Scott Arthur discusses Workplace Parking Levy

Transport convener Scott Arthur talks about the pros and cons of a Workplace Parking Levy for Edinburgh.

Transcript

00:00 Edinburgh is a congested city, it's one of the most congested cities in the UK.

00:04 So the idea is that at work place parking maybe, employers would be charged for each

00:09 parking space at their business site used by their employees, by and large.

00:14 So the idea is that that would act as an incentive for employers to encourage their employees

00:21 to travel more sustainably. Some of them would of course pass the charge on to their employees.

00:26 And so I think the people who support it would feel that that would encourage people to either

00:33 use the bus, walk or cycle to work rather than use the car if that was possible.

00:39 So all that makes sense, but if you look at the experience in Nottingham, which is the

00:46 only true workplace parking levy I think in the UK, or I think in Europe in fact, the

00:52 experience there is that it's raised lots of income for the council, which of course

00:56 is always useful in these difficult times, but it's not really had much impact on the

01:01 levels of congestion in the city. Because what happens, people have been priced out

01:05 of using their cars, they've created space on the road and then other people have just

01:09 come along and filled that space up with their car. So it is a complex argument, but without

01:14 a doubt, you can argue about whether or not we'd reduce congestion in Edinburgh, but without

01:19 a doubt we'd raise income. And I think that's also why it's quite attractive.

01:24 But then it also comes with some concerns, because if you're a shift worker, say you're

01:29 working at a bus company and you're taking the first bus out for the day in Edinburgh,

01:35 how do you get to your work because there's no bus for you? So you kind of have to drive

01:39 to your work, particularly if you're living outside Edinburgh. So perhaps it's unfair

01:43 to level a charge against those people. Likewise, if you're working in the night-time economy

01:47 and you've got a car park and space at your workplace, it's quite unusual, I know. What's

01:51 the alternative for you? Should you have to rely on taxes, etc.? That might be more expensive.

01:56 So I think it's really important that if the city is going to take this forward, we should

02:01 be speaking to people on lower incomes who really need to use their car for work, speaking

02:05 to people who are working shifts, and also really importantly speaking to trade unions

02:09 to make sure we've got a plan that works for Edinburgh. And as it stands, I don't think

02:14 we have that yet. And that's why I'm concerned right now about taking workplace parking maybe

02:19 any further without doing further engagement with people on lower incomes, particularly

02:24 women actually, shift workers and the trade unions right across the city, not just the

02:29 ones inside the local authority.