London’s boroughs have made the business case for their parking management, with a new report that estimates that it is worth £3.58bn per year to the capital’s economy.
Research commissioned by London Councils calculates the value parking services add to the capital at £3.58bn annually. It also finds a cost-benefit ratio of 10:1 for parking management.
The body commissioned Integrated Transport Planning to research public parking management in the capital, which is the responsibility of its boroughs, by evaluating the cumulative impact of parking measures such as bays, yellow lines and parking zones.
Cllr Julian Bell, chair of London Councils’ Transport and Environment Committee, said: ‘Many people only think about parking when they have a bad experience, such as when they can’t find a space or if they do receive a parking ticket. This means it is easy to misunderstand why councils and TfL manage parking services.
‘However, with nearly 10 million journeys made in the capital daily, our report shows that parking management makes a major contribution to London’s economy, worth £3.58bn, and every pound invested in parking services benefits our city ten times over.
‘London boroughs use a range of parking measures in different parts of the capital to ensure people, goods and services can move around the city safely and efficiently, incentivising cleaner and healthier forms of transport whenever possible.’
The report argues that boroughs’ parking management has benefits for all Londoners, setting out eight benefits of parking management:
- Reducing congestion;
- Improving road safety;
- Improving air quality;
- Ensuring good access and accessibility;
- Promoting the local economy;
- Maximising the productive use of the land resource;
- Promoting health and wellbeing through travel choice; and
- Providing funding for parking and wider transport scheme improvements, including the Freedom Pass concessionary travel scheme.
It concludes that parking management undertaken by authorities is an essential public service that benefits London’s economy while helping to deal with traffic, and improve air quality and road safety.
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