Implementation of a workplace parking levy: lessons from the UK

The UK government has made its funding contribution towards major local transportinvestment conditional on introducing some form of complementary innovative TransportDemand Management measures such as road user charging (RUC). It is intended that thiswill help constrain traffic and generate local funding contributions towards schemes.Nottingham a major UK City has consequently chosen to implement a workplace parkinglevy (WPL). This paper presents a case study of the project, outlining its development andexplaining the public consultation process used and its findings. It presents a summary of theperceptions of the WPL scheme from the consultations undertaken. From this lessons can belearned which will aid other Cities contemplating such schemes.The findings reveal that a communication strategy is vital, that WPL is not perceived asthe most equitable of systems by many stakeholders but can be considered as an easy andquick policy to implement where the transport funding needs outweigh the negative aspects.WPL could perhaps be considered as a precursor to full RUC as the costs and technologicalbarriers to RUC are reduced.It is also shown that promoters need to produce complementary strategies in order toassist implementation of WPL at an early stage in scheme development. This includesmeasures for assistance with employer travel planning and parking restraint. Promoters musthave a clear strategy as to where the funding created by WPL will be hypothecated and whatthe benefits will be both to WPL payers and the general population as a whole.