Assessing the Likely Take Up of the Workplace Parking Levy as a Transport Policy Instrument in the UK

Parking is one of the single biggest users of land in cities, which is often free to motorists. What’s more, under-priced parking can encourage car use as motoring is made to appear cheaper than it actually is; this can lead to traffic congestion and environmental issues. Recognising these problems, authorities have increasingly used parking policies to achieve wider objectives such as to reduce congestion. The effectiveness of local authority strategies however, is limited by a lack of control over private non-residential parking, particularly at the workplace. This is an issue since free workplace parking is a major contributor to peak period congestion due to the influence it has on an employee’s decision to drive to work. Accordingly, the UK government enacted legislation to allow local authorities to charge employers for the parking they provided for their staff via a Workplace Parking Levy (WPL). Whilst this was expected to act as a catalyst for the introduction of such schemes in the UK, only one authority has introduced a WPL to date. This paper therefore draws on results of a national survey of local politicians and transport officers to understand the views of policy makers in the UK with respect to transport related issues as well as the effectiveness and acceptability of various measures to reduce congestion, including parking policies. It explores the reasons why local authorities would introduce a WPL, issues with respect to the principle of the scheme as well as any pre- and post-implementation concerns. A binary logit model is developed to identify the most influential factors affecting a local authority’s decision on whether a WPL should be introduced and found authorities are less likely to introduce a WPL if they are concerned with enforcement as well as the long term impact of a WPL on a local authorities administrative area. The final section considers the likelihood of future schemes being introduced. It is found that whilst there are a number of concerns associated with a WPL, not least the perceived effectiveness and acceptability, a limited number of further schemes can be expected in the UK in future.