WORKPLACE PARKING LEVY
FEATURE
with remaining funding to come from Bristol City Council, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire councils, whose residents will benefi t from faster journeys, mainly into Bristol city centre.
Although the proposed levy rate – £1 a day per space – has been agreed, several other factors are yet to be decided.
A council spokesman said: ‘Bristol is the most competitive city in the UK with one of the fastest rates of economic growth in Europe. Studies predict an increase of 74,000 jobs, 72,000 houses and more than 200,000 people in the region over the next 15 years. ‘Congestion will increase and business will suffer unless we can make signifi cant improvements to the quality and availability of public transport.’
It looks as if shift workers and lower
Meanwhile, the RAC Foundation remains unconvinced that all employees working in the city centre will be able to choose to leave their cars at home and use public transport. Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the foundation, says: ‘Nottingham has suffered chronic congestion in the city centre for years and has looked for the best way to mitigate the situation. However, by using a stick rather than a carrot, it looks as if shift workers and lower paid workers may be targeted to provide income for the city’s public transport service. ‘Buses and trams do not run frequently outside regular offi ce hours, and many mums with young children don’t have time to do the school run and get the tram to work.’ He added: ‘Although big employers are picking up some of the bill at the moment, that situation may not last, putting at risk low paid workers’ income.’ In Bristol, however, the city council is actively considering its own WPL, and has been in discussions with Nottingham council offi cers to learn from their experience.
Either a ‘tailor made’ WPL or a business rate supplement is likely to fund Bristol’s £42m contribution towards a new congestion-busting bus rapid transit system.
The government has agreed to contribute £114m toward the £200m bus system,
www.britishparking.co.uk APRIL 2012 49
paid workers may be targeted to provide income for the city’s public transport service Stephen Glaister
Other local authorities have rejected WPLs, although with the government coffers for major transport projects so much tighter, they must consider alternative ways of raising funding. Leeds City and Hampshire County Councils are among them, and York was considering introducing WPL, although this is now on hold. In Edinburgh, despite some support for a WPL, no legislation to enable it has been passed by the Scottish Parliament. Better economic times might see more
support for a WPL, but a concern is the need to maintain a vibrant central business district, with parking facilities to rival out-of-town centres. Back in Nottingham, the economic mood is
gloomy. In a letter to the Nottingham Post, a reader said: ‘In a few years’ time Nottingham will have the best transport system ever seen in a ghost town: the city is dying on its feet and being strangled by illegal taxation.’ AB
On track… the WPL will help towards developing the public transport network in Nottingham
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