Discounted Parking for Low Emission Vehicles.

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A decision made (14/01/2008) regarding: Discounted Parking for Low Emission Vehicles.

Decision Reference: MD-T-2008-0004
Decision Summary Title :	Discounted Parking for Low Emission Vehicles		Date of Decision Summary:	02 January 2008
Decision Summary Author:	Robert Cabot, Assistant Traffic Engineer		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title :	Discounted Parking for Low Emission Vehicles		Date of Written Report:	02 January 2008
Written Report Author:	Robert Cabot, Assistant Traffic Engineer		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Subject: Discounted Parking for Low Emission Vehicles
Decision(s): The Minister approved the proposal for a discounted parking scheme which enables vehicles which conform to band A CO2 emissions, and recognised hybrid vehicles which conform to band A and band B CO2 emissions, while displaying a green badge identifier, to use parking scratch cards or parking season tickets which have been bought at a 50% discount.
Reason(s) for Decision: To encourage the use of vehicles which are of benefit to the local and global environment, in a manner which is cost neutral and straightforward to implement and police.
Resource Implications: The scheme can be introduced, at relatively low cost, and policed within the existing regime and resources, and can be maintained cost neutral to the car park trading fund in the longer term.
Action required: The Manager of Parking Control, assisted by the Transport Policy team, is to implement the actions required to make changes to the appropriate Laws and Orders so that the scheme can be implemented at the earliest opportunity.
Signature:		Position:
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Discounted Parking for Low Emission Vehicles.

TRANSPORT AND TECHNICAL SERVICES

Discounted Parking for Low Emission Vehicles

Purpose of the Report

For the Minister to consider a proposal to enable low emissions vehicles to benefit from discounted rates for public parking.

Background

The Department has been asked to investigate means by which owners of vehicles, which have a reduced impact on the environment, can be rewarded and encouraged. A means by which parking charges can be used to do this has been examined and is laid out below.

Discussion

The environment can be affected by vehicular traffic in a number of ways. This proposal is intended to provide an incentive to vehicle owners to use vehicles which have a reduced impact on local air quality, and have a reduced impact on global CO2 levels.

Any scheme adopted should be simple and straightforward to implement, utilising existing information, administration and policing infrastructure. In the absence of established additional funding, it is also a requirement that any scheme be cost neutral to the car park trading fund.

Vehicles used in Jersey are generally manufactured for the UK and/or European market. One of the principle means by which vehicles’ environmental performance is now measured by the UK and Europe, is the levels at which that vehicle emits CO2. Manufacturers of all vehicles intended for the European and UK markets are therefore required to publish CO2 emissions values for their vehicles.

The following banding has been established, and is used widely in sales and marketing literature, by vehicle manufacturers in the UK car market. Adopting a scheme which utilises the existing banding would avoid confusion and allow easy comparison to easily available literature.

Band	CO2 Emission Figure (g/km)	Example of Vehicle
A	Up to 100	Polo Motion
B	101 to 120	Citroen C1 Petrol
C	121 to 150	Honda Jazz 1.2DSi
D	151 to 165	Ford Focus 1.6 Petrol
E	166 to 185	Toyota Rav IV
F	186 to 225	Mercedes C class 230
G	226+	Land Rover Discovery 3

Appendix A shows a green labelling scheme which uses the above banding, and which was adopted in 2005 for the marketing of vehicles available in Jersey.

To keep the scheme simple and cheap to administer, discounted scratch cards along with season tickets would only be available from Parking Control at Sand Street car park, and scratch cards and season tickets sold at a discount would be clearly marked as such.

To prevent fraudulent use of discounted scratch cards, a means of identifying vehicles which meet the requirements of the scheme on street, is required. The equipment to produce a badge which could not easily be forged is already available to the Parking Control Department.

Policing of the scheme could be carried out by Parking Control Officers, who would ensure that discounted scratch cards and season tickets were displayed alongside a green badge. The policing of the scheme in this way would be no more onerous, or require no more resources than those available at present.

It is important that the scheme is a real incentive to people to re-consider the type of vehicle they should buy, as well as being an incentive for the local motor trade to make such vehicles available. Conventional vehicles which conform to band A would qualify as well as hybrid vehicles which conform to Band B. Hybrid vehicles have the ability to operate in St Helier on electric power. This has the potential to provide significant improvements to local air quality in parts of the Town Centre of St Helier.

It is estimated that there are currently 23 hybrid vehicles which conform to band B, and no conventional vehicles which conform to band A, registered in Jersey. However, one manufacturer has just started marketing a super mini class vehicle which conforms to Band A, and other manufacturers can be expected to quickly follow suit.

A 50% discount could represent a saving of up to £550 on annual parking charges, based on the cost of a season ticket from February 2008. Initially the cost of the scheme would be negligible. However, as more vehicle drivers took up the scheme, then the cost of non discounted parking would have to rise, to ensure that the financial impact on the car park trading fund, of the scheme, was neutral.

Conclusion

A discount parking scheme to encourage the use of vehicles which have the potential to have a reduced impact on the environment, can be introduced, at relatively low cost, and policed within the existing regime and resources. However, some changes to existing Laws and/or orders may be required before the scheme can be implemented.

A discounted parking scheme should provide an incentive for vehicle drivers to consider the purchase of vehicles which will make a difference to the local and global environment, as well as encouraging manufacturers and dealers to make such vehicles available.

Recommendation

The Minister is recommended to approve a discounted parking scheme which enables vehicles which conform to band A CO2 emissions, and recognised hybrid vehicles which conform to band A and band B CO2 emissions, while displaying a green badge identifier, to use parking scratch cards or parking season tickets which have been bought at a 50% discount.

Reason(s) for Decisions

To encourage the use of vehicles which are of benefit to the local and global environment, in a manner which is cost neutral and straightforward to implement and police.

Action Required

The Manager of Parking Control, assisted by the Transport Policy team, is to implement the actions required to make changes to the appropriate Laws and Orders so that the scheme can be implemented at the earliest opportunity.

Written by:	R J R Cabot Assistant Traffic Engineer

Approved by:	Caroline Anderson Director of Transport

Attachments:

Appendix A