Quick Read
Transport & Climate Change
There is an urgent need for us to reduce carbon emissions. As transport is now the largest source of UK emissions of greenhouse gases, it presents one of the keys to a more sustainable world.
If we are to deliver a more sustainable future, current travel patterns need to change dramatically. Put simply, we need to drive less. Parking affects everyone who drives, and is an already established part of transport policy and planning. Therefore, it presents a policy tool that can be used immediately, with widespread effect.
TPS have put together a number of key recommendations for government to use parking policy to drive a shift in behaviour from personal car to other modes of travel that are less damaging to our world.
What we need from our planning laws
Parking standards are an effective tool for creating places that are conducive for more sustainable living and travel, now and in the future. The government should set ambitious guideline maximums for car parking that design-in much lower car use for future developments (R1). Highway authorities should use appropriate controls on nearby streets to limit any overspill causing local issues (R2). However, in recognition that our communities need time to transition, local authorities should use parking supply bridging to provide short-term parking capacity, owned and controlled by the authority, that can be reduced and removed in the future as part of a progressive plan (R3).
Minimum parking standards for other, more sustainable, modes of travel should continue to be applied (R5) and in addition, greater use of local obligations should be used to deliver or support attractive local car club or cycle hire schemes (R6).
Making the Use of Space More Equitable
The roadside should not immediately be assumed to be there for parking cars. In many cases there are other uses of that space that would deliver far greater benefit to the community. There should be a 5 yearly re-evaluation of how any road space not required for statutory purposes of traffic circulation or access to premises is being used. That space should be considered for urban realm schemes, greenery, al fresco dining, other transport purposes and schemes that support retail or leisure uses in the immediate area, as well as its use to store vehicles. The roadspace has a value; it should be put to the best use for the community it serves (R7). Where the use of road space is granted under some permit scheme, that offers some exclusivity to the use of the public highway (such as a residential parking scheme) then the Highway Authorities should recover from the beneficiaries all the costs, including the opportunity cost, associated with the provision of those permits (R8). Consideration should be given to the inequity and inherent bias to car ownership of residents’ parking schemes. Why should a resident who does not own a car, not be allowed, for example, to buy a permit for the purpose of using the equivalent space for the placement of their bicycles, some outdoor furniture or a pigeon loft? (R10).
The parking of vehicles on grass verges, pavements and other public spaces is largely accepted. Vehicle owners justify this activity on the basis that they have nowhere else to park their vehicles, and thus, implicitly, it is therefore society’s responsibility to adequately provide or otherwise tolerate parking of those vehicles in whatever placement is available. This progressive invasion of public space with vehicles has a detrimental impact on the local environment and the amenity that any piece of open space gives to local residents. The Government should mandate that local authorities must address the appropriation of public space for personal use and safeguard footways and other public space from parked vehicles. (R11).
Environmental Taxes and Charges
The Nottingham Workplace Parking Levy has raised over £90 million and enabled the city to deliver two new tram lines. The levy has been transformative in enabling those that continue to enjoy city centre parking to assist the funding of a better public transport system for those that do not drive. It is a missed opportunity that levies of this type have not been adopted by more cities throughout the UK. National Governments should mandate a selection of cities that must implement WPLs within a defined timescale (R12)
Tax laws should also be revisited to redress the current inequity relating to modes of travel and furthermore adjusted in favour of workers who make more sustainable choices. Employers may provide, pay for or otherwise reimburse parking charges incurred by employees that park at or near to their workplace. This is not considered to be a taxable benefit-in-kind. If an employer provides or helps pay for a bus pass, however, this will in most ordinary cases, be taxable (R14).
Larger and heavier vehicles occupy more space, present a greater hazard to the other more vulnerable road users that we need to encourage, and consume more fuel of whatever source than smaller, lighter equivalents. The Government should promote the use of differential charging for parking in public car parks that are based on the characteristics of the vehicle. Higher charges may be applied based on carbon emissions, vehicle mass, and fuel type (R17).
Parking charges based on duration of stay are in appropriate in many urban settings. The real cost to society, and the principal benefits to the driver, come about when the vehicles is driven in, and when it is driven out, of that location. While the vehicle is parked, it on causes detriment when the car park is full, and other drivers are denied the opportunity of using that car park. Utility pricing sets the cost of a parking stay not on its duration, as is commonplace now, but on the time of day that the vehicle enters and leaves the car park. For urban centres, the parking charge can be set to discourage travel at time when there is congestion or poor air quality. The Government should provide guidance to local authorities regarding the conditions that make utility pricing suitable, the technologies required and the suggested process for its introduction. (R18)
Moving On with Parking Policy
Parking is here, now and ubiquitous. It has such a fundamental role in all car journeys that even small changes from one or more of these recommendations will start delivering immediate benefits, both now and for the long term, up and down the country.
Small changes to parking, offers substantial changes to behaviour. And with that, it offers a significant boost to us as we make our most important and urgent journey to date, to decarbonise how we travel.