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November 2020 | #343
www.parkingreview.co.uk
DON’T LET BLUE BADGE BAYS FADE AWAY Disabled Motoring UK calls for better enforcement of parking spaces PA R K I N G • T R A F F I C • K E R B S I D E
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WELCOME NOVEMBER 2020 | #343
Meeting up with friends is reason enough to come along to Traffic + Parking 2020
A virtual space for real debate
T
he coronavirus pandemic has transformed the way in which we all live, work and play. In the professional world, the pandemic has dramatically changed the way in which we share expertise. The social distancing measures required to break COVID-19’s chain of transmission has seen business meetings, seminars, conferences and trade shows largely parked, to coin a phrase, and replaced by the Zoom call (other platforms are available). During lockdown, the Parking Review team has thus explored video conferencing, developing a wellreceived series of webinars. Now, thanks to an investment by Landor LINKS in a platform called Hopin, we are proud to present a virtual edition of our annual Traffic + Parking conference and exhibition on 2 December. The response to the COVID-19 pandemic has seen towns and cities across the UK implement an impressive range of emergency traffic and street-scene measures, including pop-up cycleways and wider pavements to make cycling and walking safer. Traffic + Parking 2020 will explore the design of road space reallocation schemes, and discuss how to: promote active travel; measure success; and react to an emotive, and sometimes destructive, backlash against measures such as Low Traffic Neighbourhoods. Lockdown has offered the public a glimpse of what it would be like to experience lower traffic levels and the resultant improved air quality. Traffic + Parking will feature sessions offering insights to policy measures that local authorities can take to combat vehicle-based pollution, including: Clean Air Zones; Low Emissions Neighbourhoods; School Streets; anti-idling schemes; Road User Charging; and Workplace Parking Levy schemes. The day will also feature sessions on: the digitisation of parking payment and Traffic Regulation Orders; public consultation and stakeholder engagement; as well as the optimal pricing of parking. The effective management and enforcement of parking, traffic and the kerbside are themes that recur through current central government policy planning. We are thus pleased to announce that the Department for Transport will be attending Traffic + Parking to discuss street design, revisions to the enforcement of moving traffic regulations in urban areas and the consultation on pavement parking. The Hopin platform allows delegates to listen to seminar presentations, take part in workshops, visit exhibition booths or just catch up with colleagues. In fact, let’s not say ‘just’, because meeting friends for a chat is reason enough to come along. Find out more about the day’s proceedings and how to attend by visiting: www.traffic-parking.uk Mark Moran Editor
Parking Review online: www.parkingreview.co.uk COVER IMAGE: MATT-ARTZ, UNSPLASH
cdergroup.co.uk PARKING REVIEW | NOVEMBER 2020 | 3
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CONTENTS
21 24 30 34
Keeping London moving London Councils salutes the capital’s highways authorities for meeting the challenge of managing traffic during COVID-19
On the road to cleaner air Clean Air Zones will enable English councils to comply with the EU Air Quality Directive, says JAQU’s Sam Harrison
Making practice perfect Rival associations set out their visions of how parking on private land should be regulated under new code
Please protect the Blue Badge scheme The annual Baywatch survey reveals alarming levels of disabled parking abuse, reports DMUK’s Graham Footer
39 41 43 44 Editorial Managing editor: Mark Moran Tel: 020 7091 7871 mark.moran@landor.co.uk Deputy editor: Deniz Huseyin Tel: 020 7091 7872 deniz.huseyin@landor.co.uk Editorial director: Peter Stonham
Production and design production@landor.co.uk Advertising, sponsorship, marketing and exhibition packages Jason Conboy Tel: 020 7091 7895 jason@landor.co.uk Darryl Murdoch Tel: 020 7091 7891 darryl@landor.co.uk
Visions of parks and car parks Manchester Mayfield’s masterplan features a multi-storey car park and the city centre’s first new public park in a century
Alarm rings over fire safety A construction industry insider has shared their worries about car park fire safety via Structural-Safety’s CROSS alert system
Taking cycle parking to a new level Utrecht Central Station’s multi-storey cycle park is so big people ride through the building to access its 12,500 bike bays
A new way to pay The notanotherapp system will allow drivers to pay for parking with the app of their choice, says Duane Hodges-Stubbs
Subscriptions Christina Pierre Tel: 020 7091 7959 subs@landor.co.uk Accounts Irina Cocks Tel: 020 7091 7854 irina.cocks@landor.co.uk Business manager Rod Fletcher Tel: 0191 280 1410
Parking Review was launched in 1989 and is published twelve times a year. It is the only independent magazine dedicated to the UK parking sector.
Published by: Landor LINKS Ltd, Apollo House, 359 Kennington Lane, London SE11 5QY © Landor LINKS Ltd 2020
The Independent Press Standards Organisation www.ipso.co.uk
www.landor.co.uk
The Professional Publishers Association www.ppa.co.uk
ISSN: 0962 3599 Printed by: Pensord Tram Road, Pontllanfraith, Blackwood NP12 2YA
Registered members of:
PARKING REVIEW | NOVEMBER 2020 | 5
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NEWS
Figuring out how to travel A majority of drivers still expect to drive to offices or other places of work in the future, says RAC Report on Motoring 2020
M
ore than half (57%) of drivers say having access to a car is more important than it was before the coronavirus pandemic, according to the RAC. Two-thirds of young drivers, those with fewer than 10 years’ driving experience and drivers living in London, are all significantly more likely to say they need a car more now than they did before March. Research for the RAC’s annual Report on Motoring also found that, for the first time since 2002, fewer than half of drivers (43%) say they would use their cars less, even if public transport was improved. When it comes to needing to use a car for work, a majority of drivers (64%) still expect to drive to offices or other places of work in the future, a figure which is almost unchanged on the 67% who said they did so before the pandemic. A little over a third of drivers (36%) said they expect to work from home more frequently in the future as a result of the coronavirus. Despite the rise in home deliveries, nearly seven-in-10 drivers (68%) say a car is essential for carrying items like shopping, up from 54% last year – perhaps partly driven by the rise in click & collect services and people carrying out fewer, larger grocery shops than before the lockdown. Meanwhile, six-in-10 drivers (59%) say the car is essential for meeting up with friends and family who live elsewhere in the country, significantly up from 45% in 2019. Convincing drivers to leave their car keys at home in favour of public transport is becoming an increasingly difficult challenge. Just last year 57% of motorists said they would use their cars less – a figure that has fallen to 43% in 2020. Socially-distanced travel is a priority for drivers in the UK and could lead to problems for plans of a greener transport network.
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The coronavirus aside, the reasons drivers give for not opting for the bus, train or tram for some trips is consistent with previous years. Nearly half (46%) say fares are too high (2019: 50%), 43% say services don’t run when they need them to (2019: 41%), while 41% say services aren’t frequent enough (2019: 41%). A similar proportion (39%) complain that bus or rail lines don’t run close enough to where they live or are looking to get to (2019: 38%), while nearly three-in-10 (29%) report services just take too long (2019: 25%). RAC data insight spokesperson Rod Dennis said: “Now, for the first time since 2002, we have fewer drivers than ever saying they’re prepared to use public transport even if services improved – underlining just what a huge role the car continues to play in 2020. “Without a concerted effort from government and local councils, the pandemic risks putting efforts to encourage drivers out of their cars for some trips back by years. Even before the coronavirus, drivers complained that public transport fares were often too high and services didn’t run when they needed them to. Now, for the first time since 2002, we have fewer drivers than ever saying they’re prepared to use public transport even if services improved – underlining just what a huge role the car continues to play in 2020. “As cities seek to improve air quality and make urban centres cleaner places, it’s clear that low-cost, efficient alternatives to the car need further thinking and much greater financial investment. Park & ride sites make a lot of sense and cater for the many people who are too far from regular public transport networks, but perhaps now is the time for the concept to evolve to encompass park & cycle, park & walk, or even park & scoot.” The RAC Report on Motoring is an in-depth view of driver opinion and behaviour and has been running every year since 1989. It is conducted among a sample of the driving public who are representative of UK motorists. The 2020 survey was completed by 3,068 drivers.
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NEWS
WELSH GOVERNMENT
Pavement parking shake-up in Wales Welsh Government to allow councils to enforce the footway
Secondary legislation will focus on ‘unnecessary obstruction’ The Welsh Pavement Parking Taskforce rejected the outright ban being pursued in Scotland, which is set to take five years to implement, as overly slow and complex. Instead it has set out a plan to equip local authorities to act from July 2022. Waters said: “We want more
With all due respect…
BPA asks motorists to be kind and respect others when parking The problems caused by selfish and anti-social parking is being highlighted in a campaign launched by the British Parking Association (BPA). As part of a series of campaigns under the ‘It’s not OK to park where it’s not OK to park’ banner, the BPA will focus on aspects of poor parking behaviour, highlighting why effective parking management is important and how it negatively impacts on local communities. Outdoor posters to be displayed by BPA members will
highlight problem parking areas. The hashtag #selfishparking will be used in posts across social media to encourage motorists to think before they park and show respect for others. Alison Tooze, BPA membership development manager, said: “Our consumer research to better understand perceptions of parking told us that one of the biggest frustrations people have is antisocial and inconsiderate parking. This includes obstructing pavements, parking on or blocking someone’s driveway, parking in designated bays they are not eligible to use, or taking up more than one space.”
people to walk for short journeys and yet we tolerate an environment that is often not pedestrian friendly; too many routes are cluttered or blocked. A recent survey found that 83% of people in Wales view it as a real problem. We recognise that in some streets there are too many cars
Scottish mountain rescue team held up by ‘inconsiderate’ parking A mountain rescue operation in Scotland was held up by inconsiderate motorists parking in emergency lay-bys. Emergency services were called to the Devil’s Pulpit near Killearn in Stirling at about 1pm on 19 October after a member of the public was hurt in a fall. Police Scotland said emergency vehicles were hampered by cars parked in emergency lay-bys. Stirling Council implemented new restrictions in the area due to dangerous and reckless parking. The Lomond Mountain Rescue team was eventually able to reach the person who had suffered an arm injury. A Police Scotland Facebook
post said: “If you are attending rural areas, please consider where you are parking your vehicle. Access roads/gates and emergency vehicle lay-bys are there in the event of an emergency and should not be used for parking.” Stirling Council has approved plans for a 150space car park and visitor centre at the Devil’s Pulpit. The council has also painted double yellow lines on the roads around the area to protect public safety. The gorge, also called Finnich Glen, has been used for scenes in TV series such as Outlander and The Nest, and the film King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. POLICE SCOTLAND
The Welsh Government is to give local authorities the power to fine motorists who park on pavements. Ministers have accepted the recommendation of an independent expert group that councils should be given civil enforcement powers to control pavement parking. “The current law is not as clear as it could be,” said deputy transport minister, Lee Waters MS, who set up the taskforce. “There is no specific offence of parking on pavements, and though the police can enforce the existing criminal offence of causing ‘unnecessary obstruction of any part of the highway’, it is rarely enforced.”
for the space available and we don’t want to penalise people who have no alternative. This approach lets councils target hotspots and vary its approach depending on local circumstances.” The taskforce was chaired by Phil Jones, the founder of transport consultancy PJA. He also chaired the Welsh Government taskforce on 20mph limits. In July the Senedd backed proposals for a 20mph default speed limit in residential areas, which the Welsh Government intends to be in force by April 2023. All ten recommendations of the Welsh Pavement Parking Taskforce are being accepted by the Welsh Government. The UK government is currently consulting on options for controlling pavement parking in England outside London.
Police and rescue vehicles were held up by badly parked vehicles
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NEWS
Hackney to bring patrol officers in-house Council to ‘insource’ APCOA Parking civil enforcement officers Parking enforcement officers in Hackney are set to be brought back in-house by the inner London borough. Some 120 civil enforcement officers working for contractor APCOA Parking UK will become council employees early next year. Hackney Council said the move is part of a drive to support the local economy and improve services for the local taxpayers. The council has also made a commitment to pay a London Living Wage to all staff, as well as encouraging the borough’s businesses to do the same. Following a decision by the council’s cabinet procurement committee, a consultation with staff and trade unions is set to begin in February next year. Under employment regulations, the parking officers’ existing employment rights are protected after transferring to the council. A comprehensive review of staffing will be undertaken once parking enforcement services are brought in-house. All existing job posts, which are paid no less than the London Living Wage, would also be protected under the plans. Cllr Jon Burke, Hackney Council cabinet member for energy, waste, transport and
CEOs in Hackney have taken industrial action on several occasions public realm, said: “Building on Hackney Council’s reputation for bringing services under full public ownership and control, we committed in our 2018 manifesto to reviewing all outsourced services with a view to bringing them in-house. “I’m delighted to be overseeing the insourcing of parking enforcement, – which plays a crucial role in ensuring adequate parking for local residents and safeguarding our borough from excess traffic and pollution – as the next step in our journey to ensure greater public ownership and control of local government services. By bringing parking enforcement in-house, officers – who often live locally – can look forward to increased opportunities for progression, which will help tackle inequality and support
the local economy. We will be consulting with staff and trade unions on the changes from February next year.” The ‘insourcing’ of council services wherever possible has been a key strand of Hackney Council’s work to deliver services that represent value for money for local taxpayers and rebuild the local economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The council has already insourced waste management, some school cleaning contracts and IT services. An APCOA spokesperson told Parking Review: “Hackney Council’s decision to insource car parking services supports its manifesto to review all outsourced services with a view to bringing them in-house. It has already insourced some parking
Demand for parking grows in London’s Square Mile Demand for car parking in the City of London was higher in late summer than before COVID-19, despite commuting into central London remaining massively down on prepandemic levels. The Corporation of London says that, before COVID-19 struck, its five car parks operated at about 65% occupancy. “During the lockdown period, demand for both on-street and off-street parking fell away considerably, but now both are recovering well as a proportion of the City’s working population continue to avoid public transport and prefer to drive in,” said Ian Hughes, the Corporation’s deputy director for transportation and public realm. In a report presented to the
Pop-up traffic measures in the City of London transportation committee on 6 October, Hughes wrote: “In the short-term, that makes our parking facilities more attractive, with some of the City’s car parks now full and parking bays running at over
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90% occupancy during peak times.” Corporation officers have recommended that members approve incremental increases to parking charges over the next three years. A final
services and APCOA views this as the final stage in that process. “APCOA would like to thank Hackney Council and the trade union, Unite, for their support throughout the successful 16 year partnership, and will work together to ensure a smooth transition on 31 March 2022.” The trade union Unite, has run a long-running campaign to bring the parking officers back under council control. Unite regional officer Onay Kasab said: “This is tremendous news. Unite has campaigned, lobbied and taken strike action to win exactly the points now agreed by Hackney Council. It has been a tough campaign, but it has resulted in a great win that should send a clear message to other councils in London that the days of the flawed outsourcing business model are numbered. We have highlighted who really owns APCOA and the large profits they make. “We have said that ‘in-house’ is better value for money for the hard-pressed council taxpayer. Hackney Council is now signposting the way forward. It is time for other authorities to do the same. Bringing these services back in-house is cheaper, better and fairer. We have had to fight hard for better pay and conditions for the civil enforcement officers, including sick pay, which is a huge issue for those out working in all weathers during the pandemic.” decision on the increases will be made on 25 November. The hourly rate for off-street parking is recommended to rise from £3.50 to £4 in January and then in increments to £4.50 in January 2023. On-street parking charges vary according to the age and emissions of vehicles. The proposals would see the charge for a zero emission capable (ZEC) vehicle rise from £4 an hour to £4.40 from January and in further increments to £5 in January 2023. Post-2015 registered petrol and diesel vehicles are currently charged £5.20 an hour. This would rise to £6 in January and then in increments to £7.20 in January 2023. The charge for older petrol and diesels is currently £6.80 an hour. This would rise to £8 in January and in increments to £10 in January 2023.
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NEWS
Lewisham creates a very long parklet Ford’s Spin e-scooter operation funds new community space A row of kerbside parking bays have been converted into a parklet in order to create a new community space in south-east London. The parklet was created by Lewisham Council in partnership with the urban design agency Yes Make. It was funded by Spin, the micromobility unit of Ford Motor Company, which is promoting the use of electric or e-scooters. The parklet was created under The Transport for London (TfL) Streetspace initiative, which funds measures designed to create more space for people to safely walk or cycle as the capital deals with the coronavirus pandemic. Streetspace has seen street parking suspended in many areas to make it easier and safer for people to maintain social distancing. At Staplehurst Road, which is near Hither Green Station, the Spin Streets programme has funded an outdoor space to serve the local community throughout the pandemic. The parklet will be in place for 12 months. It has been built across nine parking spaces on a 22 x 5-metre platform, making it the largest in London and the only one with a cover. The parklet more than doubles the pavement width and creates an open-sided shelter that can be used for community events once lockdown restrictions are
The Arc eased. It features a wooden canopy and provides 10-metre table space in front of local businesses such as Blue Marlin, You Don’t Bring Me Flowers, Hither Green Cafe and Favourable Chicken and Ribs. Joel De Mowbray, founder of Yes Make, said: “Projects like The Arc in Lewisham have never been more important in helping local communities through these difficult times when we are so restricted in terms of how we can see our friends and family.
“Using the suspended parking area, which local residents assumed was for building works, to instead create a space that self-evidently supports social distancing and local businesses is essential to supporting the local community over the winter.” Local artists This is My Costume and Harriet Parry Flowers have painted murals, and planted ferns and herbs. The structure is built almost entirely from reused materials, including naturally fallen ash tree branches
Lewisham may cut bike shelter costs Subsidised covered bike parking spaces could be offered to low income residents in the London Borough of Lewisham. The annual cost of renting a bike parking space in a covered storage unit on residential streets has risen to £60 since the withdrawal of funding from Transport for London. Borough officers are exploring options for subsidising the cost, particularly for residents on lower incomes.
Liverpool to consult on future pop-up bike lanes Liverpool City Council is to consult on all future cycle lanes delivered using the Department for Transport’s Emergency Active Travel Fund grant. Liverpool has plans for seven ‘pop-up’ cycle routes and delivered three of them with the first tranche of Government funding. A further three could be delivered if the council secures funding from the second tranche of funding. Andy Barr, Liverpool’s assistant director of highways and planning, told councillors last week that implementation of the first route had caused controversy. “Given the speed at which the Department for Transport wanted these routes to be
implemented, the first route went in with no consultation, and just a day’s notice to ward members,” he said. “However, we have been able to share our experience of this with the DfT, and the issues this caused, and have agreed that this does not work and is not in line with how transport schemes would normally be progressed.” The designs for the subsequent two schemes were shown to affected ward councillors before implementation. “Future implementation will involve full consultation,” said Barr. He said valuable lessons had been learned from implementing the first three routes, including:
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• the suitability of different methods for segregation • the lack of ‘pop-up’ solutions for junctions • the difficulties with ‘pop-up’ solutions for district centres • designing an acceptable interface with bus stops • designing an acceptable solution for kerbside activity • developing an acceptable solution for emergency service vehicles • maintenance of the cycle lanes. Barr said: “There is an essential need for behaviour change and awareness-raising activity to accompany the delivery of the routes, to facilitate and encourage their use.”
for the support beams and wood chippings as mulch. Cllr Sophie McGeevor, Lewisham cabinet member for environment and transport, said: “We hope that this new parklet will help with social distancing and allow local businesses to serve more customers in a COVID-secure way.” A key component of the build is a bicycle rack and e-scooter parking spaces, which are being provided by Spin in anticipation of the vehicles being legalised following the conclusion of the national trials next year. Kay Cheng, Streets programme director at Spin, added: “Through our Spin Streets programme we are committed to helping UK communities by making their streets safer, more liveable and enjoyable for everyone, be it pedestrians, cyclists, and hopefully soon e-scooter riders. For now, we need to stay indoors, but when people do pop out for essential shopping or outdoor exercise this space serves as an urban pit-stop whilst supporting local businesses doing takeaways during these challenging times.” The Arc is Spin Streets’s second project in London, following the Pallet to Pavement project in Brixton, a collaboration with Yes Make and InUse-ReUse that created an expanded footway on Atlantic Road. Spin is to roll out e-scooters through the Department for Transport’s e-scooter trials. Spin is operating in Milton Keynes and plans to launch in Essex.
Ealing consults on Low Traffic Neighbourhoods Ealing Council in west London has launched an online platform to help residents have their say on the borough’s trial Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs). People living in trial scheme areas are encouraged to visit the council’s Commonplace website and get involved. The Commonplace platform gives full details of each LTN and the chance for residents to have their say on every aspect of the trial schemes. Comments can be made on the project in general, likes or dislikes about a specific trial schemes or views on a particular traffic measure or filter in a single LTN.
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NEWS
Harrow will address Blue Badge problems Ombudsman asks council to improve assessment process A London council has been criticised by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman for the way it assesses disabled people’s requests for two different transport schemes. The ombudsman has asked London Borough of Harrow and Access Independent (AI), the company that assesses people in the area for Blue Badges and Freedom Passes, to make a number of improvements to their processes following a number of complaints. The ombudsman has investigated eight complaints from people who have requested either a Blue Badge or Freedom Pass from the council. Those people needed a further assessment to establish whether they qualified for a badge or pass. The investigation found a number of common faults with the way the council and AI conducted the assessments and responded to applicants. They include giving insufficient detail as to why people were turned down. And assessors’ decisions, sent out with the refusal letters, were unclear because of,
Michael King for example, the use of handwriting, acronyms and jargon. In other cases, the ombudsman found the council had not recorded how it considered all the evidence – or lack of evidence – in some paper-based assessments. There was also not enough detail in assessment summaries for the reasons why decisions were made. In some instances, people were given the wrong information about when they could reapply. This included assessors not considering the implications of new rules about ‘hidden disabilities’ when advising one applicant. Local Government and Social
Care Ombudsman Michael King said: “We are highlighting this case because we have received significantly more complaints about Harrow than other councils in the London area on this issue. Travel and parking permits enable some of the most vulnerable people in society to access vital services; denying them without giving clear reasons and incorrect advice about reapplying can only add to people’s frustration and lack of trust in the process. “In previous complaints the council has accepted recommendations to put things right, but could not commit when they
Coventry to close six city centre car parks Coventry City Council is to close six council-owned city centre car parks in order to better align supply with demand. The council owns 18 car parks in, or near, the city centre, which together provide 3,600 spaces. Before COVID-19 the average occupancy across the car parks was 65%, but this has dropped significantly. “In recent months, demand for city centre parking has gone into decline due to coronavirus and this is expected to result in a financially unsustainable over-supply of parking spaces unless management actions are
taken to redress the situation,” Paul Bowman, Coventry’s team manager for parking services, told councillors. Occupancy levels fell to below 25% this summer, he said. “There has regularly been fewer than 900 spaces occupied and more than 75% (or 2,700) empty spaces.” The six car parks proposed for closure contain 874 spaces. Moat Street (153 spaces) is listed as a permanent closure necessary to redesign and remodel junction 7 of the city’s ring road as part of the council’s air quality action plan.
Wirral retains free car parking Wirral Council on Merseyside is to retain free parking in council-owned car parks until at least early next year because of COVID-19. Charges were suspended in April in reaction to the pandemic. Officers had recommended reinstating
charges, saying it would help the council’s budgetary position. Members of the policy and resources committee instead recommended they remain suspended until early next year. The council’s environment, climate
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The closure of the five other sites are listed as temporary, though the future appears gloomy for: New Union Street multi-storey (240 spaces); Cheylesmore surface (45); City Arcades rooftop (231); Leicester Row (80); and Whitefriars Street (125). Bowman explained that the New Union Street and Cheylesmore car parks were both in poor condition and needed significant financial investment. The City Arcade, Whitefriars Street and Leicester Row car parks are described as being in “poor locations”. emergency and transport committee will undertake a review, including a consultation with traders. From March to 4 July, the government’s COVID support package allowed the council to recover 75% of lost income from parking after absorbing the first 5% of losses.
would happen because it relied on the service provider to implement the changes. “Therefore, I am pleased the council has now started putting in place changes to its systems and hope my further recommendations will ensure other vulnerable people are not disadvantaged by its assessment process.” The ombudsman’s role is to remedy injustice and share learning from investigations to help improve public, and adult social care, services. In this case the council has agreed to offer new assessments to five of the people mentioned in the report who have not already been offered a reassessment. The ombudsman has the power to make recommendations to improve processes for the wider public. In this case the council will remind staff of their numerous duties and requirements when making assessments and communicating their decisions. Harrow will also draw up an action plan that will clearly specify when it will implement the recommended changes to the assessment process and decision letters, for paper-based assessment and appeal stage decisions.
New transport plan for Snowdonia Stricter parking controls could be introduced in parts of Snowdonia National Park. A pre-booking parking scheme was trialled on weekends and bank holidays this summer at the Pen-y-Pass car park, which lies at the foot of Snowdon. Booked visitors had to show their confirmation email on arrival to gain access to the car park. Anyone without a pre-booked space had to use the park & ride facilities at Nant Peris and Llanberis to access Pen-y-Pass, where walkers access the Pyg Track to the peak. The trial will inform a new transport plan being prepared by the National Park Authority for the Snowdon and Ogwen areas. It will also draw on lessons from Austria. The Park Authority has been talking to the Welsh Government abou funding the plan. A consultation on the plan is expected to be launched next year.
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NEWS
Clean Air Zones get launch dates Bath and Birmingham will introduce UK’s first charging zones The government has announced launch dates in 2021 for England’s first two charging Clean Air Zones (CAZs), in Birmingham and Bath. A Class C CAZ, covering the city centre, will go live in Bath on 15 March, despite ongoing concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic. Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Liberal Democrat administration is understood to have requested that the government ensure the zone’s implementation before the purdah for next May’s West of England Combined Authority mayoral election. The sitting mayor is the Conservative Tim Bowles. Non-compliant buses, coaches and lorries will pay a daily charge of £100 and light goods vehicles, taxis and private hire vehicles will pay £9. A number of exemptions will apply. Birmingham’s scheme, cover-
B&NES’ CAZ video ing the area within the city’s A4540 ring road, will go live on 1 June. It is a Class D scheme, with charges applying to all vehicle classes, including cars.
CAZ sign in Birmingham
A daily charge of £8 will apply to non-compliant cars, taxis, light goods vehicles and minibuses, and £50 for HGVs, buses and coaches. The Birmingham scheme had been due for launch this summer but was delayed by COVID-19. Birmingham City Council is Labour-controlled. There are no elections to the council next May. Elections are being held in the conurbation’s six other metropolitan districts and for the mayor of the West Midlands Combined Authority. The sitting mayor is Conservative Andy Street.
Leeds Clean Air Zone scrapped Plans for a charging Clean Air Zone (CAZ) in Leeds have been scrapped after the city council and government concluded that the roads covered by the EU Air Quality Directive are now compliant with nitrogen dioxide limit values. Leeds City Council was under a government direction to introduce a Class B CAZ this summer in order to bring NO2 concentrations at monitoring sites down to below the 40μg/m3 legal limit. The scheme would have seen noncompliant buses, coaches and heavy goods vehicles charged £50 a day and taxis and private hire vehicles £12.50 a day (Leeds licensed PHV and taxis drivers would have been eligible to pay £50 a week). The CAZ would cover a large part of the city. Implementation was originally planned for January 2020 but was postponed until this summer because of problems with the government’s IT systems for administering CAZs. COVID-19 then prompted the government to announce a further delay until at least January 2021.
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PARKING REVIEW | NOVEMBER 2020 | 15
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NEWS
Pandemic is driving car use for school run Quarter of parents admit to engine idling near schools COVID-19 has increased the likelihood of parents driving children to school according to report from car-maker Renault. Some 62% of parents saying they are more likely to drive their children to and from school as a result of the recent pandemic. Renault says more than 8,500 schools, nurseries and colleges in England, Scotland and Wales are located in areas with dangerously high levels of pollution. The car-maker studied the habits and attitudes of more than 4,000 school run parents and motorists. More than a quarter of respondents (27.2%) admitted to leaving their engines running, known as idling, during the school run. Men are 50% more likely to do it than female drivers, representing 32.7% and 22% respectively. Some 60% of all drivers are unaware that it is illegal under Rule 123 of the Highways Code. Authorities can issue £80 fixed penalties under Road Traffic Regulations 2002 and Section 42 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 in Scotland. A lack of parking near schools is the biggest infrastructural challenge to idling. Overall 23% said they needed to be ready to move their car into a suitable parking space. The issue is worse in urban areas, where it stands at 60.9% compared to rural locations with just 11.5%. The report underlined the reasons for the school run, with 30% dropping their children off by car because it’s on their way to work, 18% because of safety concerns and 12% have no other means of getting them to school. According to the study, a quarter of all school runs are less than a mile in distance. The majority (53.9%) of school runs are between one and five miles. A 2019 study by Kings College London revealed that children in London travelling to schools across the capital are exposed to air pollution five times higher than at any other time of the day. Renault found that London accounted for the highest number of idling offenders – 22.5%. The majority (50.3%) of those found to be idling say they sit with their engines running for
A Renault ZOE 1-5 minutes – 6.7% estimate they do it for 11-15 minutes on average. Of the reasons given for leaving their engines running nearly a third cited doing so because they are only stationary for “a short while” and 26% wanted to keep the heater or air-con on. Renault, which produces electric vehicles such as the ZOE, has launched a campaign with the message ‘Be Mindful, Don’t
Idle’ in order improve air quality around schools. “The fact that the majority of people don’t realise that idling is illegal just highlights the scale of the problem,” said Matt Shirley, Renault’s senior manager for electrification and new mobility. “Every minute a car is idling it produces enough emissions to fill 150 balloons. It goes without saying, if the 27% of school run journeys stop idling, there
would be a significant improvement in the air quality for their children. This is not about demonising the school run, our study underlines the importance, even more so since lockdown, of the car. We just want parents and guardians to be mindful of the detrimental impact of idling, and to alter their behaviours for their own children and those around them.” www.renault.co.uk/BeMindful
The school run: Key findings Type of area
Idling because of a lack of parking
Urban
60.9%
Suburban
27.6%
Rural
11.5%
Type of area
Percentage who admit to idling outside schools
Urban
50.1%
Suburban
37.9%
Rural
12%
Top 5 regions for school run idling
Percentage of those who admit to idling
Greater London
22.5%
North West
13.2%
West Midlands
10.3%
South East
8.6%
Yorkshire & Humberside
8.1%
Average minutes waiting with engines running
Percentage of those who admit to idling
1-5 minutes
50.3%
6-10 minutes
28.1%
Less than a minute
13.8%
11-15 minutes
6.7%
More than 15 minutes
1.1%
Approximate distance from home to school
Percentage of all drivers
1-5 miles
53.9%
Under a mile
24.8%
6-10 miles
12.2%
11-15 miles
4.7%
More than 16 miles
4.3%
16 | NOVEMBER 2020 | PARKING REVIEW
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NEWS
TfL secures emergency £1.8bn bailout DfT funding agreement to run to end of current financial year Transport for London (TfL) has secured a £1.8bn government bailout that will keep Tube and bus services running until March 2021. The funding agreement means that TfL can address a financial shortfall that has arisen due to the loss of passengers as a result of COVID-19. Months of lockdown and advice to the public to only use public transport when necessary have led to a 95% drop in people using the Tube. The number of bus passengers, meanwhile, dropped by 85%. In order to allow key workers and schoolchildren to travel, most TfL services are still running at a cost of around £600m a month. However, some 7,000 staff, about 25% of TfL’s workforce have been furloughed to cut costs. Without a bailout the network would have had to issue a Section 114 order, the equivalent
Sadiq Khan of bankruptcy for a public company. The exact amount of funding will be subject to passenger revenue in the coming months. Andy Byford, London’s transport commissioner, said the agreement with the Department for Transport would enable TfL to continue to support the capital for the remainder of the financial year as discussions on longerterm sustainable funding continue. “Reaching this agreement with the government allows us to help London through this
next phase of the pandemic,” he said. “We will continue to work with the mayor and the government on our longer-term funding needs. As always, our staff are working tirelessly to serve London’s people and businesses; supporting the city’s economy and providing an excellent, safe and reliable service to our customers every day.” Mayor of London Sadiq Khan admitted the deal is “not ideal”, but said that he “fought hard”
against government plans for an extension of the Congestion Charge zone, scrapping free travel for older and younger Londoners and increasing fares by more than previously agreed. Khan has publically portrayed the TfL funding discussions as a struggle with national government for control of transport and roads management policy in the capital. Khan said: “We fought hard against this government which is so determined to punish our city for doing the right thing to tackle COVID-19. The only reason TfL needs government support is because its fares income has almost dried up since March.” The mayor rejected the extension of the £15 daily Congestion Charge to the North and South circular roads, a proposal that would have affected four million more Londoners. Instead, amendments to the Congestion Charge introduced in June as part of a previous bailout – a 30% increase in the fee and longer operating hours – will remain in place under the deal.
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NEWS
Revitalising Shrewsbury’s park & ride Shropshire revamps fares, frequency and bus livery design Shropshire Council has published plans to revitalise Shrewsbury’s bus-based park & ride operation. Three P&R sites serve the town: Harlescott to the north, Meole Brace to the south, and Oxon to the west. Arriva operates the bus routes to a 20-minute frequency, with funding support from the county. Passenger numbers have halved in ten years, from circa 1.2 million a year to about 600,000. Shropshire attributes the decline to a range of factors including: reducing the service frequency from every 12 minutes to every 20 in 2011; longer journey times; a lack of promotion; reduced subsidy; a public perception that the service is “tired and outdated”; and changing social habits. “Shrewsbury town centre is on the cusp of some major changes that may need to see a greater reliance on a remodelled and integrated park & ride service that is intrinsic to movement within the town,” James Willocks, Shropshire’s transport commissioning group manager, told councillors last week. Major projects include rede-
Charges for Bucks hybrid P&R Buckinghamshire Council is to introduce parking charges at Handy Cross park & ride site near High Wycombe, though users of the facility’s bus service into High Wycombe will not have to pay. The 396-space facility opened in 2015. Daytime occupancy before COVID was about 40-50%. As well as being served by a bus service into High Wycombe, the car park is served by coach services and provides parking for adjacent businesses and schools. Buckinghamshire expects parking charges to initially cut occupancy to 25%. At this level it predicts charges to generate £52,000 a year. Motorists parking to use the High Wycombe bus service obtain a parking ticket from the barrier and show it to the driver. The bus service is free of charge Mondays to Friday, but costs £2.50 on Saturdays.
The new P&R livery – orange for the northern route veloping the Riverside area of the town centre and building the town’s North West Relief Road. Council officers have visited Oxford, Chester, York, Bath, Coventry, Nottingham and Cambridge to explore how their P&Rs operate. Willocks said 10-minute frequencies tended to be the norm; buses were modern and ecofriendly; services generally received no taxpayer subsidy; and the majority of services were integrated with local bus services. Shropshire is to rebrand the P&R services ‘Shrewsbury Connect’, with colour-coded vehicles for each route: blue for
west; orange for north; and green for south. Users will have a choice of purchasing a ‘Line Ticket’ for a journey along a particular route, or a ‘Connect Ticket’ – an allday ticket that could be used on all three P&R routes to assist cross-town travel. Services currently operate between the P&R sites and stops in the town centre without intermediate stops. This will change, with additional stops incorporated, including at Shrewsbury business park, the Flaxmill Maltings, and Theatre Severn. The council is also keen for the west P&R route to serve the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. This will require the Oxon P&R site
Oxford bus gates plan re-think Plans for temporary ‘bus gates’ to restrict general vehicular traffic in Oxford city centre have been scrapped after a backlash. Conservative-led Oxfordshire announced the two access restrictions in July as a response to COVID-19. The bus gates were to operate seven days a week from 07.30 to 18.30. Oxfordshire said that by removing through traffic from the city centre, the bus gates would help speed up bus travel and allow roadspace to be reallocated to walking and cycling. The council had planned to implement the schemes in August without prior public consultation and with the help of a £30,000 contribution from Labour-controlled Oxford City Council. However, the plans provoked anger and, after receiving independent legal advice, Oxfordshire launched an online survey. Of the 7,266 responses, 46% were outright opposed and 35%
18 | NOVEMBER 2020 | PARKING REVIEW
outright in favour. Business respondents were overwhelmingly opposed – 70% thought the bus gates were a bad idea, and only nine per cent were entirely supportive. People feared the bus gates would exacerbate congestion and restrict access to shops and workplaces. Supporters of the bus gates primarily cited medium and longterm policy outcomes rather than short-term COVID-19 related issues. Oxfordshire still has plans to implement permanent bus gate restrictions in Oxford as part of its Connecting Oxford strategy. These are proposed for implementation during 2023. Susan Halliwell, Oxfordshire’s director for planning and place, told councillors: “It has proved impossible to separate the proposed temporary bus gates from Connecting Oxford in the minds of the public and stakeholders. Many opponents felt the temporary bus gates were an attempt to implement Connecting
to be relocated to a “suitable strategic location. Willocks said the council was keen to increase service frequencies to every eight-to-ten minutes. It is exploring with Arriva how this might be achieved, including opportunities for integrating the P&R services with the conventional bus network. The P&R fare structure will be reviewed to “lay the foundations for a commercially viable service”. Fares are currently £2 per passenger, with group discounts and a 50% discount for concessions. Shropshire takes the revenue risk on the P&R and, before COVID, provided circa £250,000 a year of support. Willocks said eliminating the subsidy would be a welcome outcome of the revamp, but pointed out this was “not the real driver”. Opportunities to replace the diesel buses with electric vehicles will be investigated. Shropshire is waiting to learn if its bid for Shrewsbury has been successful in the Department for Transport’s All-Electric Bus Town funding competition. Facilities at the P&R sites could be improved, such as with reception buildings, a cafe, toilets, security, ticket machines, and EV charging points. Bus priority will also be explored. Oxford prematurely, using COVID-19 as a reason. Given this reaction, proceeding with the temporary bus gates risks undermining public confidence and trust in the councils, and in particular undermining support for transformational, radical sustainable transport schemes such as Connecting Oxford and the Zero Emission Zone.” Yvonne Constance, Oxfordshire’s cabinet member for environment and transport, said: “A hastily implemented experiment can do more harm than good, dividing communities, eroding trust in the local authorities, and damaging the prospects for permanent change – which must remain our primary focus. In other parts of the country rushed emergency active travel schemes are being removed following outcry from residents and businesses. We don’t want that to happen here, and particularly not with a proposal that sits at the heart of our long-term transport strategy. If we get this wrong, we won’t get a second chance.”
PR343_P08-19_News.qxp_PR343_p08-19 13/11/2020 22:39 Page 19
NEWS The MiPermit film is presented by ‘Anna Tendant’, who has appeared in several other NEPP videos
A short film about parking with an app North Essex Parking Partnership creates a guide to MiPermit The North Essex Parking Partnership (NEPP) has launched a new video that provides motorists with a step-bystep guide to using the free MiPermit app to make contactless payments in car parks. The video takes viewers through the stages of setting up the app for the first time and paying for and extending a parking stay. It also highlights some
of the benefits of using the app, such as expiry reminders and access to exclusive parking offers. Cllr Robert Mitchell, chairman of NEPP, said: “The latest educational video is a fantastic tool for helping motorists to set up and use the MiPermit app on their phones, whatever their digital knowledge. The short video shows how quick and easy this free app is to use and demonstrates some of its many benefits. Use of MiPermit as a car park payment method in North Essex continues to grow and the public’s desire to be able to make
contactless payments, since the coronavirus outbreak, has added to this. This latest video is just one of a number of ways in which NEPP is supporting and enabling motorists to be able to do this.” Since the outbreak of coronavirus in the spring, motorists have, and continue to be encouraged to make contactless payments using MiPermit in the car parks NEPP manages in Braintree, Colchester, Harlow and Uttlesford. NEPP introduced the MiPermit system for contactless
payments eight years ago. Since NEPP’s promotional campaign last summer, app usage has increased. In Colchester, the app is now the most popular car parking payment method, with MiPermit usage doubling to 54% over the past year. The video is part of a series of five educational videos being produced by NEPP to outline its work and online services on YouTube. The first video in the series – called ‘About Us’ – won the Communications Award at the British Parking Awards 2020.
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ENFORCEMENT TRENDS Enforcement activity in London 2019-20 Enforcement authority
Bus lane PCNs
Moving traffic PCNs
London Lorry Control Scheme
Higher level parking PCNs
Lower level parking PCNs
Total parking PCNs
Barking & Dagenham
57,834
9,077
66,911
17,735
31,118
115,764
Barnet
97,271
29,766
127,037
22,652
93,397
243,086
Bexley
40,868
12,704
53,572
Brent
106,727
17,618
124,345
11,166
Bromley
40,828
24,018
64,846
13,589
Camden
21,585
London Councils Lorry Control
Operators
Drivers
4,066
131,185
69,536
200,721
City of London
42,865
11,413
54,278
Croydon
90,062
25,597
115,659
Ealing
58,007
14,276
Enfield
51,689
16,306
Greenwich
48,649
17,663
66,312
Hackney
71,684
12,824
Hammersmith & Fulham
123,489
Haringey Harrow
715
Observations 10,143
Total PCNs
Vehicles clamped
Vehicles impounded
4,781
14,083
67,655
57,495
193,006
1,382
78,435 32,082
254,388
106,020
160,298
6,025
56,183
177,867
72,283
30,529
80,683
183,495
42
67,995
18,998
51,266
138,259
1,049
84,508
12,423
51,665
148,596
65
27,136
150,985
18,136
68,782
237,903
728
161,939
29,227
191,166
17,778
29,948
238,892
2,745
69,414
21,775
91,189
13,212
67,540
171,941
Havering
54,193
13,602
67,795
4,712
35,984
108,491
Hillingdon
51,924
16,397
68,321
1,311
13,005
82,637
Hounslow
75,429
24,253
99,682
5,176
27,617
132,475
Islington
103,195
60,943
164,138
6,928
129,121
300,187
245
Kensington & Chelsea
121,257
76,199
197,456
197,456
2,057
Kingston
52,223
24,581
76,804
16,953
30,542
124,299
Lambeth
124,310
17,799
142,109
55,964
46,678
244,751
Lewisham
43,973
15,055
59,028
2,917
34,097
96,042
Merton
35,003
23,171
58,174
18,167
53,286
129,627
155,513
35,351
190,864
20,466
83,470
294,800
Redbridge
56,334
32,079
88,413
61,049
149,462
Richmond
43,202
21,103
64,305
3,163
15,204
82,672
Southwark
75,081
12,032
87,113
7,673
26,063
120,849
Sutton
23,845
6,882
30,727
953
14,080
45,760
76,156
14,062
Transport for London Waltham Forest
423,145
2,212 8
66,312
Newham
Tower Hamlets
53
90,218
2,741
24,736
117,695
423,145
27,317
299,401
749,863
591
198
7,577
102 2,087
99,457
13,107
112,564
22,495
98,652
233,711
3,250
Wandsworth
108,234
17,932
126,166
209
52,149
178,524
89
Westminster
205,733
67,556
273,289
43,952
317,241
3,121,078
831,040
3,952,118
Total
400,973
1,829,348
4,066
715
10,143
6,187,220
3
24,427
Keeping the capital moving
Councils and TfL issue over 6 million PCNs
The capital’s councils have met the pandemic traffic management challenge, says London Councils
London’s boroughs and Transport for London (TfL) issued over 6 million penalty charge notices (PCNs) to motorists they believed had contravened parking, bus lane and moving traffic regulations in 2019-20. London Councils’ data on parking enforcement and appeals in London for the 2019-20 financial year, ending on 31 March 2020, reveals that 6,187,220 PCNs were issued in total. This represents a 3.85% increase from the previous financial year, when the total was 5.95 million. If drivers believe they have received a PCN in error, they are encouraged to appeal to the enforcement authority that issued the ticket. If they are not satisfied with the outcome, they can submit a free appeal to an independent adjudicator via the relevant independent appeals service at London Tribunals. Between 2018-19 and 2019-20, the number of appeals in London received by London Tribunals for traffic-related contraventions decreased by 3.28%. Appeals were pursued for 0.59% of all PCNs issued. All income from PCNs is put towards paying for the provision of traffic and parking services. Any surplus is then invested in transport projects such as the Freedom Pass concessionary travel scheme for older and disabled Londoners.
Cllr Philip Glanville
L
ondon Councils has praised the way in which the capital’s local authorities have adapted their parking policies to support the pandemic response, including helping the delivery sector in the early stages of lockdown by relaxing controls to aid the transportation of key goods. Local authorities have also issued permits for key workers during lockdown to help these individuals undertake their vital work and provide services when travel choices were restricted, and they continue to support care and NHS workers. Mayor of Hackney Philip Glanville is chair of London Councils’ Transport and Environment Committee (TEC). “The COVID-19 pandemic has put the challenge of London’s traffic congestion front and
centre,” said Glanville. “As we regretfully acknowledge that car usage has increased in light of the pandemic, it is vital that road users have a well-managed parking regime that minimises congestion on London’s streets. Enforcement is necessary to ensure compliance with controls. It also helps to make sure the demand for spaces does not exceed the supply and crucially incentivises the use of active travel such as walking or cycling. This supports the improvement of public health by increasing cleaner air quality for all Londoners. “Traffic and parking management in London is a vital service provided by London’s boroughs and Transport for London that keeps London’s streets moving. Enforcement leads to positive behaviour change among road users which makes the capital’s streets safer for all Londoners and its visitors. I am proud of the quick response from London’s authorities in adapting their parking and traffic management services this year to transform our streets to support active travel and help those in the frontline of the pandemic effort. Without the commitment and flexibility of those involved with our well-established enforcement regime, priority for key workers would have been impossible to implement and maintain.” London Councils is a cross-party organisation that represents London’s 32 borough councils and the City of London.
PARKING REVIEW | NOVEMBER 2020 | 21
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Programmed by:
Sponsored by:
part of Marston Holdings
Organised by:
The leading event for parking and traffic management professionals
A virtual conference and exhibition Wednesday 2 December 2020
The Traffic + Parking conference and exhibition is the place to learn about the latest policy, legislative and technology developments in the field.
The key themes
Keynote speakers and expert panels will examine themes such as: G Road space reallocation schemes G Low Traffic Neighbourhoods G Clean air schemes
How has the pandemic changed the world of traffic and parking?
Parking and traffic management is an essential public service at the forefront of reducing traffic congestion, delivering safer and healthier streets, and enabling new approaches to mobility. The response to the COVID-19 pandemic has seen towns and cities across the UK implement an impressive range of emergency traffic and street-scene measures, including pop-up cycleways and wider pavements to make cycling and walking safer.
G School streets
G Moving traffic regulation and enforcement G Kerbside management
G Parking payment policy and technology G Digitisation of parking services G Electric vehicle charging G Pavement parking
G Workplace parking levies
G Managing parking during lockdown
PR343_P20-23_London Councils.qxp_PR343_p20-23 13/11/2020 22:13 Page 23
Nick Ruxton-Boyle
Lucy Marstrand
Ollie Miller
Ken Simmonds
Julian O’Kelly
Andy Stott
Dr Rachel Lee
Andrew Potter Programme and speakers subject to change
Key speakers
Traffic + Parking 2020 will feature presentations and contributions by sector experts including:
G Lucy Marstrand, Healthy Streets Advisor, Project Centre G Dr Rachel Lee, Policy and Research Manager, Living Streets
G Keith Hughes, Head of Parking and Blue Badge Policy, Department for Transport G Julian O’Kelly, Head of Technology, Innovation and Research, British Parking Association
G Rob Shoebridge, Parking Manager, Derby City Council
Sponsorship and exhibition
The virtual exhibition enables attendees to check out the latest systems and services for the sector. Traffic + Parking 2020 provides your company with the perfect opportunity to carefully target the marketing of your products and services to those within the smart city planning, active travel, intelligent mobility and parking sectors.
Exhibitors include:
G Nick Ruxton-Boyle, Director of Environment, Marston Holdings
part of Marston Holdings
G Sally Gibbons, Head of Traffic Signs and Street Design Policy, Department for Transport
G Avisha Martin-Patel, Senior Consultant, Project Centre G Andrew Potter, Director, Parking Perspectives
Exhibitor
G Adam Bidder, Managing Director, Q-Park UK
G Ollie Miller, Associate Director, Parking, Project Centre
G Nick Lester-Davis, Director, Nick Lester-Davis Consulting G Andy Stott, Sales Director, RingGo
G Jon Harrod Booth, Director, Harrod Booth Consulting
To find out how your organisation can become a partner of Traffic + Parking 2020 contact: Jason Conboy, Commercial Development Manager T: 020 7091 7895 E: jason@landor.co.uk
and many, many more…
Book your place visit: www.traffic-parking.uk
PR343_P24-25_CAZ TaPWeb.qxp_PR343_p24-25 13/11/2020 22:11 Page 24
AIR QUALITY
The risk from NO2 is highly localised so the intervention needs to be targeted to the problem areas Sam Harrison
On the road to cleaner air Clean Air Zones and other measures will enable councils to comply with the EU Air Quality Directive, JAQU’s Sam Harrison told a Traffic + Parking webinar. Deniz Huseyin reports
A
fter being knocked off course by COVID-19, plans to roll out Clean Air Zones (CAZs) across England are once more gathering momentum. The first charging CAZs will go live in Bath and Birmingham on 12 March and 1 June respectively. These will be the first schemes to be implemented outside London. It is no surprise that CAZ preparations were held up by COVID-19, said Sam Harrison, head of communications and stakeholder engagement at the Joint Air Quality Unit (JAQU), a joint venture between the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Department for Transport (DfT) to deliver the UK government’s NO2 reduction strategies. “Ministers felt it was right there should be a delay because dealing with the pandemic was clearly the priority,” he said at the ‘What Next for Clean Air Zones?’ webinar, organised by Landor LINKS last month. But, as stated by transport secretary Grant Shapps, COVID-19 should not stop councils introducing CAZ schemes, said Harrison. “Hence, the acceleration that you’ve seen recently in delivering CAZ plans.” Alongside Bath and Birmingham, charging schemes are to be introduced in Sheffield and Rotherham, Gateshead and Newcastle, Greater Manchester, Bradford, Liverpool, Basildon and Essex, Bristol and Portsmouth. Non-charging schemes, meanwhile, are due to launch in Coventry, Fareham, Derby, Southampton, Nottingham, Dudley, Reading, Solihull, Leicester, Newcastle-under-Lyme and Portsmouth. Noncharging schemes will focus on measures to change behaviour such as: improved traffic management; safe cycling routes; upgrading bus fleets; supporting a shift to electric taxis; and encouraging the uptake of electric cars and installing more charging points.
Targeted approach Road transport is responsible for 80% of concentrations of NO2 at the roadside, with diesel vehicles the largest source in the local areas of greatest concern. CAZ schemes are being introduced to
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bring high NO2 areas within EU Air Quality Directive limits as quickly as possible. “The risk from NO2 is highly localised so the intervention needs to be targeted to the problem areas,” said Harrison. The UK government has been taken to the High Court three times over its failure to bring NO2 within limits set out in EU directive. “We’ve been taken to court because the NO2 concentrations at roadside exceed the legal limit of 40.19 micrograms per cubic metre,” explained Harrison. The legal actions led to JAQU identifying the local authority areas where urgent action was needed. It sometimes raises irritation with people, but the government position is that the NO2 issue is localised within certain areas. Therefore, it needs to be targeted at those areas rather than a broad-brush approach. What we did was to set out the challenge to local authorities to monitor their data and come up with solutions that would bring down NO2 within legal limits.” The government is offering councils £880m to implement clean air plans. “This is ring-fenced specifically for the local authorities that have to put in a NO2 local plan.” This is not the only financial support available, Harrison stressed, citing the Transforming Cities Fund and schemes to pay for the retrofitting of buses. “We are going to see a lot more of these funds coming in as time moves on.”
New infrastructure Central and local government is delivering new infrastructure for charging CAZs including cameras, an online vehicle compliance checker, and a charge payment portal. The vehicle checker was launched in early 2020 and the central payment portal is due to be ready for the launch of the first CAZs in 2021. NO2 levels have followed the fluctuations in traffic caused by COVID-19 and lockdown, Harrison noted. “So, when we saw low road traffic at the beginning of the pandemic, NO2 levels dropped. As cars and vehicles have come back onto the road, we’re seeing those reductions slip away a little bit and an increase in numbers.
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AIR QUALITY “The online vehicle checker is improving all the time because we’re getting more and more data on it. And also we’re developing a charging payment portal with business accounts as part of that,” he added. However, the same patterns have not been seen for particulate and ozone levels, said Harrison. “We have ensured that monitoring networks continue to operate normally and have set up new tools to analyse these data. NO2 compliance may be improved this year but the longer term picture is complicated.” Though JAQU currently focusses on NO2 levels, it plans to turn its attentions to particulates. This will become necessary as the Environment Bill includes “ambitious targets” for reducing particulates, Harrison said. “The government is very enthusiastic about getting this Bill through its readings. Particulates is the next big one, and it will be presenting the new challenges once we’ve got NO2 out of the way.” Extreme weather conditions can also impact air quality, Harrison said. “It’s staggering how much different weather forms can impact NO2. And it has been an extreme weather year, which has made things interesting in terms of monitoring.”
No CAZ for Leeds During the webinar, Harrison was asked why Leeds City Council has shelved its plans for a CAZ. He explained that during October a joint review by the council and the government had revealed that businesses have switched to cleaner vehicles faster than expected. This means the roads covered by the EU Air Quality Directive are now compliant with NO2 limit values. “We wouldn’t have changed our position had that not been the case. Leeds does not seem to suffer quite so badly from a slow fleet turnover. There are concerns that circumstances might change, so there will be an ongoing review process. And, obviously, if there’s a return to the levels seen before then we may need to have a different conversation with Leeds City Council.” Harrison praised the council for proactively addressing air quality issues and making good use of an Early Measures Fund grant from JAQU. “For other local authorities in the same position, I think there is a lesson to be learned from the approach taken by Leeds, and spending money earlier, which has had an impact.” However, topographical factors and different weather conditions may favour some areas more than others, Harrison said. “So, Leeds is different from, say, Birmingham and Bath, and cities which are in basins or valleys. All these things need remembering, though I wouldn’t say, as some people have, that Leeds have got away with it. It’s not a question of getting away with it; Leeds did the work and got to the position where they’ve reduced their NO2 level down to legal limits.” HGV fleets will gradually become compliant though fleets can take six to seven years to change, said Harrison. “So, obviously, we’ll be getting more compliant vehicles coming in over time. Also, the way business is working is having an impact. We are getting more white vans out on the road. But, equally, some businesses are not able to operate in the way that they were previously operating. So you’re seeing different vehicles.”
Strategic Road Network Alongside the CAZ schemes, Highways England is working to improve air quality on non-compliant links of the Strategic Road Network (SRN). Harrison noted that the introduction of smart motorways on some sections of the SRN has reduced traffic, resulting in a drop in NO2 levels. A smart motorway is a section of road that uses traffic management methods – such as using the hard shoulder as a running lane and using variable speed limits – to increase capacity and reduce congestion in particularly busy areas. Harrison welcomed the positive impact of smart motorways on air quality but warned: “It won’t solve every single problem by any stretch of imagination. Traffic management does have a part to play in these issues. The government is pressing Highways England to ensure that they do comply [with the NO2 limits] and make every effort.” Traffic modelling on the SRN shows there are “some very significant challenges, which are going to need to be addressed”. Harrison welcomed new measures to improve air quality. “For
example,” he said, “Highways England is installing electric vehicle charge points every 20 miles on 95% of the Strategic Road Network. This will definitely help.” Highways England has also pledged to help local authorities invest in fleets of electric vans. Earlier this year it awarded Leeds City Council £2m to buy nearly 70 electric vans. Highways England also plans to help other councils switch to electric vans.
Risk of displacement During the webinar’s Q&A session, Harrison was asked how JAQU would stop CAZs displacing poor air quality to neighbouring areas. “Displacement has to be considered as part of any plan or study where there is exceedances of NO2, because clearly there’s no point in taking action if you’re going to move it three roads to the left.” Local authorities should use modelling to identify if traffic displacement is likely. “I think where you cross local authority boundaries, councils should work together to develop plans. But one of the things we are seeing across the board is that the cleanliness of fleet mix is improving. That will ultimately reduce the emissions in any area, which should address issues about displacement.”
Effective monitoring Looking ahead, Harrison said JAQU will ensure the proper monitoring of air quality across the CAZ schemes. It has launched a new NO2 monitoring network (UUNN – UK Urban NO2 Network) of enhanced diffusion tube monitors deployed at 150 roadside locations where the difference between national and local modelling is greatest. This will complement data from the Environment Agency, which works with the air quality team at engineering and environmental consultancy Ricardo to record air quality levels cross the UK. “These are the national baselines that we use in order to keep an eye on the NO2 plans. There’s also a local authority network, and we tend, on the whole, to default to local authority monitoring stations, because they’re targeted in specific areas.” Once CAZ schemes start, JAQU will continue to monitor air quality. “We are legally obliged to do so under the EU Air Quality Directive, which has been transposed into UK law,” he said. “So monitoring is essential and it will continue. And it’s not just NO2. We also monitor a range of other pollutants, including ozone, particulate matter and ammonia.” Action is needed urgently to address air pollution, which is “the largest environmental health risk in the UK”. Long-term exposure to air pollution reduces life expectancy by increasing deaths from lung, heart and circulatory conditions and most severely affects vulnerable groups, Harrison said. One of the criticisms of CAZ schemes is they would have an adverse impact on socially deprived residents. He said: “It’s argued they might not have the right sorts of vehicles or the capability to upgrade to cleaner vehicles. But they are also the people most likely to be affected by air pollution.” What Next for Clean Air Zones? was organised by Landor LINKS and sponsored by Marston Holdings. It is available on the Landor LINKS YouTube channel.
Workplace parking levies Should councils consider introducing workplace parking levies as an alternative to Clean Air Zones? Currently, Nottingham City Council is the only authority in the UK operating a workplace parking levy. Since being launched in 2012, the levy has raised more than £60m, which has been ring-fenced to pay for new tram lines, electric and gas buses, and a redevelopment of the train station. During the webinar, JAQU’s Sam Harrison said: “Nottingham’s workplace parking levy clearly seems to have had the desired impact in keeping NO2 levels down. I don’t think it’s necessarily an alternative to Clean Air Zones. But I do think that there’s potential certainly for it to be complementary and one of the measures that local authorities could consider when putting together a NO2 plan.”
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BUSINESS NEWS
Debt Recovery Plus backs People’s Parking Accreditation scheme to be promoted to private sector operators Debt Recovery Plus (DRP) will be promoting the People’s Parking accreditation scheme to its private parking clients across the UK. The aim is to gain accreditation for 20 car parks run by parking operators who use DRP as their debt recovery agency. DRP will work with its clients to identify key sites for accreditation. It will then provide support to fund their journey to accreditation, as well as providing individual support to parking managers to complete their application and to implement any remedial or improvement work that needs to be undertaken to secure the accreditation. Stewart Clure, managing director of DRP, said: “We’re excited to be partnering with People’s Parking to further its vital work in promoting accessibility for all motorists in the UK. Debt
Stewart Clure
Helen Dolphin MBE Recovery Plus recognise the important role that private parking companies play in ensuring compliant and accessible parking for everyone. We hope that by helping our clients to tackle any areas for improvement they may have, we will continue to raise the bar for the industry and help People’s Parking to drive standards.”
Helen Dolphin MBE, director of People’s Parking, said: “We’re thrilled to be working with DRP to put the People’s Parking accreditation into some of their clients’ car parks. People’s Parking helps drive up standards by externally auditing car park and providing help and advice on improving facilities. “We have a variety of different
Clark and Fassetta become BPA directors The British Parking Association has made two promotions to its senior management team. Steve Clark has been made director of operations and business development, with responsibility for the strategic enhancement and delivery of BPA activities. He will be supported by the appointment of a temporary head of the Approved Operator Scheme (AOS) for nine months to allow him to focus on the development of the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019. Caron Fassetta is now director of membership and communications, with
Steve Clark responsibility for the delivery of integrated communications across BPA activities. Kelvin Reynolds, director of corporate and public affairs, will transition to a part-time working pattern from April
Caron Fassetta 2021 and focus on governance, stakeholder engagement and technology, innovation and research. Dave Smith will continue as head of the public affairs and communications team.
accreditations which car parks can achieve, including ‘Accessible for disabled people’, ‘Family friendly’ and ‘Convenient for commuters’. We have recently added an accreditation for dualelectric charging and accessible bays, as there was currently no standard for this and we want to encourage more operators to install them.”
SWARCO Traffic opens new facility Technology company SWARCO Traffic has moved into larger premises that provide additional space for production, assembly, servicing and spares. The facility in west London is based at a former high-end racing stable. Andrew Walker, business development at SWARCO Traffic, said: “Having outgrown our facility in Richmond, the new premises will allow further expansion and enable us to continue to provide the highest level of service and support to our customers and clients.”
Tuohy is new CEO of Campaign for Better Transport
Paul Tuohy
The Campaign for Better Transport has appointed Paul Tuohy as its new chief executive. He takes over from Darren Shirley, who has left to lead the Department for Transport’s new Acceleration Unit. Tuohy joins the campaign after working for six years transforming the former Cyclists’ Touring Club into Cycling UK, an active travel and campaigning charity supporting cycling and influencing government policy. He instituted the ‘Big Bike
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Revival’, which engaged an estimated quarter of a million people back to cycling, in collaboration with the Department for Transport. Tuohy was also instrumental in creating the Walking and Cycling Alliance with like-minded organisations that convinced government to commit over £2bn towards more walking and cycling infrastructure and education programmes. Prior to Cycling UK, Paul worked
with YMCA and RNIB and was the chief executive of Missing People. “The work of Campaign for Better Transport has never been more important than it is today,” he said. “The pressing need to bring transport’s greenhouse gas emissions in line with net zero targets has been joined by the need to recover and renew transport networks after COVID-19 and reverse the trend of people returning to cars.”
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BUSINESS NEWS
Bailiff delivers PPE to Citizens Advice Bureau Bristow & Sutor donates personal protection equipment Citizens Advice in Birmingham has received several boxes of personal protective equipment (PPE) from Bristow & Sutor, a debt recovery company based in Washford, Redditch. During 2019 and 2020, Citizens Advice has delivered 1,265 outreach sessions in hospitals, libraries, job centres, HMP Birmingham, Birmingham Magistrates’ Court and mental health venues across Birmingham. Fifty volunteers and 57 paid staff helped to assist 28,924 clients during this time. The boxes of masks, hand gel, wipes and gloves supplied by Bristow & Sutor will help ensure the advice service work can continue safely. Kelly Danks, debt service manager, Citizens Advice Birmingham, said: “This PPE donation will allow us to speak face-to-face with more local people about their circumstances. This is important for vulnerable
members of the Birmingham community, especially when you consider more people may be facing vulnerable circumstances currently.” Bristow & Sutor has a strong connections with the city, having a 12-year history of working for Birmingham City Council. Bristow & Sutor has also been ensuring its enforcement agents are provided with PPE. Its bailiffs now possess equipment such as masks, hand sanitisers, antibacterial wipes, disinfectant sprays and gloves as standard. All members of staff have been trained on the use of PPE and must pass an industry approved course before being allowed to conduct visits. They are not permitted to enter properties currently, so any resolution found is done so in a socially distanced manner from the doorstep. The company said it received zero complaints related to doorstep enforcement since the resumption of visits at the end of August. Bristow & Sutor also uses a range of other measures to engage with debtors, such as
Kelly Danks of Citizens Advice Birmingham and Simon Freedman from Bristow & Sutor phone calls, webchats and text reminders. Before resuming visits, Bristow & Sutor supplied reconnection letters to debtors, giving them the opportunity to set up flexible payment arrangements and discuss changing circumstances.
A lifeline for the hospitality sector? Hotels, restaurants and pubs hit hard by COVID-19 can generate additional income by renting out their empty parking spaces, suggests YourParkingSpace.co.uk. The hospitality industry has suffered particularly badly in the UK following the pandemic, with sales expected to be down by more than 50% over the previous year. However, many hospitality locations could be sitting on a potentially valuable under-utilised asset – their vacant parking spaces – says YourParkingSpace.co.uk. Data from the online parking portal highlights that hotels are embracing the additional moneymaking opportunity more than pubs and restaurants, capitalising on having very large car parks. At present YourParkingSpace.co.uk currently lists parking spaces at 850 hotels, compared to just 85 pubs and 15 restaurants. Harrison Woods, managing director at YourParkingSpace.co.uk, said: “COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on the hospitality sector. Many hotels, restaurants and pubs still face an uncertain future, so any additional revenue stream could be invaluable. One such opportunity is renting out
We currently supply and have vacancies around the UK for Permanent and Temporary positions: • Civil Enforcement Officers • Environmental Enforcement Officers
empty parking spaces to motorists needing somewhere to park. This is a particularly attractive proposition for those bars, pubs, hotels or guest houses located in town and city centre locations.” YourParkingSpace.co.uk says that more than £200,000 is generated for hotels each month, with a handful of hotels earning five-figure sums per month. Woods said: “With a second nationwide lockdown a possibility, and the worrying prospect of millions possibly losing their jobs, the hospitality sector can ill afford to miss any extra revenue-making opportunities and potentially recoup some of their losses. “YourParkingSpace.co.uk is keen to work alongside any business that has empty parking spaces that could otherwise be earning them money when they are not being used.”
• Parking Back Office (Appeals/Notice Processing/Correspondence) • Parking Change Management • Interim Parking Managers • Car Park Attendants/Marshalls/Stewarding • Parking Supervisors (Both Enforcement and Back Office) • Parking Management (Both Enforcement and Back Office) • Heads of Parking/Directors • Parking Technologies (Business Development and Project Managers/ Field Service Engineers/General Managers)
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Looking for staff or need employment? Please contact our experienced team on: Tel: 0203 668 5680 Email: parking@unity-recruitment.co.uk Web: www.unity-recruitment.co.uk
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PRIVATE LAND
Making practice perfect International Parking Community
I Rival parking associations take different stances on private land appeals services. Mark Moran reports
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he UK’s two parking trade associations have adopted opposing responses to government proposals to create a single appeals service for motorists who want to contest parking charge notices issued on private land. The idea of a single appeals service is supported by the British Parking Association (BPA) but is being opposed by the International Parking Community (IPC). Currently, the British Parking Association and International Parking Community operate separate codes of practice, approved operator schemes and appeals services. Membership of the associations’ approved operator schemes enables parking operators to gain access to vehicle keeper information, which is needed to enforce parking charge notices issued on private land. Both associations have established appeals services that allow motorists to challenge parking charge notices. The IPC’s service is called the Independent Appeals Service (IAS), while the BPA’s is Parking on Private Land Appeals (POPLA). The (Parking Code of Practice) Act 2019 will replace both the parallel codes with a unified set of protocols. The government has suggested the creation of a single appeals service to supersede the IAS and POPLA. However, while the BPA supports the creation of a single appeals service, the IPC is not convinced by this idea. The reform of the private parking sector is being overseen by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). The British Standards Institution (BSI) was commissioned to develop a Publicly Available Specification (PAS) for the private parking sector that will create a single code of practice. Both the MHCLG and BSI have now completed their parallel consultations and are analysing the feedback. The BSI will be collating its responses to the project steering group on which representatives of the two parking associations sit. The MHCLG will prepare papers to present to ministers and a final version of the code is expected to appear in early 2021, with implementation due to take place later in the year.
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n its response to the MHCLG and BSI consultations, the International Parking Community (IPC) argues that the new Parking Code of Practice for private land must balance the needs of landowners, motorists and parking operators. It calls for protections for areas where parking is not permitted, such as drop-off and pick-up bays. In a joint response submitted to both consultations, the IPC said it supports the government’s ambition to introduce a single code of practice that provides clarity to both motorists and landowners. It also backs the introduction of a ‘Scrutiny and Standards Board’ to improve transparency and the creation of an appeals charter. However, the IPC has called for a series of changes to the proposals to ensure the final code and its regulation are properly balanced. These changes include: • protections to be included for landowners whose land is not intended for public parking at all, or where parking is only available on very short term, specific criteria. This is critical to ensure areas such as airport pick-up and drop-off zones or very short-stay car parks are not left open to abuse • the closure of some technical loopholes that could allow abuse of private land by a small minority of motorists in future • the introduction of a simpler, two-tier system for parking charges rather than the three-tier system being proposed to provide greater clarity to motorists • ensuring that camera technology can continue to be used to issue parking charges on private land • allowing more than one appeals service to operate as long as all appeals services comply with the existing standards set out in consumer protection regulations for alternative dispute resolution (ADR). The IPC emphasises the importance of the parking charges being set at a level that is sufficient to deter the breaching of parking terms on private land. It set out that the consequence of non-payment of parking charge notices on public land were much more serious and highlighted that a higher level of charge was therefore required on private land to ensure sufficient deterrent remained in place. Will Hurley, chief executive of the IPC said: “The introduction of a new code of practice for parking is an opportunity to simultaneously provide more clarity to motorists, enforce high standards among parking operators while ensuring that landowners can effectively manage their land for parking purposes. “We support large elements of the proposals put forward by government but it is vital this gets implemented in a way that avoids loopholes and unintended consequences. It is critical to remember that this code is not just about the rules for public car parks, it applies to all private land. Less than 8% of the sites managed by our members are sites where the public are invited to park, either for free or for a fee. Many of the changes we have proposed are about ensuring that this code works in all relevant settings. Ultimately, we want to see a fair, proportionate process which is not open for abuse by land owners, operators or motorists.” www.theipc.info
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PRIVATE LAND
British Parking Association
New code will be fair for all Why now is the right time for the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019, by Luke Hall MP
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he British Parking Association (BPA) supports the concept of creating a single code and single appeals service. It has also suggested the creation of a three-tiered parking charge and an ‘Appeals Charter’. Steve Clark, BPA director of operations and business development, said: “We are pleased to be working closely with government and others, including consumers and motorist groups, to design a parking code and associated arrangements which provide an even fairer outcome for motorists, landowners and parking operators alike. We’ve always wanted a standard-setting body, a single code of practice, and a single independent appeals service, all of which are vital if we are to truly enable effective parking management on private land. We have worked closely with government, BSI and other stakeholders throughout the process to inform the development of PAS 232. “We have listened to government and MP concerns and share their desire to produce standards that enable effective parking management that is fairer, clearer and more proportionate. The value of a parking charge has always been contentious. We have, therefore, put forward a proposal for a three-tier parking charge plus an appeals charter, which will be fairer, clearer and more proportionate for everyone. Having a three-tiered parking charge provides for more effective deterrents for anti-social parking that no stakeholders would condone, such as occupying Blue Badge bays. At the same time it provides for lower-tier charges for less serious breaches of parking terms and conditions, such as parking longer than permitted, or that has been paid for. Underpinned by the appeals charter this will remove many of the perceived and real injustices, for example, a permit falling off a dashboard or a simple keying error.” The BPA has also given the government its views on how to revise regulations covering parking on railways. Steve Clark said: “Government has asked the BPA for its views on a range of proposals which would bring railway car parks under the provisions of the Protection of Freedoms Act (POFA). Broadly, we agree with their proposals but have made it clear that a practical implementation schedule is agreed to.” The BPA is campaigning for clarity on the clauses in railway byelaws where they relate to parking controls. The association said that government officials have previously committed to providing clarification but, until then, the BPA has temporarily removed the requirement for its members who manage parking at railway locations under byelaws to offer an appeal via Parking on Private Land Appeals (POPLA). Motorists who breach the advertised terms and conditions and receive a penalty notice and believe it has been unfairly issued are still able to appeal to the operator. When an operator follows up any unpaid penalty notices, motorists will also have an opportunity to put their case again at the Magistrates Court. The BPA’s other proposals include: • Revoke the parking-related railway byelaws • Remove the ability to clamp and/or remove in areas designated for parking; Train Operating Companies (TOC), however, will retain powers to clamp and/or remove vehicles where the security of access to track and other safety-relevant assets on railway land is compromised • Bring railway car parks under the provisions of POFA, meaning railway land becomes ‘relevant land’. This will enable members to hold vehicle keepers liable for parking contraventions as if they were the driver. Additionally, the BPA envisages motorists who receive a parking charge notice in a railway car park being able to have their appeal heard by the proposed single independent appeals service for parking on private land. www.britishparking.co.uk
Luke Hall MP
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here is nothing quite like the annoyance of receiving an unfair parking ticket. I know this may seem trivial in a year of huge challenges, but the pandemic has reminded us that the most simple freedoms are also the most important: the ability to meet friends and family; to travel to work how we choose; and to move around safely without being penalised. Restoring confidence to our High Street is crucial to our recovery. I know that the parking sector, as with many, is doing everything possible to reduce the impacts of COVID-19. That’s why now is the right time to remove barriers to customers returning to our town centres, such as unjustified parking charges and aggressive tactics by rogue operators who threaten to give the parking industry a bad name. This is what the consultation on the first ever government-backed code of practice for private parking firms aims to deliver – a fairer, cleaner, more consistent, more proportionate system that is good for motorists and for the industry. If an operator wants to access DVLA data, they will need to follow the code. I am genuinely grateful to British Parking Association (BPA) members for their contributions to our consultation, which will help shape these measures. They include proposals for: a cap on parking fines; a 10-minute grace period before a late fine can be issued; and a requirement for parking firms to clearly display pricing and terms and conditions. We are also proposing a compulsory five-minute cooling-off period where a motorist can consider the terms and conditions and change their mind. In addition, motorists who have made a genuine mistake – such as keying in a digit of their number plate incorrectly or who have mitigating circumstances for overstaying their time – will be able to rely on a simpler appeals system. They can be confident in challenging unfairness more easily, building on best practice introduced recently by BPA members. Crucially, the consultation also proposes a new tiered approach to parking fines that differentiates between major and minor offences, preventing excessive charges while increasing maximum fines for the worst offenders who put people in danger and stop our emergency services from carrying out their duties. The consultation also calls time on parking fines using aggressive or pseudo-legal language to intimidate motorists into paying fines. These measures can strike the right balance between fairness for millions of motorists across the country and more rigorous approach to serious offences. We know the majority of parking firms already follow the rules and are passionate about them. They display terms and conditions clearly, and consider appeals fairly. Indeed, I know that many private operators have been offering parking spaces to NHS workers during the coronavirus crisis and I want to thank them deeply for that.These changes will help bring about higher standards across the industry and bring our high streets back to life. Luke Hall MP is minister for regional growth and local government
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PRIVATE LAND Will Hurley, chief executive of the IPC, says the new Code of Practice for Parking must take full account of all scenarios and all types of parking on private land if it is to fulfil the government’s stated objectives
Let’s create a considered, relevant, future-proof parking code
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ny regulation or instruction either has clarity or it doesn’t. If it’s clear to one person but not another, there is no clarity. The same is true for fairness. Something that is fair, by definition, has to be allinclusive of all parties involved – it’s either fair or it isn’t. The introduction of a new ‘Code of Practice for Parking’ provides a wonderful opportunity to provide clarity and fairness for motorists and landowners alike. The International Parking Community (IPC) fully supports the government’s pursuit of this goal. We remain optimistic that the recent consultation processes conducted by the British Standards Institute (BSI) and Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) will help to ensure that such target outcomes are delivered on a full understanding of all the facts and variables associated with parking a vehicle on private land. It is easy to forget, after all, that the new code applies to parking on all types of private land, not just in those car parks where motorists are invited to park their vehicles. Indeed, of the 30,000 sites managed by members of the IPC, less than 8% offer open parking to motorists for free or a fee. The vast majority of sites provide either private or restricted parking for authorised individuals and legitimate permit holders or prohibit any form of parking at all times. Over 84% of the sites are exclusively used for residential or business parking. It is quite telling, however, that a fifth of all appeals raised against a parking charge notice (PCN), and rejected by car park operators, originate from retail parking sites that only account for less than 7% of the total number of sites. Viewed in isolation, this would give a very distorted picture of the real picture of parking practices, behaviours and experiences on private land. Developing a code that has taken full account of all such com-
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plexities, legalities and the different scenarios of parking on private land is the only way to ensure clarity and fairness. It is vital that the well-intentioned objectives of a new code do not inadvertently create new problems, act as a catalyst for new errant behaviours or give rise to loopholes that could have an adverse impact on responsible motorists and landowners. This is particularly significant for those individuals who have special needs or have rights of access to (or use of) a particular parking space or area of land – not to mention the need to ensure that the convenience of short-stay and drop-off zones are not abused to the detriment of other motorists.
Clarity for all I believe the new ‘Parking Code’ should help advise and provide clarity for everyone involved in parking on private land about their rights and legal obligations. It would be nonsensical – and a missed opportunity – to view one element without considering all factors and assessing both the direct and indirect impact of different courses of action on other parties, as everything is interconnected. For example, the purpose of a parking charge is to create compliance with the landowner’s desired use of the land as confirmed by the Supreme Court decision in ParkingEye Limited v Beavis. This case affirmed that the fundamental purpose of a parking charge is to deter a motorist from doing something they are not permitted to do and confirmed that such a charge was enforceable if it was not extravagant or unconscionable. A simplistic comparison with parking charges on public land does not bear scrutiny as the law and process of enforcement for local authorities is fundamentally different than it is for private companies. Not only have local authorities been granted powers to immobilise and remove vehicles, there is also a much more
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PRIVATE LAND robust enforcement regime and a substantial escalation process for parking contraventions on public land. This acts as a significant deterrent to those individuals who repeatedly breach terms and conditions, with only minimal costs incurred by a local authority. The only option available to private landowners to help maximise compliance with parking terms and conditions on private land is the parking charge.
It is vital that the well-intentioned objectives in a new code of practice do not create new problems Will Hurley
To retain such a deterrent, the level of the charge and/or enforcement escalation must be sufficient to be effective. This requires the level (and reduced rates) to be set sufficiently higher than the actual cost of a day’s parking, as only one parking charge per day can be issued for a single parking event. And, the level of the parking charge must be at a level that is commercially viable to recover. If it isn’t, then the deterrent effect is lost and there would be an inevitable increase in parking breaches that would undermine fairness and accessibility for other responsible motorists.
Avoiding risks and confusion To provide real clarity for motorists, The IPC is advocating a simpler two-tier system for parking charges. We believe the threetier system currently proposed could easily result in avoidable confusion and risks raising more issues – not least compounding the increasing problems and frequency of Blue Badge abuse and mis-use. We are also supportive of the introduction of a Scrutiny and Standards Board – a development that can only help to improve and maintain transparency, scrutiny and consistency across the industry – and we fully endorse the concept of an Appeals Charter. That said, it is vital there are safeguards to encourage motorists to engage with the appeals process with integrity and parking operators to respond reasonably to mitigating circumstances. It should also meet regularly to take full account of emerging trends and technologies and must not be open to abuse by those motorists who repeatedly breach parking terms and conditions on private land. Such objectives will be achieved if the Appeals Charter is managed jointly by the Accredited Parking Associations and overseen by UKAS (the United Kingdom Accreditation Service) and the Scrutiny and Standards Board, and if there is no imposition of a single appeals service. Even accepting the additional scrutiny, a single appeals service would mark a return to the service limitations of a monopoly, undermine the considerable benefits of competitive-led service progression and could cause significant and recurring problems for the industry and motorists for many years to come. Giving full consideration to the myriad of factors and consequences is the route for delivering balanced and proportionate regulation of parking on private land. Having submitted a detailed and evidence-based response to the consultations, we are pleased to have played our part in the process and remain optimistic that the pursuit of fairness and clarity for motorists and landowners alike is now within reach. Will Hurley is chief executive of the International Parking Community (IPC), which is a DVLA-accredited trade association (ATA) representing parking operators from both the public and private sectors. The trade association represents half of the parking operators who manage car parking on private land. www.theipc.info
High Noon for cowboys Some private parking companies want a return to clamping, warns Edmund King
A
push by private parking firms to bring back the cowboy wheel clamping and towing scourge that was banned in 2012 has been uncovered by the AA’s Motoring Policy Unit. In submissions to a consultation on a code of conduct for private parking enforcement, scores of respondents from the industry called for the return of clamping. Many were so brazen in their lobbying that they elevated their demands to the top of their responses. While the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), held a consultation on certain aspects of the draft codes’ implementation, the British Standards Institution (BSI) held a separate consultation on the contents of draft code. Responses to the BSI consultation have now been removed from public view, following the end of the submissions’ period, but the intent from some of the private parking industry had become very clear. Within the feedback on the BSI documents, private parking firms called for clamping and towing of vehicles to return on the basis that the charges were not enough to deter offenders. Some made these comments as their initial response to the consultation, adding their recommendations to the commentary for both the foreword and introduction sections of the draft document. Other recommendations by private parking firms also called for the appeals process to be removed from drivers who had not updated their address details with the DVLA. This would mean that drivers making an honest mistake or moving to a new house at the time of the incident, would not be eligible to use the new appeals process. Drivers now face two threats if the private parking operators get their way: • the return of wheel clampers, towing and the huge associated fees • innocent drivers being frozen out of the appeals process if their contact details do not match the DVLA’s, perhaps because they have just moved house. Following long and arduous campaigning by the AA, clamping on private land was outlawed eight years ago, however clamping can still take place in some locations such as train station or airport car parks due to long standing byelaws. Outraged by the brazen intent by private parking firms, the AA has highlighted the comments to MHCLG and asked for assurances that clamping will not return under any circumstances and that the pre-existing byelaws be removed to completely ban the practice. The AA has also called for: • a simple system rather than three levels of confusing fines • a 50% discount for charges paid early • an independent legal appeals service • surcharge on DVLA information obtained by parking companies to pay for appeals • the government to investigate parking charge ‘hotspots’. Clamping is an abhorrent practice that we thought was long gone, but clearly the intent from some parking firms has never gone away. Cowboy clampers want to corral the wagons again. Horror stories of days gone by of enforcers requesting gold teeth in lieu of payment, clamping a hearse with the corpse in the back, holding a young child hostage until extortionate payments are made and other disgraceful acts, could be just around the corner. This now brings us to a duel at High Noon. Clamping cannot return under any circumstances. The government has the chance to stop rogue firms in their tracks. We hope they do so quickly and forcefully. We also need a simplified and transparent private parking system with a totally independent appeals service so that there is no chance of cowboy parking companies acting as judge and jury. Edmund King OBE is president of the AA
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DISABLED PARKING
Please protect Blue Badge bays The annual Baywatch survey reveals alarming levels of disabled parking abuse, reports DMUK’s Graham Footer
H
aving the ability to drive to and park at their desired destination is crucial to ensuring the independence of disabled people. Sadly, too many disabled people are being disadvantaged and prevented from living independent lives because of the state of the nation’s disabled parking provision and enforcement. The results of the annual Disabled Motoring UK Baywatch survey should be a wake-up call that the retail, local authority and parking sectors, making them realise that more needs to be done to make adequate provision for disabled motorists and make sure this provision is enforced.
The survey During August Disabled Motoring UK (DMUK) asked the public to help with our annual Baywatch campaign by completing a survey on their parking experiences over the past 12 months. The results have now been calculated. This year we had the biggest number of responses that we have ever seen, which goes to show how important the problem of disabled parking abuse remains. The total number of responses was 777. Traditionally, the Baywatch Campaign asks the public to survey supermarket car parks for levels of disabled parking abuse. We were unable to undertake this type of campaign in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, we asked the public to complete a survey from home that asked them questions on their more general parking experiences. This allowed DMUK to expand the scope of the campaign to other parking settings.
Local authorities One of the most alarming statistics that came from the survey results was that 95.6% of participants did not think that local
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authorities were doing enough to tackle Blue Badge abuse. This is a very high percentage, but not at all surprising to DMUK. Every year the Blue Badge statistics are released, and every year the number of local authorities actually prosecuting Blue Badge fraud is disappointingly low. The Baywatch Campaign also showed that only 20.8% of Blue Badge holders had ever been asked to have their Blue Badge inspected by an official and that 96.4% of participants supported more inspections of Blue Badges. The disabled community has spoken, and local authorities must do more to support their parking needs. DMUK wants to see far more Blue Badge inspections and enforcement of the onstreet concession.
Disabled people are being prevented from living independent lives because of the state of disabled parking provision Graham Footer
Supermarket parking With the data gathered we cannot produce our usual supermarket league table of who is performing best and worst. However, the results have shown that 53.4% of participants either find it ‘Difficult’ or ‘Very difficult’ to find suitable disabled parking in general at supermarkets. Also, 86.8% found that disabled parking bays were either ‘Often’ or ‘Very often’ abused. (‘Abused’ is defined as vehicles parking in disabled bays not displaying a Blue Badge.) These statistics show that supermarkets are not doing enough
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DISABLED PARKING
to support their disabled customers. Disabled parking is not managed properly, disabled parking bays are clearly not enforced, and abuse of the bays is rife. Looking specifically at enforcement DMUK asked the question: When parking at the supermarket do you ever see signs of enforcement? In response to this 55.1% of respondents said No. The next question asked was: If you have reported disabled parking abuse to a member of staff do they take action? 86.7% of respondents answered ‘No’ to this question. This is distressing and shows that when a disabled customer asks for help their concerns are ignored by supermarket staff.
General findings The survey also asked participants about parking on their everyday journeys, not just at the supermarkets. On these types of journeys 74.8% of respondents said that finding suitable disabled parking was either ‘Difficult’ or ‘Very difficult’. Also, generally when parking 87.7% of respondents said that they ‘Often’ or ‘Very often’ saw disabled bays being abused. These statistics are appalling and clearly indicate that the parking industry needs to once and for all provide adequate parking provision to disabled motorists and make sure it is enforced correctly. The level of deterrent needs to reflect the importance of keeping disabled bays free for genuine users and at present the deterrent clearly is not enough.
Impact of the coronavirus pandemic Earlier in the summer, DMUK started to receive anecdotal evidence that disabled bays were being removed from car parks to make room for socially distanced queuing. As lockdown restrictions eased this became a more common problem. We posed the question in our survey: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic have you seen disabled bays being removed (e.g. for queuing)? Some 65.8% of respondents answered ‘Yes’ to this question. Once again the needs of disabled people have been pushed to the back of the queue and equality has been forgotten. Graham Footer is chief executive of Disabled Motoring UK
Support for better enforcement The DMUK Baywatch 2020 Campaign had two main sponsors, the British Parking Association (BPA) and BBFi Public Sector Investigations. Dave Smith, head of public affairs and communications at the BPA, said: “The results of this year’s survey show that more must be done to tackle the abuse of disabled parking bays and the public’s attitudes towards disabled and accessible parking generally needs to change. The parking sector has a clear role to play in ensuring that parking spaces reserved for Blue Badge holders are managed properly so that they are not obstructed and used only by people displaying a valid disabled Blue Badge. We encourage all those who manage parking to properly enforce their disabled bays so that only genuine Blue badge holders can park there.” Paul Slowey, director of BBFi, said: “As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the ground-breaking Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970, which introduced disability parking permits, the scheme is clearly still not enforced – only 1-in-5 people have had a badge checked. This shows a shocking disregard for protecting the rights of disabled motorists by local authorities who, 95% of disabled drivers say, are not doing enough. Where the few that have chosen to protect the rights of disabled motorists and enforce the scheme, compliance with the law is very high. The reality is that enforcing the scheme works.”
How to help DMUK Baywatch 2021 DMUK has launched a fundraising initiative called the Baywatch Appeal to help it continue campaigning on the issue of disabled parking abuse. The appeal will help the charity raise funds to keep advocating the need for proper management of disabled parking bays. www.disabledmotoring.org/donate
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PARKING STRUCTURES
STUDIO EGRET WEST
Visions of parks and car parks Manchester Mayfield project breathes life into area of dereliction A multi-storey car park will be one of the first structures to be built as part of a £1.4bn urban regeneration scheme in Manchester. Phase one of the Mayfield development will feature commercial buildings and the city centre’s first new public park in 100 years. Mayfield is the site of a former printworks, rail station and train depot, which closed in the 1980s, falling into dereliction. The new neighbourhood taking shape is being designed around a new 6.5-acre park, which will be built along the banks of the newly uncovered River Medlock which winds through the heart of the site. The park will be overlooked by two new commercial buildings – The Poulton and The Republic. The 581-space multi-storey car park, equipped with electric vehicle charging points, will be created at the south of site. The project is being delivered by The Mayfield Partnership, a joint venture between regeneration specialist U+I, Manchester City Council, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and developer LCR. Deloitte Real Estate is acting as planning adviser to The Mayfield Partnership. Studio Egret West is the overall masterplanner for Mayfield, landscape architect for Mayfield Park and has also designed the multistorey car park. Bennetts Associates is designing The Poulton and Morris + Company The Republic. Studio Egret West’s strategic framework plan was endorsed by Manchester City Council’s
Mayfield will feature a public park
Studio Egret West’s vision for Mayfield executive committee in 2018 and the development secured planning permission in February. The public park, commercial spaces and car park will sit alongside a range of historic buildings, including the landmark former railway station on Fairfield Street, which are being retained and redeveloped as part of the regeneration. The Victoria station buildings and platforms still remain and the existing heritage assets of the area will form a central part of the regeneration of the area. The site’s vast depot building has already been transformed into a new cultural venue, Depot Mayfield, which contributed to bringing 330,000 visitors to Mayfield in 2019. In September, Depot Mayfield was named the best use of brownfield land in placemaking in the Planning Awards 2020. The judges described the scheme as “a hugely transformational project with communities at its heart”.
Studio Egret West’s founding director David West said: “Since 2016, we’ve been working with our client, The Mayfield Partnership, to breathe new and much-needed life into this 24acre derelict site, with a shared vision to transform it into a thriving mixed-use community in the heart of Manchester. “From the creation of the city centre’s first new public park in 100 years, to the re-use of historic buildings and the remediation of a hidden river, Mayfield is an exemplar of community-led brownfield regeneration. We wanted to create a buzz from day one, paving the way for the social, economic and environmental benefits to come. We’ve done this with a host of pop-up and meanwhile uses.” Richard Upton, chief development officer at U+I, said: “Mayfield will be one of the UK’s defining urban developments this decade. The plans for the first phase bring together exceptional new workplaces with cul-
tural space, centred on a beautifully landscaped park that will provide a transformative and sustainable public amenity for the people of Manchester long into the future. “From welcoming tens of thousands of visitors every week at one of the UK’s best new cultural venues – Depot Mayfield – to the range of enterprises that already call Mayfield home, this long-dormant area is already playing an active role in the city’s life once again.” Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council, said: “The Mayfield scheme will deliver real improvements and opportunities for Manchester’s people. Not only will it create a significant new city centre green space for people to enjoy – something which was integral to the masterplanning of this development – but it will also deliver thousands of new jobs, transforming an unloved and largely underused part of the city centre into a world-class gateway.”
Depot Mayfield
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C
oncerns have been raised that sections of the construction sector is not treating the threat of structural collapse posed by fire in multi-storey car parks seriously. The issue has been raised by Confidential Reporting on Structural Safety (CROSS), an organisation run by Structural-Safety, a body set up by the Institution of Structural Engineers and Institution of Civil Engineers. CROSS shares concerns raised anonymously by individuals working on construction projects. CROSS has shared the observations of a “reporter”, who has concerns about an apparent lack of awareness of reports on the fire at the Echo Arena multistorey car park in Liverpool on 31 December 2017. Over 1,000 vehicles were destroyed in a blaze that resulted in the car park having to be demolished. The reporter is also worried about what they regard as the reluctance of the industry to voluntarily take on board, and proactively react to, the lessons learnt from the blaze. CROSS states: “Being in a privileged position, the reporter often has the opportunity to undertake a peer review and to comment on designs that are in the concept stage or in construction. Sadly, when the reporter challenges the suitability of designs that barely comply with minimum standards, they are confronted with a proliferation of economic reasons that they are told override potential safety issues.” CROSS said that the fire at the Echo Arena car park demonstrated that a 15minute fire resistance rating may be “totally inadequate” for exposed steel- framed multistorey structures occupied by modern vehicles. “However, designers and clients are telling the reporter that, until the regulations
MERSEYSIDE FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE
PARKING STRUCTURES Aftermath of the Liverpool Arena fire, 2017
Alarm rings over fire safety A construction industry insider has shared their worries about car park fire safety with Structural-Safety’s CROSS change, the design has to be to current standards,” said CROSS. “There is little doubt, says the reporter, that the Echo Arena car park may have collapsed if it had been constructed to current standards in unprotected structural steelwork. Whilst structural steelwork is absolutely fine and highly sustainable, it needs to have adequate fire resistance.” The reporter’s concerns extend to the use of permanent metal formwork, which is often specified and used structurally in multi-story car park decks. The reporter feels that the potential effects of fire beyond
the 15-minute rule should be considered. The reporter is also concerned that such systems may have a reduced service life as a result of corrosion that takes place from salt-laden water being trapped between the sheeting and the concrete. CROSS states: “The reporter often sees in existing car parks damaged fire doors which are incapable of protecting egress routes in the event of a fire, and cast iron drain pipes that have been replaced locally with plastic pipes which would burn through and allow burning fuel to cascade onto the decks below and propagate a fire.”
Confidential Reporting on Structural Safety (CROSS) sets out its concerns The list of shortcomings that the reporter raises and an apparent lack of thought and reflection is of concern and does not reflect well on some in the car park industry. A key benefit of CROSS is that the industry can learn from issues and not repeat the mistakes of the past. The risks from the Liverpool fire have been shown in the SCOSS (Standing Committee on Structural Safety) Alert Fire in Multi-Storey Car Parks (February 2018) and designers should take account of these. Building Regulations are minimum standards and responsible, informed owners, designers and contractors will acknowledge this. One of the changes that will come from the Hackitt Review
A firefighter tackles a car park blaze in Cork, Ireland, 2019
is that buildings must be treated as holistic systems and consideration given to what might happen in extreme situations. The recently published Manual to the Building Regulations, clarifies some limitations of the approved documents and also the relationship between Building Regulation (the law) and the approved documents (statutory guidance). The new manual
goes beyond the introduction to Approved Document B and provides helpful advice. Anyone using the approved documents should have sufficient knowledge and skills to understand the guidance and correctly apply it to the building work. This is important because simply following the guidance does not guarantee that your building work will comply with the legal requirements of the
CORK FIRE BRIGADE
CROSS fire: Safety body sets out body of evidence
Building Regulations. Fire safety in car parks is an area that has caused alarm for some time. There have been a number of fires in recent years, some with significant consequences: Monica Wills House, Bristol, December 2006; Brent Cross, December 2007; Shaw Lodge, Manchester, April 2008; Smithfield Gates, Dublin, August 2008; Ancoats, Manchester, November 2008; Cork, August 2019. CROSS has reported before on car park fires, for example report 857 Fire Resistance of Multi-Storey Car Parks published in October 2019. CROSS supports any move to improve safety in car parks and with all of the current attention on the draft Building Safety Regulator there is scope for raising further awareness of the potential problems.
CROSS (Confidential Reporting on Structural Safety), Newsletter 60, October 2020
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PARKING STRUCTURES
Rethinking how Edinburgh Waverley works Masterplan sets out new vehicle, cycling and pedestrian access Plans for a major rebuild of Edinburgh Waverley railway station will see the creation of a cycle parking area, and reorganisation of taxi pick-up and drop-off zones. The project will also see fundamental changes to pedestrian access from surrounding streets. Edinburgh Waverley is the principal station serving Edinburgh, Scotland and, as the northern terminus of the East Coast Main Line, it is the second busiest station in Scotland, after Glasgow Central. Rail industry forecasts suggest that Waverley’s annual passenger throughput could more than double from 23.3 million in 2018 to 49 million in 2048. The vision has been prepared by a team comprising Arup, Allan Murray Architects, Gardiner & Theobald, Grimshaw, JLL, streets-uk, and Jura Consultants. The clients are Network Rail, Transport Scotland and the City of Edinburgh Council. The concept masterplan envisages construction of a mezzanine floor above the platforms and the removal of the access ramps into the station from Waverley Bridge. The access ramps into the station are currently used by pedestrians and service vehicles. Other vehicular traffic is not permitted in the station.
Removing the ramps will allow the platforms beneath to be extended. Two new pedestrians entrances would be provided from Waverley Bridge. The bridge itself is expected to be pedestrianised. It is usually used as the starting point for the city’s tour buses, but has been closed as a through-route as part of COVID-
19 temporary traffic restrictions. A new ‘Old Town’ mezzanine concourse on the south side of the station would be accessed from a revitalised Market Street. A ‘New Town’ mezzanine concourse would be built on the north side of the station. The two concourses would be connected by bridges on a northsouth axis, which will also allow
Edinburgh Waverley
NETWORK RAIL
Kintore station reopens after 56 years
Kintore station Kintore re-joined Scotland’s rail network after an absence of 56 years on 15 October with the opening of the town’s new station. Providing an interchange between rail and road, the twoplatform station is fully accessible, offering step-free access between platforms via a footbridge
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with lifts. Built by Network Rail and main contractor BAM Nuttall, the new station has extensive car parking – including disabled and electric charging bays – and bike storage. With 24 of the 168 parking spaces fitted with
non-rail passengers to walk through the station. The centre of the station will be kept free of the mezzanine floor, allowing daylight to penetrate to the platforms and opening up the area around the Booking Hall building, which will be retained. Provision for 1,800 bicycle parking spaces is proposed near station entrances. Taxi facilities will be provided on a “reorganised” Market Street. Lifts will provide pedestrian access between Market Street and North Bridge above the station. A drop-off point for private cars could be provided on Calton Road, on the north side of the station, if this remains open to traffic. Drop-off and pick-up are allowed in Waverley Court multistorey car park.
electric charging points, Kintore station is now the largest electric vehicle charging place in the northeast of Scotland. Connected to the local bus network, the station also links into the Inverurie-Kintore cycle path. The new station will be served by up to 28 ScotRail trains each day, including refurbished highspeed InterCity trains. Customers will benefit from a half-hourly service at peak times Monday to Saturday, and an hourly service on Sundays. Funded by Transport Scotland, Aberdeenshire Council and Nestrans the new station reconnects Kintore to rail for the first time since 1964, when the original 1854-built station closed as part of the Beeching cuts. Elements of the original station, including heritage benches and salvaged signs, have been reincorporated into the new facility. Reopening Kintore was made possible by the recently completed Aberdeen-Inverness Improvement Project that doubled the track between Aberdeen and Inverurie, increasing capacity for new passenger and freight service on the route.
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PARKING STRUCTURES
Rack storage inside the cycle park
Cycle paths circulate around the park
Taking cycle parking to whole new level Utrecht’s 12,500-space bike park opens The world’s biggest bicycle parking in the world has been created in The Netherlands. The facility at Utrecht’s central railway station has space for over 12,500 bicycles. The three-storey Utrecht Stationsstalling (Station bicycle parking garage) has taken almost five years to complete. The first section of 6,000 spaces opened in August 2017. Capacity was increased by 1,500 to 7,500 places before the final 5,000
spaces were opened on 18 August by junior infrastructure minister Stientje van Veldhoven. Ector Hoogstad Architecten designed the project in collaboration with landscape designers Sant & Co, engineers Royal Haskoning DHV and general contractor BAM. The facility is open 24 hours, 7 days a week. Cyclists enter and exit the underground space on a one-way system of ramps that circle the central parking spaces. Cyclists are guided to free spaces by a digital system and park using a public-transport
chip card. Parking is free for the first 24 hours, and cyclists have access to a service point for repairs, maintenance, parts and accessories. The city of Utrecht employs around 40 people, including workshop staff to carry out minor bike repairs. The €30m (£27m) facility is owned and managed by the municipality of Utrecht. It was financed by the railway company (Prorail, infrastructure management, roughly 60%), the city of Utrecht (20%) and the Ministry of Transport (20%). Nederlandse Spoorwegen (rail passenger
C R E AT I N G
UN FO RG E TTABL E PARK ING EXIT
SHOPS
CINEMA
OFFICES
management) and the European Union, via the CEF (Connecting Europe Facility), also contributed funding. There is now room to park around 33,000 bicycles in the Utrecht Central Station area, of which circa 22,000 spaces are public and free for the first 24 hours. A further 11,000 bicycle parking places – funded by private investors – are set be installed around the train station to accommodate employees and visitors. And 700 public-transport bicycles, called OV-bicycles, will also be available to rent.
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PAYMENT TRENDS
A new way to pay The notanotherapp system will allow drivers to pay with the app of their choice, says Duane Hodges-Stubbs
O
ne major frustration for drivers is arriving at a car park or pulling up at the kerbside only to discover that they don’t have the right cashless parking app loaded on their smartphone. Now a change is happening, Solutionlabs has created a system that enables motorists to pay for parking with their preferred app, no matter where they are. The approach is called notanotherapp, or ‘naa’. Launching this autumn, naa forms part of Solutionlabs’ three-tier brand system that includes phone parking brand tap2park, established over a year ago, and data management and predictive modelling tool input360, which is launching in the Spring of 2021. The vision for notanotherapp is to allow users the opportunity to stick with their favourite app and continue to use that app whenever they move from town to town or city to city. With this approach we make it incumbent upon all app developers to ensure their own service is the best it can be. There is no bias in the naa system and so, ultimately, the best app will shine through. Traditionally, a company will start with a product and build from there. Ultimately a user experience will develop from this. Solutionlabs have ‘flipped’ this approach. Through engagement with customers via the tap2park service we were able to gain true market research from end users. This research showed an overwhelming amount of frustration with the current system of the ‘one size fits all approach’ in which public sector and local authorities are trapped in a monopoly of just a single app. By strategically putting both the user and public sector experience first, we can create a deeper foundation for the service. It’s an empathetic way to drive innovation. We believe that the naa concept will stimulate a more competitive, free market model which incentivises providers to improve their services and deliver the best app possible. Where this has true value for the public sector is by, hopefully, negating the need for those antiquated and restrictive tendering systems. Duane Hodges-Stubbs co-founded Solutionlabs in 2014 and is the company’s technical director www.notanotherapp.co.uk
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Solutionlabs’ Duane Hodges-Stubbs discusses the notanotherapp concept with Mark Moran What exactly are the problems that Solutionlabs is seeking to solve? Solutionlabs has, for many years, driven towards an empathetic approach to innovation and, from our research, we found there was a real need for an open parking payment platform. This open platform will allow car park users the freedom to choose an app provider that best suits them, thus negating the need for users to hold multiple apps unnecessarily. How has a market for notanotherapp been identified? Solutionlabs has its own cashless parking payment platform (one that requires no apps). Over the past two years we have been conducting monthly research with our tens of thousands of tap2park users and have tried to define what their “pain points” are within parking. Overwhelmingly the research showed us that users were frustrated with having to download multiple apps for multiple car parks. Coupled with this, we also found a large majority of users didn’t feel they had the freedom to choose an app that best suited them. Depending on where they were, the service they received from the different app providers would differ drastically. How does the notanotherapp solution work? In its simplest form our notanotherapp system will be invisible to the general public. When a motorist enters the car park the local signage will feature a universal location code and also advise as to which vendors are available. The motorist then uses the app they prefer and, as they normally would, pay for parking. Once the session has been created, through a shared application programming interface (API), the data is then transferred back from the provider to naa. Our system then shares the data with the incumbent enforcement software and is live monitored until the session is ended (allowing for extensions, etc.). It sounds relatively simple, however we have been refining this process over the past 12-18 months. Our ultimate goal is to have all data streams feeding into the naa system, including pay & display and permit systems, meaning the data provided back to all on-site vendors allows for real-time occupancy data. This will aim to be the same for both on-street and offstreet locations. How does naa differ from using an existing back office enforcement and permit parking platform to manage multiple apps? As far as I am aware there is no such dedicated system that can deliver the complexities that notanotherapp can, or even in part through a dedicated enforcement platform. If there is, it hasn’t made enough of an impact to push for change and also suffers from a split focus. The naa platform is a dedicated multi-vendor open parking payment platform.
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PAYMENT TRENDS How will naa really enable users to move beyond the frustration of downloading multiple apps? At its core that’s what naa was designed for. The whole purpose of this exercise was to find a way to simplify multi-vendor options to motorists and allow them the flexibility to move from car park to car park without the need to download another app. Find their favourite and stick with it. How does the naa solution enable a local authority or car park operator to open up its parking provision to a range of apps? The naa system is built to have minimal impact on the existing parking operations of any local authority or operator and if anything can assist in simplifying and streamlining data feeds. Notanotherapp is designed to manage all aspects of using multiple vendors/apps with ease. The naa system will deliver a central reporting suite that features all data from the cashless vendors, digital permits and pay & display machines, creating a true open parking payment platform. One data system with multiple data feeds means less time and energy is spent navigating multiple systems. How does the naa system build on Solutionlabs’ real world experience and existing implementations? Over the past six years we have worked hard to stay with, or ahead, of the curve. We identified quickly the only way to do this was to develop an empathetic approach to our innovation and put user experience at the forefront of this development. Each and every product we have in our portfolio has come from direct experience and market research. From our tap2park research it was clear the industry was in need of a system like naa, however we knew we couldn’t bring it to market until the system and industry was ready. Over the past 12 months we have rigorously stress tested the entire system, processing millions of lines of data at a time in order to ensure we are ready to deliver a concept to the market that is ready to go. With the help of some of the developers currently on the market we are able to do this in a real world scenario on a high traction site and were pleased with the results. Has there been a pilot of notanotherapp to prove the concept? At the moment we are still under development conditions and strict nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) with all those involved. How can local authorities engage with the naa system? The local authority will have user access with varying reporting levels depending on their internal role and responsibility. The system is cloudbased and can be accessed through a browser, meaning it fully supports remote working conditions. How do the different payment channels engage with the system? Our integration team will be able to provide all the details and the necessary APIs in order to begin engaging with the system. The default position is that naa will receive monies into a transparent client merchant account for reconciliation and remittance, thereby allowing us to set up and manage the different payment channels, process the data flow(s) and simplify the reporting and remittance. What do you say to cashless parking app developers who might be concerned about this change? Don’t be. The only reason app developers would have to be concerned is if they have concerns over their own product, and I am sure that is not the case. The naa system will not only bring new opportunities to app developers but will also share data with them the likes of which most of them have not seen before. Too often we become concerned by what the “big” developers will think and how it will affect them. There are some hugely talented developers out there who deserve to be on a level playing field with the “big” apps. They don’t get the same opportunity because they are not “big” enough to compete for tenders. Ultimately, it should come down to what delivers the best product with the best service for an affordable price. If the “big” app developers believe they have the best product they will embrace naa with open arms. We will soon see who has faith in their product – they won’t be waiting for us to contact them. If the naa platform will add no extra cost for local authorities or drivers, who is financing the system? For now we would respectfully like to keep all commercial conversations between the interested parties and focus on the core concept of notanotherapp. The naa platform is not a vision for Solutionlabs to reach new dizzying commercial heights, it is a driver for evolution in an area we believe is in need of innovation for all.
How will drivers be made aware of the service in a car park or a town? Solutionlabs and notanotherapp will organise all the signage within each location and will utilise the universal location codes (ULC) that are accessed nationally by all app providers who are accredited. The universal location code provides the address, GPS coordinates and current tariff based on the date and time supplied, this means all apps are always up-to-date with the live tariff and can navigate customers to the location if needed. What about drivers with unlisted apps? Each naa location will have a ULC so an app or payment method which is not listed at the location, but is ULC compliant, can use the code to make payment. The location information can be pre-set in the app set-up or can be pulled down from naa using our ULC API. What about drivers with no apps? Some app providers have a mobile friendly website which customers can make payment without needing an app, our own tap2park service being one of them. Other payment methods may also be supported such as SMS billing or in-vehicle payments. If they no longer have a direct relationship with local authority clients, how will app developers enhance their systems? Over the last few years the industry has watched as Big Data, cloud platforms, advanced analytics and machine learning has driven ever increasing investment. In spite of this, in the UK parking industry there has been little change from traditional data strategy and approaches! Notanotherapp will change this. With our global cloud platforms we utilise multi-concurrency programming techniques to provide secure nanosecond data transportation between the driver, the naa platform and the client parking system. We will be providing data to developers from each location such as occupancy rates, average time on sites, spend and more as the machine learning data models grow. By being smarter through live-action experience we can all become more resilient, elastic, faster, and enable real app and industry growth. As well as learning more about their customers, they’ll also learn much more about the location(s), which will drive customer focussed advertising, marketing and overall retention. If they no longer have a direct relationship with app developers, how will local authorities encourage and commission new services? I think this question should be easy to answer when you consider the route of what notanotherapp is and where it has come from – user experience. If local authorities would like greater reporting data or an alternative data source then this is achieved by notanotherapp and Solutionlabs. The motorist will drive innovation. During the Traffic + Parking webinar, a viewer associated with one of the largest cashless app providers said, and I quote: “You make the mistake in taking the user’s view! Users don’t award tenders.” Now, despite this statement simply focussing on commercials, it shows a real, basic lack of understanding of what ethical innovation is and what it hopes to achieve. Strategically positioning the user first means you develop a deeper foundation in delivering products and services to your customers that inspire real and positive change. Can this approach be applied to other sectors where multiple payment channels have emerged, such as electric vehicle charging? Absolutely, notanotherapp is an open parking payment platform, which is going to embrace the new and different, so in this example electric vehicle (EV) charging apps use the naa platform and the ULC to make payment for parking and charging at the same time. Solutionlabs is already working with a number of EV charging payment and enforcement companies to integrate with the naa platform. It strikes me as interesting that an emerging industry in its relative infancy, such as EV charging, is already thinking about a single app/unified payment platform and, yet, the UK parking industry still hasn’t had this – until now! Is a schematic available to explain the naa business model? Yes, this is available on request from info@notanotherapp.co.uk
On 20 October 2020, Landor LINKS presented notanotherapp in an online Traffic + Parking Technology Showcase. This webinar can be found on the Landor LINKS LIVE YouTube channel.
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PARKING TECHNOLOGY
Bath deploys electric enforcement vehicle Videalert vehicle will enforce parking rules and Clean Air Zone Bath and North East Somerset Council (B&NES) is deploying an electric vehicle to enforce a range of civil traffic contraventions including digital resident parking permit zones, ‘Keep clears’ outside schools, bus stops and bus lanes. The Videalert mobile enforcement vehicle (MEV) will also help B&NES to carry out traffic surveys as well as monitoring and enforcing the Clean Air Zone (CAZ) which is set to go live in the city centre during 2021. Bath’s zone is a Class C, or charging, scheme. Access charges will be levied on higher polluting buses, coaches, HGVs, LGVs, vans, private hire vehicles and taxis. However, there will be exemptions for private cars and motorbikes. Chris Major, group manager for transport and parking at B&NES said: “Videalert’s hosted video platform is multi-purpose and allows us to quickly and easily extend the reach of our enforcement activities. We can now use fixed and mobile CCTV enforcement cameras mounted on electric MEVs, both cars and bikes, enabling us to achieve compliance whilst demonstrating that we are serious about driving through clean air initiatives.” The MEV is a Peugeot 208e with a 47kW battery, which
B&NES’s Peugeot 208e MEV should give a range of between 170 and 200 miles from a full charge. The car is fitted with Videalert’s suite of traffic enforcement and management software. Two roof-mounted Stingray modules are installed front and rear, each with two ANPR cameras and upgraded infra-red lighting, which accurately capture crisp images of reflective number plates at distances of up to 40 metres. Videalert said the MEV will deliver high levels of productivity as number plate read rates of over 98% can be achieved in a wide range of applications with vehicles being driven at normal road speeds and includes a full-
colour overview module to capture contextual images of contraventions. Images of contraventions are transmitted to Videalert’s hosted digital video platform where evidence packs can be viewed and validated prior to sending to the council’s back office system for the issuance of penalty charge notices (PCNs). Videalert’s hosted platform means there is no need to install additional IT at the council’s offices. To reduce the number of appeals, PCN recipients can view still photographs and video footage of the alleged offence over the internet. When used to monitor and
Salford uses CCTV for school ‘Keep clears’ Salford City Council is using CCTV enforcement cameras to capture vehicles parking on ‘Keep clear’ markings outside schools at the beginning and end of each day. Marston Holdings’ group company Videalert was selected to provide a fully hosted enforcement solution that offers 99% uptime with increased productivity. The contract was awarded to Videalert following an open tender and cameras are initially being installed at four schools where irresponsible parking has been identified as being a major safety risk. Cllr David Lancaster, lead member for environment and community safety at Salford City Council, said: “We are committed to increasing safety on the roads around schools and are taking the lead in Greater Manchester by deploying CCTV cameras outside schools. If drivers park legally, safely and considerately they have nothing to fear from the cameras or enforcement officers. I would be very
happy to see no penalty notices issued at all because that would mean everyone is respecting the law and keeping our children safe.” The cameras were procured from Videalert through an open process for a three-year contract with Salford City Council. Mark Hoskin, group business development director at Marston Holdings, said: “After pioneering the use of video
enforce the CAZ, the MEV will capture number plates and compare them with those that have been captured by the perimeter static cameras. If the same vehicle is captured multiple times on the same day only one file is processed before being transferred to the central system for determining compliance and processing payment. Tim Daniels, client development director at Videalert, said: “This contract demonstrates how a single video data platform can support multiple applications, enabling councils to address the challenges of improving traffic congestion and air quality simultaneously.”
analytics with CCTV to enforce parking contraventions on school keep clears, Videalert is still the only company to provide a truly automated solution which delivers higher productivity at a lower cost than manually operated systems. This important safety application is a key element of our Marston group-wide portfolio of design, build and enforce solutions.” The Videalert solution automates the capture of video evidence and number plates of vehicles stopping in keep clear zones without any manual intervention. It uses video analytics to only capture vehicles that actually commit an offence by being stationary in a defined ‘watch area’ and exceed the ‘watch time’. Video evidence packs are automatically generated and transmitted to the council for review before any PCNs are processed or generated. The cameras are fully redeployable and Videalert will be working closely with the council to move them to other schools as compliance levels improve.
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Ticketless payment for Woking car parks WPS teams up with JustPark to offer seamless experience Woking Borough Council will be providing drivers with ticketless parking following upgrades to the WPS payment systems used at several of its car parks. Central to each installation is the use of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) based parking technology that reads a car’s number plate on entry to a car park and calculates the parking fee based on the vehicle’s length of stay. Before leaving, users have the choice of multiple payment options, including cash, chip & pin and contactless, including Apple Pay and Google Pay via WPS’s ParkAdvance pay stations. WPS has also integrated its ParkAdvance system with the JustPark phone app. The customer keys in their car’s registration number at the pay station or enters a car park code in the app. Once paid, exit barriers automatically open. The overall solution includes a web portal for managing season ticket and permit holders using the car parks. The WPS system also links in real-time to the JustPark app to provide an ‘AutoPay’ parking experience, where regular users can exit and pay automatically for parking by pre-registering their vehicle number plate and
Woking town centre their payment details. New digital VMS signage will be installed both on approaching roads and in the new car parks, to help visitors efficiently find available spaces. WPS said the IP-based architecture of the ParkAdvance system enables the integration of different technologies, providing a single management and reporting platform. The system can also be used to offer retailer and leisure validation and loyalty schemes. Visitors to the town’s car parks will have the option to pay with their theatre or cinema ticket, while retailers will be able to discount parking for customers who spend in their outlets. Cllr Ayesha Azad, leader of Woking Borough Council, said: “Our brief was for a seamless customer experience and an advanced system that matched
the forward-thinking nature of the town’s regeneration, and this is exactly what we got. We are very excited about the enhanced, greener, parking experience that we will now be able to offer visitors to the town centre and can’t wait to welcome shoppers to their new, improved car parks.” The first car park to go live is Victoria Way, a multi-storey car park open 24/7 that provides 932 spaces. It will be followed in early 2021 by Shoppers Yellow, Shoppers Blue, Brewery Road and Heathside Crescent. The newly-built Shoppers Red car park will also be launched with the new system. Parking is a vital part of a visitor’s town centre experience, said Simon Jarvis, managing director of WPS in the UK. “The council had a well thought out brief that allowed us to work in partnership with
Q-Park launches Parking as a Smart Service Q-Park has launched a digital parking solution called PaSS (Parking as a Smart Service). The system combines automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) camera technology with the company’s PlatePay digital payment solution. Q-Park said PaSS offers a seamless customer journey by allowing both access to the car park and taking payment for parking simultaneously. This means the need for drivers to use a debit or credit card while they at the parking facility is no longer required. Adam Bidder, managing director of QPark, said: “Evolving technology has always played a large part in the parking industry and has enabled Q-Park to continually expand payment options, initially introducing cashless parking and then more recently ticketless parking. PaSS takes this a step further. “The new system is a value-adding innovation that will play a part in all aspects of the Q-Park business. Initially,
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PaSS links ANPR to payment systems
PaSS will be implemented to improve prebooking, requiring customers to enter their vehicle registration as part of the booking process.” PaSS and PlatePay were initially rolled out by Q-Park in Belgium, the Netherlands and France. In the UK PaSS is now live for prebooking at Liverpool ONE, Piccadilly Place in Manchester, at the Mailbox and
them, JustPark and other providers to fully utilise the best systems and services available,” said Jarvis. “We’ve been able to bring together an integrated suite of leading technologies to create a solution that delivers the utmost in flexibility, efficiency and convenience for Woking residents, commuters and visitors, as well as the council.” Hannah Fuller, head of partnerships for JustPark, said: “Putting together this brilliant solution is a testament to the collaborative abilities of WPS, JustPark and Woking Borough Council. We’ve worked very hard to create a seamless payment solution, that includes our new AutoPay feature, allowing customers to set up their account to debit automatically when they drive in and out without having to think about it.” The installation follows WPS and JustPark’s 2020 British Parking Awards win in the Parking Technology category for a solution that combines the benefits of WPS’s ParkAdvance pay-on-foot parking system with JustPark’s payment app technology. The system was designed to enhance the customer experience at several car parks operated by Cornwall Council. WPS says that ticketless parking is a greener option as it eliminates the requirement for paper tickets and completely removing issues that arise from faulty or lost tickets.
Brindleyplace in Birmingham and The Light in Leeds. The system will be implemented at further locations across the UK in 2021. Following the integration of PaSS with pre-booking, Q-Park will implement the PaSS system as part of its season ticket offering and eventually as an option for all customers. Adam Bidder explained: “Q-Park is constantly looking for ways to improve parking for our customers. We are delighted to be able to implement this new technology that will provide our customers with quick access when visiting Q-Park parking facilities and helps create a fair and transparent parking experience. “Following our roll out of the Tap & Go parking system in 2016, PaSS is our next technological development that will see QPark continue to lead the parking industry in 2020 and beyond. The overall aim of PaSS is to further enhance the convenience, transparency and seamlessness of the parking experience whilst developing QPark’s partnerships and creating new opportunities for the business.”
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Cycle storage sheds for Edinburgh streets Cyclehoop to install 180 Bikehangars on city’s streets The City of Edinburgh Council is rolling out over 1,000 Bikehangar parking spaces for residents to store their bikes in partnership with manufacturer Cyclehoop and active travel charity Sustrans. A total of 180 Bikehangars are being installed on residential streets where bicycle storage space is otherwise limited. The first of the two project phases saw close to 110 Bikehangars installed last month. Upon completion, Edinburgh says it will have the largest network of on-street cycle sheds in the UK, outside of London. Each Bikehangar provides six cycle parking spaces in half the space of a parked car, relieving pressure on roads and public transport networks and freeing up pavement space for physical distancing. “Introducing secure bike parking will be particularly beneficial for Edinburgh’s tenement areas,” said transport and environment vice convener councillor Karen Doran. “It addresses the significant problem of limited space for bikes as more people choose cycling as their preferred way to get around the city. Overcrowded stairwells are not
A Cyclehoop Bikehangar
only inconvenient for residents, it makes them key targets for bike theft.” Support for the Edinburgh scheme through public consultation has been high. Cllr Doran said: “Over 70% of those who responded to our consultation strongly supported the scheme, so it’s fantastic to now see Bikehangars being installed in many locations across the capital. Working with Cyclehoop means we now have accessible, well-maintained, safe places to store bikes for only £6 a month. “We would like to see this scheme extended to other areas in the future, providing more support for the increasing numbers of residents we’re seeing
who choose to cycle and helping us meet our longer-term goal of being a carbon neutral city.” Joseph Taylor, senior project officer of Sustrans and City of Edinburgh Council, said public consultation showed that the provision of Bikehangars in Edinburgh is likely to increase bicycle ownership. Taylor said: “20% of people who responded didn’t own a bicycle, but of those, 43% of said access to secure cycle storage would encourage them to own a bicycle in the future.” Tierney Lovell, Sustrans infrastructure manager, added: “Providing secure, well-located cycle parking is essential to encourage more people across
the capital to cycle around the city for everyday journeys and exercise.” Residents can apply for a space through the Cyclehoop Rentals website for a small monthly fee, which covers the management and maintenance of the units. High demand is expected in Edinburgh, meaning the council expects to roll out further cycle sheds in the future. Residents can suggest new locations for Bikehangars on the Cyclehoop Rentals website and this data could be used to inform council plans.” The Bikehangars are being designed, installed and managed by Cyclehoop. Cyclehoop’s managing director Anthony Lau said: “Cycling creates a more liveable neighbourhood, by lowering car dependency to make streets quieter, safer and healthier places. Making secure cycle parking accessible is key to encouraging more people to take up cycling. “We designed the Bikehangar to help those who aren’t able to keep their bicycles at home, to store them accessibly on the street, safely locked and protected from the weather.” Cyclehoop has partnered with Scottish cycling charity Bike For Good to carry out maintenance of the units. The company will also provide five free Dr Bike sessions annually.
Edinburgh extends agreement with RingGo Phone parking service re-launched across 540 zones City of Edinburgh Council has extended its cashless parking contract with RingGo for an additional four years, meaning the service will run in the Scottish capital until 2024. As part of the contract extension, RingGo will be re-launched across the city and new digital services launched. RingGo will rebrand 800 parking machines with over 2,000 stickers that detail how to use the app and the benefits it provides. RingGo said it expects that up to 80% of all parking across Edinburgh will be enabled via cashless transactions through its app by the end of 2020. When used to pay for parking in Edinburgh, the RingGo app will also feature an image of the City. Over the next four years, the council will focus on providing more digital services to its constituents with the goal of making significant financial savings and having a positive impact on the environment. Gavin Graham, Edinburgh’s parking
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manager, said: “This year has thrown lots of challenges at all of us, but RingGo has been right by our side every step of the way. From data dashboards to educating us all on the benefits of cashless parking during this time, they have made every decision a little bit easier – continuing to work with RingGo was one of them. Now that Edinburgh is getting back to its vibrant self, we hope to continually provide safe and innovative solutions for all motorists.” Peter O’Driscoll, managing director of RingGo, said: “The City of Edinburgh Council renewing its contract and putting faith in us for another four years is a big vote of confidence about the work we have already done together. Over the course of the relationship, we have worked together closely to provide the best solutions for those living, working, and visiting Edinburgh and we will continue to do this. “It is great to partner with a council that is so forward thinking and one which shares our commitment to making an impact on the community by fostering cleaner, healthier more liveable cities.”
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Flowbird launches smart city platform StreetSmart will allow councils to offer multi-vendor parking and public transport payments Flowbird has launched a new back office system designed to enable a citywide, multivendor approach to parking and transportation systems management. StreetSmart is a cloud-based platform that can integrate the parking and transportation services of towns, regions and cities into a centralised resource. StreetSmart enables authorities to manage and enforce parking across their entire estates. It allows them to offer customers access to multiple mobile payment services, not just Flowbird products and services. The platform has already been adopted by Brussels as part of its smart city strategy. In the Belgian city, StreetSmart is used to manage parking resources across multiple zones, authorise resident permits as well as providing citizens and visitors with access to eight different mobile phone payment solutions. “StreetSmart sits at the centre of urban mobility and breaks the mould of narrow back office functionality,” says Kenny Scouller, senior sales manager at Flowbird in the UK. “In the case of parking, it manages all transaction data linked to on and off-street parking, but it can go much further than a conventional back office system. “For example, it can integrate data linked
A StreetSmart reporting window to transport services, making urban planning much more effective. And as well as managing any services provided by Flowbird, such as virtual parking permits, emissions tariffing and parking terminalbased environmental monitoring, it also integrates third party APIs (application programming interfaces), not just for parking but across a wider spectrum of services.” StreetSmart is a scalable and modular open platform. Scouller says this means that authorities can effectively take a ‘blockby-block’ approach to back office development, creating a system specific to their needs in areas such as parking and trans-
portation, administration and finance, and resident and visitor services. Scouller said: “From a parking perspective, the platform manages hardware, transaction data, end-user entitlements, enforcement, and offers analytics to track performance, identify market trends and optimise revenue. It also provides multi-layered data, for example filtering parking performance by tariff zone, sales channel type and payment method. Because the platform can manage user entitlements for public transport, and ‘final mile’ services such as bike hire and car clubs, it can also be an enabler for mobility as a service (MaaS), which is at the heart of the vision for smart cities.”
Park & Sanitise in Peterborough Flowbird’s automated handwash gel dispenser added to pay & displkay parking terminals Peterborough City Council has become the first UK local authority to adopt Flowbird’s Park & Sanitise technology, a hand hygiene system for users of parking terminals during the pandemic. The authority has invested in 10 units that have been fitted to Flowbird parking terminals in city centre car parks, with a further three units on order. Flowbird’s Park & Sanitise technology is automatically primed when a terminal-based transaction is completed. Users simply place their hands underneath the unit and a sensor triggers the release of a pre-defined dose of sanitiser gel without any physical contact. Sanitiser volumes are monitored remotely via Flowbird’s Smartfolio back office, enabling timely replenishment. Cllr Marco Cereste said: “We are committed to helping our residents stay safe and prevent the spread of the virus and look for every opportunity to keep doing this. This is great technology to adopt and it will become second nature for all of us to sanitise our hands when we come into our city to park. “We want to make it easy for people to slow the virus down and ensure they feel safe when they come into our city centre and this is one such step that will help with this. It is great we have adopted this technology first; another example of Peterborough leading the field.” Ajay Spolia, regional sales manager at Flowbird said: “Park & Sanitise provides residents and visitors with easy access to effective hand hygiene during parking terminal transactions, offering reassurance to users while helping to mitigate the risk of virus transmission.”
Park & Sanitise
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PARKING CONSULTANTS A-Z AN ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO EXPERT ADVICE
Services include: Demand Forecasts Analysis Strategy Policy Pricing Survey Design & Execution Management Plans
Contact: harry@parkingperspectives.com 01245 330370
www.parkingperspectives.com
Tel: 07807 832554 Email: pipltd@outlook.com
Parking strategy & policy development Making the most of your assets Consultation & analysis Efficiency & productivity review
Usage surveys & analysis Development of revenue channels Equipment tenders & procurement Operational service reviews
For professional and independent consultation in parking please contact: Phil Grant on 07807 832554
The Leading Independent Consultancy for all your parking solu ons
Specialist consultancy for: Tra c Order support and reviews Map-based Tra c Orders Speed limit mapping and reviews
Mapping of Tra c Orders ParkMap implementa on Site surveys and data entry Parking scheme design
Contact: Daniel Taylor enquiries@buchananorders.co.uk
01635 290790 www.buchananorders.co.uk
• CPE implementation assistance • Contract preparation (enforcement, customer services and IT) • Quality reviews of existing operations
• Management support • Policy and procedure manuals • TMA 2004 training and WAMITAB qualification • CEO training and WAMITAB qualification • Audits and compliance surveys • Telephone and customer care courses • Letter writing courses • Parking Manager’s courses • Mystery shopping
All services are delivered by staff with extensive operational experience in all areas of CPE. Our consultants are either ex-local authority managers or have many years of commercial CPE experience. We will tailor our services to meet your specific requirements. Contact details – Kirsty Reeves 07917 353 218 E-mail – info@parkingassociates.co.uk Please visit our web site for further information – www.parkingassociates.co.uk
Established in 1991, with over 230 sa s ed customers comprising both public and private sector (including Local Authority and Health and Educa on establishments). Quality parking solu ons provided by our experienced in house specialists: GIS mapping and surveying • On street TRO signs and lines: legality and condi on surveys (sample surveys also available). • GIS mapping of TRO surveys, produc on of digital maps and TRO management for Order wri ng, upda ng and consolida on. • Data extrac on and conversion of text based schedules to digi sed map based solu ons. • Length of stay, usage, and occupancy parking surveys, both on and o street. • Compliance surveys and data analysis. • MTO site surveys and digi sing. • Surveying and mapping of infrastructure assets.
Consultancy services • Financial appraisal and e ciency reviews of parking service provision. • Collabora ve working – joint no ce processing and shared enforcement. • On and O street tra c regula on order wri ng. • DPE and CPE feasibility studies and implementa on. • Parking schemes consulta ons and design. • DPE/CPE services speci ca on wri ng and tender evalua on. • Annual Parking reports.
Contact: Peter Lowe B.Eng., C.Eng., M.I.C.E., FBPA Tel: 01492585055 or 07900264137 Email: plowe@rtaassociates.co.uk
RTA Associates Ltd www.rtaassociates.co.uk
Reach for…
Click… Tap… Swipe… www.parkingreview.co.uk PARKING REVIEW | NOVEMBER 2020 | 53
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PARKING SYSTEMS & SERVICES A-Z YOUR GUIDE TO PARKING SYSTEMS, SERVICES AND TECHNOLOGY PAYMENT SERVICES
www.orbility.com
Car Park Equipment Manufacturer Ticketed & Ticketless Systems ANPR & Prebook Mobile & Contactless Payment Multichannel Support Flexible Finance Options
Orbility Limited Unit 6 Mitchell Way, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO3 5PR
Info.uk@orbility.com P +44 (0) 2392 414 423
SOLUTIONS FOR ANY PARKING ENVIRONMENT CAME Parkare, Unit 108, Longmead Road, Emerald Park East, Emersons Green, Bristol, BS16 7FG. Telephone: 0844 371 70 72 email: uk@cameparkare.com
www.cameparkare.com/uk
ENFORCEMENT & DEBT RECOVERY SERVICES
DESIGNA DESIG N A | Te Tech chnol n ology ogy
Are you ready for the future of parking? We are!
DESIGNA is a global technology leader in parking management systems. Our innovative, integrated equipment and soft ware solutions make efficient parking management extremely easy on all new media. Discover what Integrated Intelligence made by DESIGNA can do for you.
DESIGNA UK Ltd Unit 11, Windmill Business Village Brooklands Close, Sunbury on Thames Middx. TW16 7DY
For more information on our services, please contact: Lauren Appleby (North) lappleby@newlynplc.co.uk 07931 811088
Office tel: 01932 784040 Email: sales@designauk.com
info
Shaun Byrne (South) sbyrne@newlynplc.co.uk 07964 764099
w w w. de s i gna . com
PARKING SERVICES
Credit & Debit Card Processing for Parking - The industry's most trusted solution for P&D, PoF and mobile - Integrated by all leading parking machine manufacturers - Maximum de-scoping from PCI DSS through PCI P2PE - Ultra-reliable and cost-effective - the highest value payment service in the UK NMI is a PCI DSS Level 1 Certified payment service provider, recommended by all major parking equipment manufacturers, and with solutions certified by all UK banks. NMI also offers call centre/web payment for PCN processing.
To enquire please call either:
Call us now on 0117 930 4455 or email us at hello@nmi.com
Jason Conboy T: 020 7091 7895 E: jason@landor.co.uk FORMERLY
54 | NOVEMBER 2020 | PARKING REVIEW
Darryl Murdoch T: 020 7091 7891 E: darryl@landor.co.uk
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CLASSIFIEDS
Head of Parking Operations Permanent – Full Time (36 hours) Up to £62,247 depending on knowledge, skills and experience • Are you looking for working arrangements that enhance your work-life balance? • Are you an experienced manager with a passion for Parking Operations? • Do you want to bring your knowledge and experience to our team as we take the service forward together? If you answered yes, we want to hear from you! This is a fantastic opportunity for a Head of Service to join our high-performing Parking Operations Team and be responsible for budgets, contractors, and the enforcement of on/off-street parking regulations. Who we are: Parking Enforcement is an essential part of managing traffic on the Richmond and Wandsworth highway networks, helping to ensure a safe, reliable transport system for the residents and visitors of the boroughs. To help us deliver this, you will lead a professional team responsible for parking contracts and enforcement. Job Purpose: To oversee a service responsible for the management of parking operations for the boroughs, ensuring all aspects of the service are delivered with a customer-focused approach and administered within the statutory and local processes. You will: • Work closely with our Parking Compliance and Highways Service; providing efficient and effective management contributing to the strategic plans. • Provide expert guidance and recommendations to senior management on parking matters. • Promote a good working environment with the primary aim of delivering high-quality services. About you: • Proven experience of operating at a senior level and successfully overseeing the management of parking enforcement contracts. • Knowledge and understanding of available and emerging system/process enhancements and digital/alternative delivery methods. • Ability to review operational processes with a view to improving efficiency and minimising costs. How to apply: Please register, submit your CV and a supporting statement addressing how you meet the requirements of this role at: https://bit.ly/38DO6XL If you are having difficulty in applying online, please contact the Recruitment Team at: recruitment@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk to see if we can offer alternative arrangements for you to apply. Why choose us: In return, we can offer you working arrangements that will enhance your work-life balance. These include home working, and a generous holiday allowance of 31 days plus bank holidays. In addition, we offer a range of staff benefits such as membership of the Local Government contributory pension scheme, childcare vouchers, new technology scheme, interest-free loans on annual travel cards, discounts at many leisure activities, restaurants, shops, and other establishments. A wide range of developmental opportunities is also offered. Indicative Recruitment Timeline: Closing Date: Sunday 29th November 2020 Shortlisting Date: Monday 30th November 2020 Interview Dates: Monday 7th and Wednesday 9th December 2020 Useful Information: Please note that these dates are only indicative at this stage and could be subject to change. The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and return your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. Richmond and Wandsworth Councils are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions to the Councils and can improve the way we deliver services. We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer. Important Information: Richmond and Wandsworth Councils are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
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