A new report from the Transport Planning Society (TPS) argues that current parking practice promotes car use and outlines 18 policy recommendations to encourage lower carbon travel.

The TPS report, called Just the Ticket! cites a number of examples of current parking practice that 'inadvertently' promote car ownership and use, including:

  • New developments are often required to provide abundant parking.
  • Parking on verges, pavements and other public spaces goes unchallenged.
  • There is a widespread expectation that parking should be provided, and at a low cost.
  • There is little discussion or understanding regarding the costs that the parking of cars and other vehicles can impose on others in society through congestion, noise, pollution, consumption of space and risks they pose to vulnerable road users.

TPS director of policy Tom van Vuren said: ‘Parking is often one of the most hotly contested issues in a neighbourhood, yet the lack of effective parking policy takes public space away from vulnerable road users and more valued alternative kerbside usage, and so contributes to further local air and noise pollution, and congestion.

Andrew Potter, author of the report and director at Parking Perspectives, said: ‘The recommendations outlined in Just the Ticket! offer a clear and practical approach to reshaping parking policy to bring about progressive changes in behaviour needed for a greener transport network.'

The TPS said the changes it proposed would deliver benefits both immediately and in the long-term, driving behaviour change and helping decarbonise the way we travel. They include:

  • increased use of charges and taxes for workplace parking
  • enabling employers to provide tax-free incentives for non-car commuting to the workplace
  • reducing parking provision in residential areas to an agreed timeline as part of a long-term process of reducing car-dependency
  • ‘nudging' vehicle choice through differential parking charges for more polluting vehicles
  • moving away from parking charges based simply on duration of stay to one based on access charges.

Mr van Vuren and Mr Potter wrote on this issue for the October issue of Highways magazine.