Thread by @LambethLivingSt

QUESTION: "I'm a progressive councillor who wants to support the shift from private cars to a healthy city, what parking policy should I be pushing for?"

This THREAD tries to answer in three parts:
- WHY the need to change
- WHAT to change to
- HOW to help achieve it as a cllr

WHY: Firstly, let's be clear that cut-price parking is a subsidy. If a petrostate charges $1/L for fuel where market rate is $20/L, it's a subsidy of $19/L.

Market rate for a Lambeth parking space is £1200ish per year. The council charges £300, so the subsidy is £900pa per car

You can check market prices here or similar sites: parklet.co.uk/search_results…

Secondly, it's important to note that Lambeth is split into areas with/without controlled parking zones(CPZs). CPZ areas(blue) get partially subsidised parking, with costs linked to emissions

Areas without CPZs, have fully subsidised parking. CPZs are introduced via consultation

The CPZ consultation process assumes that parking is only of importance to the streets in question. This is wrong

Parking subsidies are paid by everyone in Lambeth through forgone revenue & parking is a strategic transport issue. It's the only road pricing lever the council has.

The CPZ consultation effectively asks "do you want your subsidies to end?" & car-free residents shrug as they don't get any while motorists kick off & block the CPZ with a tiny turnout.

That maintains their fully subsidised parking costs & thwarts transport strategies & promises

Let's look at who gets these subsidies (motorists) & who pays them (car-free). It costs ~£3000 to run a car per year in London, so naturally/statistically those who do are richer on average than those who don't. In our society that also means more white, male, old & non-disabled.

No CPZ means generally more wealthy residents pay nothing for £1200 worth of space

Subsidised parking where there are CPZs gives a whopping discount to more wealthy residents

Meanwhile, less wealthy residents benefit less from any subsidy because they are less likely to drive.

However, revenue from the (low) parking charges that does go to the council is ringfenced for spending on transport, which means subsidised travel for disadvantaged groups (e.g. Taxicard), maintained footways, street furniture, traffic calming, cycle lanes & parking enforcement

In Lambeth parking revenue is £35m per year, but without parking subsidies this could be as high as £80m. Over 10 years, that's a transfer of around £600m from poorer to richer residents. It's clear injustice as a transfer, but doubly so if you consider who suffers from dirty air

So WHAT does progressive parking policy look like?

1. Controlled parking zones everywhere. This puts at least a low price on parking & begins to tame the worst aspects of wild west parking like abandoned cars & pavement parking (see CPZ & abandoned cars map)

This might be filling the gaps or creating a single borough-wide CPZ.

2. Reduce & rebalance the parking subsidy. The reductions could be staggered over several years, but by 2026-27, there should be no council subsidies for parking the dirtiest cars, which means no difference in cost between parking the dirtiest car in a private or council space.

3. Rebalance the parking subsidy means looking at vehicle storage holistically. Cars or bikes are a choice & the revenue from reducing the parking subsidy for cars should go hand-in-hand with increasing the subsidy for bike storage so there are more & cheaper spaces for residents

4. Keep the emissions pricing structure so there is some discount for cleaner vehicles, reflecting the reduced harm they cause. But electric vehicles cause air pollution, danger, noise & waste urban space so the discount should not be more than 1/3. #PollutersPayProprotionally

5. Big cars like SUVs cause more harms but some big cars are low or no emission. They do not deserve the same rates as a smart car. Less fuel & space efficient, more dangerous to others, do more damage to roads. Their charges should be reflect their harms.

6. Consider reduced parking rates for blue badge holders. *Some people NEED to drive* & public policy should protect them. Many people who do drive don't need to drive & separating these two groups for different treatment is important.

7. Scrutinise & publicise parking revenue & its spending. The revenue is basically hypothecated, £1 in from parking pays £1 for safer walking schemes or repaired footways.

Many drivers would be understanding of the changes if they knew how they were helping their community.

So HOW can you help achieve it?

1. Ask questions of the council like:
- How much do you subsidise market rates per car per year?
- what do you spend parking revenue on?
- have you done an equalities impact assessment of parking policy?
- Does your parking policy align with air, climate & transport goals?

2. Lobby for a revised CPZ consultation process.

- consultation should ask "how" not "whether", reflecting the manifesto commitments & the motions, targets & strategies agreed by elected representatives...

- consultation should ask everyone in Lambeth because it's everyone's money being spent on the subsidy. "Do you Lambeth residents want to pay the £1200 subsidy for motorists in these streets?" Or "*would you rather* the money was spent on transport benefits for all of Lambeth?"..

3. Lobby for a CPZ in your ward. Count the correspondence complaining about parking pressure, pavement parking, unsafe parking, potholes, broken footways, cycle storage & calling for almost any council transport service/infrastructure. Treat these as "Yes to CPZ"votes.

4. Lobby for revised parking subsidy policy at borough level, which is set by the financial lead for the council, transport lead & housing lead (for estates), but is signed off by the cabinet overall.

5. Prepare for some backlash & help your colleagues. Has any politician phased out a subsidy for wealthy voters without it being fraught & difficult? No doubt, there will intense abuse targeted at some of your colleagues, particularly women & people of colour.

All this crap👇