3k Car Park Management Strategy

The management of car parking underpins the process of Travel Plan development.
In order to develop an approach to managing car parking provision, you need to:

• understand existing car parking provision
  
• determine a policy on car parking provision

Existing Car Parking Provision

You will need to collect information on:

• the number of spaces provided, and the allocation for disabled badge holders, visitors, etc.
  
• the cost of providing car parking
  
• who is currently entitled to park
  
• whether the demand for parking by staff, visitors and other users of the site is greater than the current provision
  
• whether staff, visitors and users park in surrounding areas and cause a nuisance to your neighbours
  

Calculating The Cost Of Car Parking

The cost of car parking is often hidden in the general running costs of an organisation. This cost also varies according to whether you pay for the contract hire of spaces, whether you own the land directly or whether the spaces are part of the building lease. The following should be included when determining the true cost of car parking:

• maintenance: includes resurfacing, remarking of bays, landscaping, cleaning, lighting
  
• management: provision of car parking control methods, for example barriers, providing car park permits, security and car park attendants
  
• cost of leasing the land or purchasing contract parking

There is also a value attached to land if you wish to extend your existing premises or sell it for redevelopment purposes.
The Transport Act 2000 provides local authorities with the legal powers to introduce road and user workplace parking charges. If the Greater Manchester local authorities did decide to use these powers, then you may have an additional cost attached to providing car parking for staff.


Determining A Car Park Strategy

In order to develop a car parking strategy you will need to understand how car-parking spaces are currently allocated. When developing a car parking strategy the allocation of a space should be prioritised. Criteria that should be considered include:

• developing a hierarchy of users for the site, for example customers taking priority over staff
  
• providing for mobility impaired people
  
• identifying who requires a car to conduct company business
  
• shift workers, particularly those who start work during the early hours of the morning or late evening
  
• excluding people who can realistically travel by bus, train or tram
  
• sensible allocation of spaces based on distance between home and the workplace
  
• those who need the car for other good reasons (e.g. duty of care, etc)

Charging For Car Parking

Staff are likely to oppose the introduction of parking charges however low they may appear, and organisations are reluctant to introduce them.

The benefits of introducing charging are:

• it can raise revenue which can be used to fund other Travel Plan initiatives and hence the company is not just subsidising travel by car
  
• it can help overcome a major incentive to driving to work

When introducing a charging structure, it is important to take into account the potential impact of parking charges on the surrounding area and their effect on the local community, residents and other businesses.

Choosing Measures
Travel Plans and Walking
Travel Plans and Cycling
Travelling by Bus
Travelling by Rail
Powered Two-Wheelers
Using Taxis
Car Sharings
Car Clubs
The Place of Cars
Car Park Management Strategy
Managing Business Travel
Changing the Way We Work
Travel Plans and Cleaner Fuels
Travel Plans and Deliveries