Skip to main content

Nearly 40% of UK councils need more funding for parking and transport programmes, says Passport

More than a third of UK councils say they receive inadequate funding for parking and public transportation programmes, according to software provider Passport. This figure is from Passport’s report - Solving the UK’s Traffic Challenges – which was discussed at a roundtable event in London this week. It took findings from two independent studies which Passport carried out as part of its launch in the UK. One polled 1,000 UK motorists while the other surveyed over 50 council employees working within p
November 29, 2018 Read time: 2 mins

More than a third of UK councils say they receive inadequate funding for parking and public transportation programmes, according to software provider Passport.

This figure is from Passport’s report - Solving the UK’s Traffic Challenges – which was discussed at a roundtable event in London this week.

It took findings from two independent studies which Passport carried out as part of its launch in the UK. One polled 1,000 UK motorists while the other surveyed over 50 council employees working within parking departments.

Other findings revealed that over half of UK councils are struggling with parking problems - while nearly a third say illegal parking is on the rise. Also, 83% of drivers have issues with broken parking machines when they need to use them.

Despite this, Adam Warnes, vice president of Passport - UK Operations, said some local authorities are starting to form more ‘joined-up thinking’ on procurement issues.

“It is around partners coming together and being willing to share data and the need for someone to bring that all together,” Warnes adds.

Matthew Evans, executive director at TechUK, suggested that UK authorities could provide a bit more reassurance on the direction of travel to ease the concerns of local authorities.

“Central government could also provide some guiding principles on what local authorities may need to start thinking about when electric scooters end up on the pavements,” he adds.

Evans highlighted Greenwich council’s effort to bring local authorities together in a bid to secure services and platforms and allow authorities to lead on their specialised areas.

“I think we will see more joint ventures in different areas,” he concluded.

•    A report on Passport’s roundtable discussion will appear in ITS International, January/February 2019

Related Content

  • Report highlights community impact of new mobility options
    March 29, 2018
    Local authorities and communities must understand the impacts of the new mobility options and regulate to get the transport systems they want, according to a new report. Colin Sowman takes a look. Outside of the big cities plagued with congestion, the existing transportation system(s) often cope adequately, and the ongoing workload (maintenance, safety…) is more than enough to keep local transport authorities busy. Is it, therefore, a good use of public service employees’ time to keep abreast of the raft
  • AVs could be ‘terrorist threat’, says security firm Advent IM
    June 19, 2019
    Terrorists who have hijacked vans and trucks to drive into crowds – causing death and injury to pedestrians – could use autonomous vehicles (AVs) to achieve a similar result with no risk to themselves. That was the warning from Mike Gillespie, MD of security firm Advent IM. Speaking this week at the IFSEC International 2019 security conference in London, he said: “Imagine that you don’t have to get in the vehicle, you don’t have to be in the same city – or even the same country.” They would still be a
  • Cost benefit analysis ‘can’t be carried out with a cookbook’
    June 25, 2018
    There is far more to working out the worth of a project than simply filling in a few headings on a spreadsheet. David Crawford surveys some recent thinking from the US and Canada. Cost benefit analysis (CBA) “can’t be carried out with a cookbook”, warns US analyst Professor Robert J Brent. “ You can’t just get out a spreadsheet and fill in the data for all the headings. Each transport CBA should have something that is distinctive, in terms of location (for example, for a rural area), types of user
  • Be bold on ITS, says Dutch infrastructure minister
    March 20, 2018
    The ITS industry must be bold if it is to succeed in helping to solve society’s mobility issues, according to a leading Dutch politician. “If we want to move forwards, we need brains – we also need the balls,” insisted Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, minister, infrastructure & water management. “No guts, no glory.” Investment was also required, she acknowledged, in order to help make transport more efficient, safe and sustainable. “The challenges we face are many,” she said at the official opening of Intertraffic