities was £39m, the foundation says, pointing out that the surplus cash will be spent on services including improving roads.
Edinburgh had the largest surplus at £19.4m, followed by Glasgow at £12.6m and Aberdeen with £4.9m.
Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: 'Providing and managing the space for us to park our cars is not a cost-free activity for councils, but controlling those costs is clearly important.
'By keeping the bills down and seeing a rise in parking income there has been a significant increase in the annual surplus, or profit, councils are making from parking activities.
'The good news is that this money must be re-invested in transport services including, Scottish drivers will expect, maintaining the road network.'
