Evaluating the impact of a workplace parking levy on local traffic congestion: The case of Nottingham UK

Abstract

A Workplace Parking Levy (WPL) scheme raises a levy on private non-domestic off street parking provided by employers. In April 2012 Nottingham became the first UK City to implement such a scheme with the revenue generated hypothecated for funding transport improvements. The lag between the introduction of the WPL and the opening of related public transport improvements represents an opportunity to study the impact of a WPL on congestion as a standalone measure. In order to achieve this it is necessary to consider changes to variables external to the WPL, which also impact on congestion, which may obscure any beneficial impact of the scheme. An autoregressive time series model which accounts for the impact of these exogenous variables is used to evaluate the impact of the introduction of the WPL on congestion. Delay per Vehicle Mile is used as the dependent variable to represent congestion while the number of Liable Workplace Parking Places (LWPP) is used as a continuous intervention variable representing the introduction of the WPL. The model also contains a number of economic, transportation and climatic control variables. The results indicate that the introduction of the WPL as measured by the number of LWPP has a statistically significant impact on traffic congestion in Nottingham. Additionally, external explanatory variables are also shown to impact on congestion, suggesting that these may be masking the true impact of the scheme. This research represents the first statistical analysis of the link between the introduction of a WPL and a reduction in congestion.

The impact of the Nottingham Workplace Parking Levy on travel to work mode share

“…However, Hamer suggests that this change in Melbourne may not be due to the PSL itself, but rather a result of other factors. Given this inherent demand for commuting by car it seems unlikely that a WPL in its current form or the availability of high-quality public transport can actually reduce congestion although at present research suggests that it would be worse than it is without the WPL (Dale et al 2017). However, if a City such as Nottingham wishes to sustain economic growth it must cater for the extra demand for travel.…”

“…The WPL was introduced in 2012 and, from an initial outlay of £4m for development and implementation, generated over £44m revenue in the first five years of its operation (Bishop 2018). The City Council has subsequently reinvested this money in local transport initiatives, including expanding the city's tram network, redeveloping Nottingham's mainline railway station and investing in local bus services (Dale 2017, Bishop, 2018. Following Nottingham's lead, other major UK cities, including Hounslow (a London Borough), Reading, Bristol, Oxford and Cambridge, are reportedly considering introducing their own Workplace Parking Levies (WPLs) as part of a package of local TDM measures that aim to reduce urban traffic congestion and fund local transport improvements.…”

Implementation of the workplace parking levy as a transport policy instrument

“…However, the Nottingham WPL is also anticipated to regenerate the area, improve land use, deliver environmental improvements, support businesses in developing travel plans, in addition to exerting a direct and indirect impact on traffic congestion (Burchell et al 2015). Dale et al (2017) provide evidence of congestion constraint due to the WPL with the analysis showing that the number of liable workplace parking places is positively related to delay. The study included a number of exogenous variables known to impact congestion including road work activity and economic activity measured by the number of people of working age not claiming out of work benefits both of which also proved statistically significant.…”

Carpooling and the Pan-European emergency call "eCall 112": Connected cars and their potential for environmental and transport policy

“…In 2018, the UK Government required a number of cities -including the City of Nottingham -to establish 'clean air zones (CAZ)'. Nottingham had implemented a 'workplace parking levy (WPL)' (Hallam, 2015) in 2011, and since then strategies to constrain peak hour congestion (Dale et al, 2017), by adding new tramways and extending electric bus supply with the new funds generated by the WPL -around GBP 9 million annually -have raised public transport's mode share to 'above 40% of journeys in the city' (Joseph, 2016). The strategy of integrating the demand side and combining push-and-pull measures resulted in significantly improved air quality, and it has allowed the City of Nottingham to avoid 4 the implementation of a CAZ.…”