The Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) has responded to the House of Commons Select Committee on Housing, Communities and Local Government’s report High streets and town centres in 2030, and particularly its suggestion that local authorities should experiment with parking charges to drive footfall.
The Committee says that “some free parking” would have a positive effect on high street visitor numbers and allow them to compete with out-of-town shopping centres.
However, it adds its agreement with one contributor to the report. He says that parking is very place-specific, depending on the public transport that is available. The Committee also agrees that local authorities should test the impact of different levels of parking charges on footfall.
Says CPT: “The bus industry fully supports measures designed to encourage more visitors to our high streets, but it believes that offering free short-term car parking is counter to many of the arguments being advanced elsewhere in government.
“Road congestion has a serious impact on the reliability and punctuality of bus services, and it has a consequential adverse effect on local air quality. By working in partnership with local authorities to encourage the implementation of bus priority measures, reliability and punctuality improve, thereby making local bus services a viable alternative to the private car.”
