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Stick are measures designed to make using the car undesireable.

Road Pricing/Congestion Charging

See the next topic in this section: Road-User Charging.

Workplace Parking Levy

The Workplace Parking Levy is a recent piece of government legislation which is the latest measure to tempt employees who drive to work, to leave their cars at home. It is a 'stick' as it is a dis-incentive to employees and will have a negative financial impact on them. Basically, local authorities are allowed to charge businesses in their area for the parking spaces at their site, possible amounts ranging between £150-£1000 a year, depending on location. Organisations have two choices: a) pay the local authority for each space or b) pass on the cost to those who use the parking spaces. If the latter option is adopted, then drivers may wish to choose alternative forms of transport to work.

The money raised as revenue from the Levy will be fed back into investment in transport for the local area. Nottingham has become one of the pioneering cities in the UK to test how the Levy might work. This has caused some annoyance among some of the city's larger employers. It seems likely that Nottingham will adopt a policy of the workplace parking levy, and put the proceeds towards expansion of the NET tram network. Fair enough, some might say, but others question why they should pay towards a tram that they would not use.

 Question...?

Is it time that motorists paid the full cost to the environment of using a car?

• Nottingham City Council's WPL scheme (www.nottinghamwpl.com)
• Nottingham Travelwise - Workplace Parking Levy information (www.itsnottingham.info/comm_wpl.htm)
• "Breaking the Logjam" 1999 Government Consultation Paper Chapter 6 - Workplace Parking Levy: the Government's Proposals (www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_roads/documents/page/dft_roads_503870-07.hcsp#P289_83211)
• "Breaking the Logjam" 1999 Government Consultation Paper Chapter 7 - Workplace Parking Levy: Issues for Consultation (www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_roads/documents/page/dft_roads_503870-08.hcsp#P367_114528)
• "Breaking the Logjam" - 2000 Government Response (www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_roads/documents/page/dft_roads_503871.hcsp)
• Workplace Parking Levy in Scotland (www.scotland.gov.uk/library2/doc01/taco-07.htm)
• Local Government View on Congestion Charging and WPL (www.lga.gov.uk/lga/transport/congestion.pdf)

Increase the cost of motoring

This can be achieved by raising the cost of road fund tax, MOT certificates, insurance premiums. Or of course the government could make petrol even more expensive! However, the richer motorists would not find this much of a dis-incentive, nor would the company car owner.

Reduction of road and parking capacity

Re-allocation of road space to buses, cyclists and pedestrians has occurred in many locations across the country, in a bid to make conditions worse for drivers, and almost force them to reconsider their mode of transport when they can see how easy buses and cycles travel through junctions, etc.

Traffic calming and access restrictions

Traffic calming is a technical fix to reduce traffic flow. It can mean carriageway narrowing using kerbs and/or white paint, bollards, chicanes, and speed humps. It can also mean access restrictions by making streets one way, or even closing roads to through traffic.

 The Road Hump is perhaps the most obvious traffic calming measure

• Traffic Calming Library: (www.ite.org/traffic/)

In this topic...

	topic overview
	introduction
	the 'car culture' - a brief synopsis
	carrots
	sticks
	road-user charging
	organisation travel plans
	exam-style questions

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Transport Issues

last modified: 17-Jan-2006
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