Leeds workplace parking levy idea takes inspiration from Nottingham scheme that helped to fund tram network

The workplace parking levy - a type of congestion charging scheme - would be intended to act as an incentive for people currently driving into the city centre to make use of park and ride schemes or other forms of transport instead.

If adopted, it could also raise valuable funds that would be ring-fenced and reinvested in other transport schemes supporting the goal of becoming a place where a car is no longer a necessity and everyone can access affordable, carbon free travel options.

Listed as an option that Leeds City Council might need to consider in the future, the levy is just one of the possible steps being considered when it comes to transforming the city centre - one of six 'big moves' set out in the draft Connecting Leeds Transport Strategy currently out to public consultation.

Greg Marsden, a professor of transport governance at the University of Leeds' Institute of Transport Studies, is one of the experts on the Leeds Transport Advisory Panel set up to advise and challenge the council on its strategy.

He pointed to the example of Nottingham, where a workplace parking levy has generated funding towards the introduction and expansion of a tram network.

With another of the big moves in the Leeds strategy being the delivery of a mass transit system, the issue of how the money is found for that will be a crucial one

"If you don't want to do [a levy], then they have to think about how else it will be funded," Prof Marsden said, adding that it would not be realistic to expect all the necessary funding to come from central government.

Work already begun on reducing the impact of traffic in the city centre includes making the Headrow, Park Row and the Corn Exchange into gateway locations for people walking, cycling and using public transport.

The council says it will also close City Square to traffic, create a network of open and green spaces in the city centre, support the role of Leeds City Station as a regional transport hub, and maintain the Inner Ring Road while stopping it from acting as a barrier for those on foot or cycling.

The public consultation comes a year on from the launch of the Yorkshire Evening Post's Unlock the Gridlock campaign, which set out five key transport priorities in response to concerns consistently raised by readers about the congestion and unreliable public transport networks that were blighting their lives on a daily basis.

It will run until March 26, before the feedback from the public and other stakeholders is reviewed. An updated strategy is then expected to be published in early summer.

Visit leedstransportstrategy.commonplace.is/ to learn more about the proposals, read the draft strategy in full or make comments.

Also in news: The numbers behind the Connecting Leeds Transport Strategy

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