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Motorists in Nottingham will be charged £250 a year to park at work from 2012, as part of a workplace levy which has been endorsed by the government.

The move has sparked anger, but the government's backing is being interpreted as a sign that it is a policy that will be implemented nationwide.

Milton Keynes, Exeter, Cambridge, Oxford have all expressed interest in the project already, while it has also been identified as a "congestion-busting" strategy by the Core Cites Group, whi...Read the full article

Autocar:

Motorists in Nottingham will be charged £250 a year to park at work from 2012, as part of a workplace levy which has been endorsed by the government.

The move has sparked anger, but the government's backing is being interpreted as a sign that it is a policy that will be implemented nationwide.

Milton Keynes, Exeter, Cambridge, Oxford have all expressed interest in the project already, while it has also been identified as a "congestion-busting" strategy by the Core Cites Group, whi...Read the full article

Robin Hood is still alive and well then!

firstly I think its a really idea....it is along the lines of something I have thought and said for ages i.e. employers need integrated transport systems for employees....and when they build facilities you should take account of and work with (if necessary) local public transport to make sure your employees can get to and from work...it should also increase the use of internet meetings etc.....I think its good....it will be good to see how it works....but I think its good....it should also increase the air quality in cities etc.

also redecarray....I think it would be more like d1ck turpin as opposed to Robin Hood! 

redecarray:

Robin Hood is still alive and well then!

 

 

Unfortunatly robin hood steels from the rich and gives to the poor, local and central governments seem to steel from the poor and the rich, then give too........well themselves it would appear!

 
Also North, i dont think this will have any effect on what people do with there cars, it is simply another tax!

Surely this is a council led plan, these wannabe politicians love to grab money off us to waste so I can see this appeals - all those wine parties they can out pee each other with the size of the budget they manage.

Most the money it raises will no doubt go on a new army of workplace permit wardens, clampers, tow trucks and fines office administrators.

Anyway this is easily stopped with a number of no-charges candidates standing and certainly getting elected by the majority that actually care about their towns and want to stop the madness.

Vidge 123; we will see but I think it will as it will drive integrated transport policy...also think when you buy a new building for your business.....think about the running cost......you will find (I think) it will start and change quite a few things as it starts to drive cost........you will (I am sure) see a great change.....

But time will tell.....good on them for giving it go!!.....I think it will work...and it could also see other things occuring i.e. renting of car parking spaces etc.....firms starting to work with local transport companies to dirve more effective bus and train timings etc......you will see changes (I have no doubts!)....plus it allows councils to give rebates if the cars are electric like the Nissan and or very low emissions like the Chevy Volt etc.

Also think of the Smart car....i.e. you can get two cars in one conventional space.....!....cars stacking......it will be very interesting.

The local news has carried this story for some time, with many local firms threatening to leave Nottingham before this plan is implemented.  The major Boots factory has over 200 parking spaces, Experian 100+ .. they are seriously unimpressed.  The city council has also redeveloped brown field sites into plush new offices (now leased by Mercedes, Audi, BMW showrooms & some solicitor firms) which they sold with "ample parking" as a big plus point - little did these firms realise that those spaces would soon become a tax liability.

As for the local tram, it only serves a small number of areas and the Conservative county council (who took over at the recent local elections) pulled the plug on their £20m+ investment to help extend the network.  Plus, the City Council rejected plans for a park & ride scheme along one of the busiest routes into the city (that the tram does not serve).  So, we have no apparent link between schemes - stop using your car or we'll charge you but will offer no alternative "joined-up" scheme for public transport.  Buses here are expensive (it costs over £2 to get to my local shops which are only 3 miles away!), cycle paths are often covered in broken glass so cyclists use the roads (including a dual-carriageway) and my nearest tram stop is 10 miles away.  But, the local section of the A46 is being upgraded to a dual-carriageway at massive cost - at least we'll be able to migrate out of the area faster...

This p1sses me off.

Right at a time when we need businesses in the UK to thrive we've got numpties in councils who think you should pay to actually turn up to work!

As for tram schemes, we've got one going on in Edinburgh too.   My advice would be to stop now while you've got a chance.   Scheme doesn't cover that many areas, is hugely expensive, and the amount of disruption caused is unbelievable.   If even half the money was put in to roads and busses you could have a superb transport network connecting all areas.

Symanski:

As for tram schemes, we've got one going on in Edinburgh too. 

Coincidentally, I used to work in Edinburgh in early 90s when Corstorphine Road had 2 lanes into city.  Then the council changed the inside lane to a bus only lane, massively increasing congestion along a very busy route.  They then gave the go-ahead for the out of town development towards the airport (the one with the big M&S), increasing traffic further but not improving road access.

Unfortunately, Nottingham City council like to do the same things too.  The traffic light stagger on my route into the city was changed a couple of years back to deliberately increase congestion, the A52 dual-carriageway has average speed cameras so now nobody bothers getting out of the outside lane 'cos they don't see the point (you can't go fast enough to overtake), and London Road (a busy road anyway) now has average speed cameras too (so you're always checking speedometer which isn't particularly safe).  Improvements to local transport infrastructure - nil, unless you count the tram which comes nowhere near me!