News / Workplace Parking Levy
City centre workers may face charge for parking at their workplace
While Bristol city centre is already subject to Clean Air zones, roughly 9,000 drivers could soon have to pay an additional £20 weekly fee to park at their workplaces.
While some workplaces may already do so, this plan specifically targets employers allowing their employees to park for free.
Bristol City Council would charge every business that currently has free parking for its staff, and the business would then likely pass on that cost to employees.
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The idea has been put forward as a possible way to further cut congestion and air pollution.
The workplace parking levy would raise up to £10m a year, which would be spent on improving public transport.
Exceptions could be made to disabled people who rely on private cars, hospital workers and other groups.
A committee report said: “The parking places may have been free of charge to the employees for some time previously. The aim is also to encourage employers to manage the number of free workplace parking places that they provide, while promoting the use of sustainable transport.
“The introduction of a levy has other benefits associated with the reduction in car use and increase in alternative modes such as walking, cycling and public transport, such as improvements to health and the environment.
“Essentially, workplaces with parking places would face an annual charge per parking place and the employer would decide whether to pass that compulsory charge onto the employee or not.”
A workplace parking levy was included in the Green Party’s manifesto, ahead of the local elections in May this year.
A workplace near you, could soon see a fee being introduced – photo: Hannah Massoudi
A similar charge known as the Workplace Parking Levy (WPL), has been in affect in Nottingham since 2012, and has since raised £83 million to be spent on upgrading public transport such as the city’s tram network.
The WPL is an annual charge that employers pay for each workplace parking space they provide, if they have 11 or more, but it’s unclear if the same method will apply in Bristol.
According to the report, multi-storey car parks owned by the council have annual season tickets costing between £54 and £72 a week. The cost of an annual First Bus Bristol Zone pass is £841, or £16 per week.
The levy is expected to take about three years to introduce, and councillors on the transport policy committee will approve the beginning of the work on Thursday, September 12.
Main photo: Hannah Massoudi
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