There is a hardware store on my local high street renowned not just for its excellent and reasonably priced products, but also for the witty messages written on a chalkboard by its entrance. Right now, it reads, 鈥�500% increase in parking tariffs; Trump jealous鈥�.
This is probably lost on anyone who doesn鈥檛 live in York, UK, but will be recognisable (and funny) to anyone who does. It refers to a controversy that has become the talk of the town, and could turn out to be a test case for any city in the world with a traffic congestion and air pollution problem 鈥� which is pretty much everywhere. A few weeks ago, the local council hiked the cost of the car park nearest the store by roughly 500 per cent. It used to charge 80 pence per hour. It is now 拢4.85 an hour, rising to 拢5.30 on Fridays and Saturdays. The cost of using other city-centre car parks has been raised to the same amount, albeit from a higher starting point.
The council has justified the steep rise on the grounds that York has a congestion problem, and also for environmental reasons. The city鈥檚 air quality is bad. Reducing car use would also cut carbon emissions. York鈥檚 climate change strategy calls for a 20 per cent reduction in car miles by 2030.
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Cue a predictable furore. A petition against the increase has been signed over 8000 times; the local paper is full of . Less hysterically, traders are worried they will lose business and even go under, which would be a crying shame. The high street near me is thriving and packed with independent shops and restaurants. In 2015, it was voted Great British High Street of the Year.
The local councillor copping all the flak is executive member for transport Kate Ravilious, who also happens to be a science writer and a contributor to New 杏吧原创. In a combative , she pointed out that 1 in 4 households in York don鈥檛 have access to a car and rely on buses, which are usually stuck in traffic. Businesses are already affected by late deliveries, she said. The city is growing and the council is committed to tackling congestion and pollution.
The row reminds me of similar spats in London over the imposition of the congestion charge in 2003 and the expansions of the Ultra Low Emission Zone in 2021 and 2023. Both were vociferously opposed by the car lobby and many drivers, who falsely claim that there is a 鈥渨ar on motorists鈥� and that they are always used as a cash cow by local government.
A review found that increasing parking costs leads to a reduction in car ownership and better air quality
The opposite is true. Recent in Germany found that car owners don鈥檛 pay the full cost to society of their pollution, noise and accident risk. In fact, the up 41 per cent of the total. We all subsidise car owners, not the other way round.
I asked Ravilious how the council arrived at the decision. She told me that it drew on various lines of evidence, including what happened when it last increased parking charges, which was by 15 per cent in 2023. That hike led to a 5 per cent decrease in car park use, but no reduction in visits to the city centre. In fact, footfall on two of the main shopping streets rose by 7 per cent.
The council also looked at two other UK cities, Oxford and Edinburgh, which have experimented with large increases in car park prices too. 鈥淭heir cities have not suffered economic decline,鈥� Ravilious told me. 鈥淚n fact, the reverse has happened.鈥�
The final piece of evidence was a commissioned by the Scottish government on how parking policy might help it achieve its target of a 20 per cent reduction in car use by 2030. Using evidence from the UK and abroad, the review found that increasing parking costs leads to a reduction in total distance travelled by car, a reduction in car ownership, increased use of other forms of transport and improved air quality.
I am on the council鈥檚 side, but evidence doesn鈥檛 win arguments like this. 鈥淚t has become very, very emotive,鈥� Ravilious told me. 鈥淭here鈥檚 plenty of evidence, but there鈥檚 also politics and emotion. And once emotion takes hold, it tends to win out over evidence.鈥� There are rumours the council will back down. I say, hold your nerve and give the world more evidence that car use can be curbed.
Speaking of holding your nerve, a few months ago I wrote about an impending court decision with huge implications for the UK鈥檚 marine protected areas. In a nutshell, the European Union challenged the UK鈥檚 decision to close its sand-eel fisheries to protect various endangered seabirds, including puffins. A win for the EU would have led to the UK鈥檚 entire marine conservation strategy effectively being declared null and void. The court announced its final, non-negotiable decision earlier this month. The UK largely won, and the ban will stay.
Graham鈥檚 week
What I鈥檓 reading
I鈥檓 preparing to interview a big-name author, so her new book, mostly.
What I鈥檓 watching
Climate dystopia drama Families Like Ours on BBC iPlayer.
What I鈥檓 working on
See above.
Graham Lawton is a staff writer at New 杏吧原创 and author of Mustn鈥檛 Grumble: The surprising science of everyday ailments. You can follow him @grahamlawton
