Commuters face £1,000-a-year charge as stalled workplace parking levy plans restart

Bristol City Council could this week approve spending £1m on developing an outline business case for a workplace parking levy that could charge commuters £1,000 a year.

It is the latest step for a charge that has been talked about for more than a decade and now appears increasingly likely to happen. It is just over a year since previous plans were parked amid opposition and the rising cost of living, but was included in the Green Party’s manifesto for the local elections in May which saw them emerge as the largest party in the city.

The local authority has been supported by analysis done by Nottingham City Council which introduced a levy in 2012. Since then, the East Midlands authority has generated £83m, albeit with a scheme that has a wider catchment zone but lower prices than is envisaged for Bristol.

Initial estimates have suggested a central charging zone priced at around £20 per week could generate around £8-10m per year.

The council’s transport and connectivity committee will meet on Thursday evening to discuss the current ideas and to approve funding to start work on a business case.

Councillors have been told the workplace parking levy scheme has the twin aims of tackling congestion by charging commuters and encouraging employers to manage the number of free workplace parking places that they provide.

Workplaces with parking places would face an annual charge per parking place and the employer would decide whether to pass that compulsory charge onto the employee.

If Bristol City Council does ultimately bring in the levy, it is not expected to be in place before 2028.