Linking parking fees to emissions is ‘next stage’ to having cleaner air
Charges at Bath’s city centre car parks have just seen their biggest change since 2010, but another shake-up looks just around the corner. Further charges could be based on emissions within a year, according to the council’s transport chief. Councillor Mark Shelford (Conservatives, Lyncombe) said linking the two is the “next stage” in what he described as a “journey” to cleaner air. Mr Shelford’s announcement comes just a week after the biggest shake-up of Bath parking charges in eight years took effect. New fees came into being on August 13. A full day’s parking at Charlotte Street car park rose from £8.50 to £15 and a flat £1.60-anhour price for short-stay car parks was introduced. Sunday on-street parking remains free of charge and park and ride prices did not increase, and Mr Shelford said the council hopes more people start to use the city’s three park and ride facilities. He said short-term fees have not increased but this is only true for residents parking for an hour or two hours who claim the discount available to them. Speaking to our website Bath Live, Mr Shelford said linking parking fees to emission levels was “an aspiration” of his and in the parking strategy that was adopted by the council on February 7. He said it would mean car parks using a type of automatic number plate recognition system to detect which type of vehicle was entering. Mr Shelford explained: “It tells us what type of car you have got and therefore if you’ve got a hybrid or an electric car you would have a much reduced charge. “If you have got a compliant car you would pay the same. If you have a non-compliant car you would pay more, but the details of that are still to be worked out. “This is where we’re going. “It’s all connected, it’s all part of the package. It has to, because we’ve been mandated to be compliant with the [reduced] toxicity levels by the end of 2021. “We’ve really got to get a move on to make it happen. We can’t just sit around on our hands ... so that’s why we’re moving at a pace.” The changes are being made as part of a package of measures by Bath and North East Somerset Council to tackle and improve air pollution and encourage more people to use Bath’s park and rides or other public transport. The council said that it had listened to the concerns of shop owners - such as Article gift shop owner
❝ ...we’ve been mandated to be compliant with the (reduced) toxicity levels by the end of 2021
Lucy Simon - who fears that an increase in parking charges would reduce numbers of shoppers and harm business. New charges will see the cost of long-stay parking increase, however, in order to support local shops and traders, any resident parking for three hours or less in one of the council’s car parks will see the cost of parking either reduced or staying broadly the same. Their aim is to “influence behaviours and travel choices” in order to help Bath improve air quality. B&NES Council has been told it must cut its nitrogen dioxide emissions by 2021 and has proposed a new clean air zone. Pricing changes are “one of the main tools that local authorities have to change wider travel behaviour”, the council said in a briefing to its plans which were put out to public consultation in May . Mr Shelford previously called the changes “the start of a progressive journey”. He said: “We carried out an extensive consultation last year which showed broad support for the aims of our parking strategy, in particular using long-stay parking charges to encourage the use of park and rides or public transport. “We want to see more people using the park and ride or public transport rather than driving into Bath centre to park and we are encouraging everyone to walk or cycle for shorter journeys whenever they can. “However, as part of our commitment to put residents first and to support local business we have introduced the Residents’ Parking Saver which gives a 10 per cent discount. “This can be activated when residents sign up for our Mipermit cashless system.” The Mipermit app means drivers can pay for their parking before setting off or pay from the comfort of their own car when they pull into a space - avoiding having to queue at a meter. The app also allows drivers to top-up their parking, up to the maximum time available, if they think they are about to run out of time and risk a parking ticket. People using the app will see a 10p service charge, to cover administration costs. B&NES Council said the fee is in line with most authorities and cheaper than others. For details go to www.wanttopark.com/bathnes