Focus of work
Parking management is a crucial part of local authorities’ policy toolbox. It can make walking, cycling and public transport more attractive, and it can deliver a shift away from individual car ownership.” LGA Decarbonising transport: climate smart parking policies.
But local authority parking policies deal primarily with permits and enforcement and are not linked to Climate Action Plans, Air Quality Action Plans or Health Strategies, which should promote a shift to walking, cycling and public transport.
Parking policy is often not integrated with transport policy either. It is also unlikely to set stretching targets for re-allocation of parking space to support these other strategies.
Given parking policy is one of the key levers available to local authorities and is something which has huge potential to make a big impact, this needs to change.
Impact
This project aims to have an immediate and major impact to increase sustainable modeshare through changes to London borough parking policy and practice. They will work with local campaigners and groups to challenge local authorities to place parking more centrally in their policy toolbox. Among other things, we’ll be challenging boroughs on include hard proposals for:
- Control, restrict, remove and charge for parking to discourage car trips especially short, ‘switchable’ car trips
- Re-allocation of space away from parking for privately-owned cars, towards public amenity space, in particular to improve walking and cycling infrastructure and increase public realm
- Use of parking space to accommodate street infrastructure to achieve clutter-free pavements
- Introduction of a simple and affordable means for businesses or residents to apply to create parklets, cycle hangars or other public amenity, replacing one or more parking spaces