Plans for a workplace parking levy in Bristol scrapped

A workplace parking levy has been ruled out by the Mayor of Bristol due to the cost-of-living crisis.

The decision to abandon plans to levy a charge on workplace parking spaces comes after Bristol City Council was forced to publish a feasibility report.   

It showed that a levy in the city could raise millions of pounds every year to invest in the city's public transport. However, Mayor of Bristol, Marvin Rees, said "now is not the time to create more costs for people" amidst the cost-of-living crisis.

The report suggested that the levy would likely apply to about 9,000 parking spaces at workplaces in Bristol city centre and labelled the scheme “exciting”.

However, in an online blog, Rees wrote: “A study was done into the idea of a workplace parking levy, which is lacking any modelling incorporating those major factors for its potential effectiveness.

“It remains incomplete and with the current stalling of the funding and ambition to take a mass transit system forward we have no plans to introduce this charge.”

The council commissioned the report in 2021 at a cost of £30,000 as a potential option for funding upgrades to the city's public transport network.

Since then, it has been battling a freedom of information request made by Green Party councillor Ed Plowden for the report to be published, according to the BBC. 

Plowden's request was repeatedly refused by the council and the Information Commissioner, but he appealed to the information rights tribunal which sided with him earlier this year.