UK parking cash out experience, and lessons from California

Controlling parking – either by restricting the number of spaces available, or by charging users to park – has long been acknowledged as one of the more effective elements in any strategy to reduce car use. But it is this very effectiveness that also often makes such punitive measures extremely unpopular, and therefore difficult to introduce. A more acceptable measure is the idea of paying to persuade drivers not to use their cars for certain trips – i.e. effectively bribe motorists to use an alternative mode. One application of this principal – the parking cash out – is becoming increasingly common in the UK. This article looks at the performance of current UK parking cash out examples and compares this experience to California where parking cash out has become a mainstream policy measure.