How to Solve England’s Parking Problems
Parking vehicles in England is a non-stop headache, for drivers of cars, vans or lorries. With over 40 million licensed vehicles, our streets are packed with cars, and finding a free spot is difficult. Even disabled people often now have to pay to park their cars.
An easy solution is car-sharing (above) as this frees up parking spaces, as the vehicles are always on the move. If one vehicle is used by 20 people per day, this frees up 19 cars on the road (and those car’s parking spaces).
The easiest solution to find cheap parking is to download JustPark app. This lets you find empty parking spaces belonging to people (their garages, driveways or even empty weekend office parking spaces and low-season hotel car parks).
This earns good passive income for them, and you get a better deal than spending a fortune on multi-storey or airport hotels. Many use the app, if taking trips to football matches or music concerts.
Just imagine the income that could be raised by local councils (that always claim to be cash-strapped) if they rented out the hundreds of empty parking spaces at weekends, when staff were not working at the office). This money could then be invested in walkable communities, road repairs, litter clean-ups and free social care.
Design Car Parks Like the USA
If you’ve ever visited the USA, you’ll know that car parks are designed differently. Whereas in England we tend to have car parks with cars faced uniformly, in the US the parking spaces are placed on a diagonal.
This is done, as it’s easier to get out of a tight spot. So if we switched to designing car parks like the Americans, there would be less prangs, and therefore less insurance claims.
Fairer Penalties over Silly Parking Fines
In England, an elderly person who may be a few minutes late back, can be subjected to an expensive parking fine, and almost ‘bullied’ into paying less, if they pay straight away.
In fact, there is a 10-minute government grace period. So if you have a good case (say you or an elderly dog not making it back to the car in time), it may be worth appealing.
Yet football stars who drive at 200mph down an motorway get peanuts fines, if they are clocked by a speed camera.
Campaigners say it would be far better to use proper penalties (in Finland, speeding fines are linked to income – the home of the £100,000 fine for speeding millionaires) to pay for clearer street signs, with direct instructions. Rather than unclear parking symbols and tiny print.
When instructions are clear and fines are fair, people trust the system more. And are more likely to follow the rules.
Digital Parking Apps for Easier Payments
We’ve all had this. You find a parking space and don’t have change. So you put coins in the parking meter, and it ‘can’t give change’, meaning the company or council make huge profits, simply from you giving more money than you should.
You can usually phone up somewhere to pay by card. But it’s far easier to use parking apps that not only stop parking paying over the odds, but also the apps can use the data to spot busy times, and direct drivers to quieter areas. This can smooth out traffic, and reduce endless circling of cars on crowded streets.
Build More Public Car Parks in Busy Areas
Rather than let private multi-storey car parks make a fortune (at airports, it can cost more to pay for a week’s parking than the holiday itself), councils can invest in good public affordable car parks.
Doing this on unused plots can help to keep drivers off crowded streets, which is good for everyone. Good signage and lighting (avoiding light pollution) keeps car parks safe. Offering off-peak rates, would also encourage people to park away from busy areas.
Protect Disabled Parking Spaces
Blue badges (for disabled drivers and their carers) are very difficult to obtain, and should never be left in cars, as many people steal them.
There are already fines for people who park in disabled bays, but it’s good to ensure such rules are kept to. Local offices and shops with disabled bays could also join Just App, to offer these spaces for disabled drivers during off-season or weekend times, which brings in some passive income, and gives drivers somewhere cheap to park, away from busy areas.
But it’s better to let disabled drivers park for free. Some councils have now started to charge, a process branded unkind by many.
Encourage Park and Ride Schemes
These are when people leave their cars outside city limits, and use the bus to visit the centre of town. This cuts congestion in busy areas, and is usually less stressful. Visionary councils could also add walking and cycle paths, to help make the switch easy.
Block Illegal Pavement Blocking
Cars parked on yellow lines (or blocking pavements) is not just illegal, but creates hazards for people in wheelchairs, and families with families. Stepping up to stop this, helps to free up space, and keep roads safe.
Work with Employers to Ease Parking
Offices and factories can help, by encouraging car-pooling, and offering perks for staff who walk, cycle or use public transport.
Update Rules for New Home Developments
Rather than always designing estates for cars (out of town), it pays to build homes that are easy to walk to local offices, shops and parks. Including secure bike storage and a place for car-sharing clubs, helps to reduce parking pressure on local streets.
The Disgrace of Hospital Parking Charges
If an elderly or disabled or poverty-stricken person has a sick relative or friend (and doesn’t have good public transport), he or she may have to spend a fortune visiting on a regular basis. This is due to huge charges for NHS hospital car parks.
Although a few car parks do tend to be affordable, some (like one in Somerset) charges up to £15 for 24 hours (say someone was visiting a relative after a serious illness or accident, and wanted to stay with someone overnight).
Ask your hospital or council about community car schemes, where volunteers can take people to and from hospital. You may also be entitled to the reimbursement on both transport and parking costs under the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme.
Of course hospitals argue that they have to receive funding from private parking companies, which goes back to the NHS. There are a few arguments against this:
- Firstly, the NHS hospital could just run its own car park, and charge less.
- Secondly, NHS hospitals should be looking after its staff (many nurses, doctors and other frontline workers have to pay for parking too in private car parks).
If the average big hospital rakes in around £40K a year or more from private parking charges, why is this money not being used to fund free or affordable community transport?
You could pay two taxi-drivers a full-time salary each year, to provide safe and friendly transport for anyone in the community that has to make regular hospital visits?
