Take action on parking and help create healthier streets

We need to drastically reduce our car use to reach our climate goals. Cars are parked for 95% of their lifespan, and issues caused by prioritising cars in public spaces - such as carbon emissions, air pollution, road danger, noise and reinforcing inactive lifestyles - have adverse effects for us all, whether we own a car or not. We don’t think that’s fair.

Sometimes cars creep onto pavements and snatch away the already limited space for those who are walking and wheeling; this makes walking and wheeling really unappealing, prevents people with wheelchairs, buggies and guide dogs from getting around easily and safely - even forcing them into the dangerous roads - and reinforces the desire to drive even short journey.

Road with cars parked along both sides.

Road with no parked cars, people are tending to trees planted where car parking space would have been.

Research shows that the availability, accessibility and cost of parking has a more significant impact on car ownership rates than costs like insurance and fuel.

Parking policy is therefore key to combating the climate crisis, improving air quality, promoting active, shared, and sustainable travel, making transport more accessible, and delivering safe and attractive streets. And it sits firmly within the control of local authorities so can be used to enact big change at a local level.

But not all local authorities are using parking policy to full effect. Council policies often deal primarily with permits and enforcement - even though their role is much wider.

What can I do?

We have created a simple online tool to help campaigners, residents, councillors and council officers in high density urban areas, such as cities, to assess their local parking policies, and produce a Parking Action Plan which they can use to advocate for taking space away from cars and giving it back to people and nature. You’ll need to find various documents on your council’s website to do the assessment but we’ll take you through the whole process.

Depending on where you live, you may feel your local authority does not have a parking policy worth subjecting to detailed analysis or you may not have time to assess the parking policy in your area. If so, we’ve made it easy for you to send your local authority an email to ask them to review their parking policies for the sake of people and the planet.