Transport Policy Sub-Committee

11thJuly 2007

Agenda item9

TPSC/07/08

Future Car Parking Strategy

Context

The University has 1600 permanent car parking spaces on the Colchester campus and car parking has been a significant problem during term time since 1992. Car parking registration charges were raised for staff in October 2004 to 0.15% of gross basic salary and 5p hourly pay & display charges were introduced in October 2005. These measures met with considerable opposition. Car parking facilities remain over-subscribed and grass areas adjacent to car parks have been spoilt by the overspill of cars parking outside designated spaces. The University’s Sustainable Transport Strategy was developed partly in response to the car parking problem and the first aim of the strategy is to significantly decrease car parking demand on campus.

Marketing of Carsharing

The Colchester 2020 traveltogether.com carsharing website was launched two years ago and was set up with Liftshare. Members of the University group on the website numbered 88 in February as reported at the previous Transport Policy Sub-Committee.

National Liftshare Day took place this year on June 14th, the week before National Bike Week which inevitably means that limited attention is available for it. It was agreed with Colchester 2020 Travel Plan Club to distribute a poster ‘care to careshare’ designed and produced at the University. The poster appeals to people’s concerns about congestion, making savings and climate change. All cars in the University car parks were similarly leafleted on National Liftshare Day and all those registering a journey on the website before the end of June were eligible to win £100 in a prize draw offered by Colchester 2020. As a result there has been a 41% increase in the number of members on the University’s section of the website with 124 members now registered. The number of journeys registered has increased by over a third from 69 to 95. The statistics for the University’s Colchester2020 traveltogether.com website are appended. Obviously, the posters, emails and the leafleting have resulted in an increase in carsharing registrations on the website and in the number of carsharing journeys, particularly for commuters.

However, in the context of the number cars coming on to campus, less than 10% have registered so far although there is obviously informal car sharing operating. In order to encourage carsharing, the approach requires other elements.

Approach for Future Car Parking Strategy

Review and improvement of payment system

There has been a problem with the payment of car parking charges especially in the winter time with the solar powered pay and display machines. This has led to considerable frustration and some have opted to pay a higher annual fee in order to avoid the hassle of daily payments (12% in the car parking/leafleting count detailed below). As a first step, it is proposed to review the payment system and explore the options for paying small amounts on line (e.g. up to £10) to top up the car park registration cards. This would both reduce the energy consumption requirements of the machines and make it easier for people to pay their daily charge.

Enforcement of car parking rules and regulations

The proposed approach is outlined in the paper TPSC/07/09 tabled to the meeting. The necessity for adopting a more rigorous approach to enforcing the regulations is illustrated in the attached tables documenting the count of all vehicles leafleted on June 14th in the University car parks both before 9am and in the afternoon. A total of 537 permit holders had their cars leafleted. Of these, 103 (24%) hadn’t paid any daily charge. More than half of these were parked before 9am. In addition, with the Transport Policy Coordinator now in post, the University is in a better position to identify and implement measures in line with the University’s Sustainable Transport Strategy which will need resourcing. Thus, it is important not to lose car parking revenue because of non-compliance with the University’s rules and regulations.

Incentives to carshare

The TPSC has already approved the provision of some carsharing bays for implementation in financial year 2007/2008. It is proposed to investigate how best to further encourage carsharing by linking the introduction of car sharing bays with a reduced registration fee for those opting to carshare. The initial pilot will inform further initiatives to encouraging carsharing.

Car parking charges

The registration fee is index linked for staff and it is proposed that there is no increase to the percentage or the flat rate for students in 2007/2008. It is proposed that barrier car parking charges be adjusted in October from £25 per month to £26 per month to take account of inflation. It is suggested that the hourly rate for parking should be considered for increase in 2008/2009 along with the flat rate registration charge for students. Once carsharing initiatives are well developed and the University community encouraged further to switch to other modes such as cycling, walking and public transport, then consideration should be given to increasing car parking charges to further reduce car parking demand on campus and the use of single occupancy vehicles.

Transport Policy Sub-Committee is requested to endorse the approach outlined for a future car parking strategy.

Jo Leyland

Transport Policy Coordinator

Car leafleting/parking survey carried out on Thursday June 14th National Liftshare Day 2007

Table 1: Count carried out between 8-9am

Car Park / No. of Permit holders / No. of Visitors / Non-paying / All season paid / No. of Ticket machines / No. machines not working
Car Park 'A' / 42 / 14 / 47 / 5
Car Park 'B' / 1 / 1
Valley Barrier Car Park / 14 / 1
Valley Car Park / 85 / 2 / 4 / 11
Wivenhoe House Car Park / 25 / 3 / 3 / 8
NorthTowers Car Parks
NorthTowers Barrier Car Park
University Quays
Salary Brook Farm
Under podia Car Park
TOTAL / 167 / 19 / 56 / 24 / 0 / 0

Table 2: Count/leafleting carried out between 2.30-5.30pm*

Car Park / No. of Permit holders / No. of Visitors / Non-paying / All season paid / No. of Ticket machines / No. machines not working
Car Park 'A' / 95 / 14 / 15 / 11 / 4
Car Park 'B' / 20 / 2 / 2 / 5 / 1
Valley Barrier Car Park / 15 / 0 / 2 / 1 / 1
Valley Car Park / 52 / 11 / 10 / 7 / 2 / 2
Wivenhoe House Car Park
NorthTowers Car Parks / 154 / 11 / 10 / 17 / 5 / 1
NorthTowers Barrier Car Park / 24
University Quays
Salary Brook Farm
South Courts / 6 / 7
Under podia Car Park / 4 / 1
TOTAL / 370 / 38 / 47 / 41 / 13 / 3

* Cars counted in this period are additional to those leafleted in the morning count