Taking a strategic view

Councils are open to using technology and harnessing data to deliver their parking policies, reports Local Government Information Unit

The majority of council decision-makers lack awareness and understanding of potential changes to local authority parking. This is the key finding in a new report, Parking Strategies and Innovation, from the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU), based on a survey of over 100 councillors and officers. The LGIU is a not-for-profit, non-partisan membership organisation. The unit prepared and distributed a survey to local authority parking decision-makers across England. Responses were received from 108 authorities.

The survey sought views on the future of parking, as well as comments on existing parking policies and operations. Reducing congestion was the most popular objective key priority for local authorities to emerge from the survey. Other priorities included improving road safety, promoting electric vehicles (EVs) and prioritising different types of parking. The survey reveals:

• Overwhelming support (85%) was for EV charging to be integrated with a parking app and for real-time occupancy data.

• 25% of authorities provide real-time information on parking occupancy in car parks, and another 11% intend to do so. Where authorities are planning for this, they intend to provide real-time occupancy information via an app, and it seems this will be the model increasingly adopted, avoiding the high capital costs of roadside signs.

• 95% of authorities have an app or mobile phone-based payment system, with all respondents offering multiple methods of payment to motorists and 86% still supporting cash payments.

Jonathan Carr-West, chief executive of LGIU said: “We understand that parking is a complex issue that cuts across social, economic, environmental and development policies. As driving has become a divisive topic, councils tread a fine line in prioritising the needs of residents, businesses, visitors and different user groups, while meeting other strategic goals, such as net zero targets.

“New developments and innovations like the National Parking Platform (NPP) have the potential to transform procurement of parking by opening up the market and giving choice to the individual motorist for the first time. In doing so, it could bring significant benefits to local authorities, including cost savings from lowered procurement costs. Our latest report found that a significant number of local authorities in the UK have a strategy gap, which could prevent them from realising the benefits of some of these innovations. We encourage the government to spearhead an awareness-raising initiative around the platform to ensure that local councils understand the NPP and can make an informed decision on shifting to a parking hub.”

Parking as a policy tool

As use of income from fines has to be spent first on parking enforcement or provision, the main policy objectives of enforcement has long been compliance with existing parking rules and demand management. The LGIU survey found that local authorities are increasingly widening their objectives, using restrictive parking policies to support net zero air quality through lowered emissions or active travel. Councils can also use ‘permissive’ parking approaches to support economic vitality in town centres and high streets, EV charging points, the mobility of disabled persons or other objectives such as suspended on-street parking fees for health workers during the pandemic.

The survey found that the objectives of parking strategies, where they existed, varied widely. The LGIU notes that just over a quarter (25-30%) focussed on traditional objectives, like providing more parking and reducing congestion, while others embraced integrated and digital approaches to manage traffic and to promote lower emissions vehicles.

Council approaches often combine ‘carrot and stick’, such as restricting parking and vehicle access while moving cars to the peripheries of built-up areas and providing alternative means of transportation. The ability to fine-tune parking and other vehicle or transport charges will also need to be carefully monitored for equity issues across gender and disability and other domains.

The LGIU observes that parking is often used as a policy lever to shift behaviour, particularly on the route to net zero. One council said, in the longer term, their aspiration is that future strategy will encompass dynamic pricing and occupancy charges.

Harnessing technology

The parking sector is evolving as technology becomes more advanced and ubiquitous, and councils can take advantage of a broader choice of operating models. The LGIU found councils have sought to iterate parking provision via: the provision of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations as part of the parking fee; offering the option for onward travel through public transport or bike or scooter hire; providing incentives to car share; or even the replacement of parking spaces with bicycle hangers to provide cycle storage for urban residents.

New technology developments, such as the Department for Transport-funded National Parking Platform, are also likely to impact the way that local authorities procure and deliver parking services in the future, reports the LGIU.

All the survey respondents were interested in getting better access to parking data to help inform policy making. This could be facilitated and accelerated by the transition to an open market in phone-based cashless parking payments, suggests the Local Government Information Unit.

Looking into the future, the Department for Transport’s vision for parking management is much broader. Further developments could include: the service providing a more comprehensive information source, the ability to implement dynamic pricing; enabling convenient payments for multiple services (including EV charging); integrating with MaaS (Mobility as a Service) platforms, thus aligning with kerbside strategies and optimising data analysis for a deeper understanding of the market.

The LGIU suggests that a multi-pronged approach, supported by readily available data, was appealing to a number of its interview respondents who could see the potential for parking as ‘multi-use spaces’ with areas becoming ‘mobility hubs’ rather than simply a place to leave a car.