Mr Parking himself, Manny Rasores – International Consultant and Board Member at the British Parking Association for 18 years – and Andrew Bradley, Net Zero Travel & Transport Lead at NHS England, shared their thoughts on parking technology for large organisations in an exclusive webinar for Mobilityways. Watch their presentations or read a brief summary of their talks below.

Andrew Bradley – Managing Your Parking For Your Purse, Your People and Your Planet

The wheels of progress are already in motion at NHS England, with an intricate web of initiatives aimed at revolutionising the way they approach travel and transport within the organisation. The aim is not to just manage parking for purses, but to manoeuvre the gears of change for people and the planet too.

Within the huge structure that is NHS England, a dedicated department, Net Zero Travel and Transport (NZTT), is committed to expelling emissions of travel and transport within our healthcare system.

NHS England’s emissions encapsulate the entire journey – from patient and visitor travel to staff commuting, business travel, fleet management, freight transport, and commissioned services. The ambitious target is set: net zero for the manageable elements by 2040 and influencing emissions by 2045. As of 2022, the Healthcare Act has etched this commitment into the NHS’s destiny – not a choice but a statutory obligation.

The National NZTT Strategy for the NHS was unveiled in October 2023. This plan outlines how the organisation will take forward the travel and transport elements of all of their emissions, including the NHS fleet, business travel, staff commuting, and non-emergency patient transport services.

Picture this journey as a roadmap unfolding. By 2026, all NHS organisations will work sustainable travel strategies into their green plans, complete with action plans and measurable targets. Zooming ahead to 2033, they are aiming for a 50 percent reduction in staff commuting emissions. This isn’t merely a switch from petrol to electric, it’s also urging us to reconsider our reliance on single-occupancy vehicles.

In collaboration with Lorna Stevenson, a post-doctorate researcher in travel and transport, NHS England undertook a comprehensive review of NHS car parking, which involved a literature review and a look at staff parking policies at 24 NHS trusts. The verdict: UK organisations that included car parking control measures within sustainable travel plans saw a 50% reduction in car use. Leaving car park usage as a free for all is not a good idea if you want to achieve modal shift.

Another issue is the reality of staff dominating parking spaces, leaving patients and visitors circling for elusive spots. Nottingham is the only UK city to have introduced a workplace parking levy but, interestingly, the NHS is excluded even from this.

Staff commuting is therefore the key in the quest for emissions reduction. A staggering 70 percent of NHS staff commute by driving alone, and the potential health benefits from a shift away from this norm are substantial. The target, as above, is a 50 percent reduction by 2033: To do this, partnerships with local authorities are absolutely key to making sure that there is a joined-up approach.

On that topic, NHS England has formed a modal shift network, which stitches together interventions aimed at transforming behaviours across the nation. Collaborating with 30 partners, they have sculpted case studies that will serve as guiding lights for NHS organisations.

In Birmingham for instance, they have unleashed the power of free travel, offering a four-week pass on the West Midlands bus network to new NHS starters. This is because, from a behaviour change perspective, it is easier to convince people to do something different when they start their new job, rather than when they’ve been driving to work for 20 years already.

Leicester also leads by example with a bus service funded by the hospital, offering free travel to staff and offsetting costs by charging the public to use the same service. The focus on active travel isn’t forgotten either, with North Manchester’s multi-storey parking structure now boasting a secure cycle storage area.

Guiding people toward alternatives is also crucial. Cambridge University Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham set examples by prominently featuring alternative travel options on their websites. They don’t just have the amenities, but they are actively publicising them, which is integral.

The key to modal shift clearly lies not in dictating change but inspiring it. The My Journey Car Share initiative in Southampton and Portsmouth encourages occasional consideration to car share, recognising that transformation doesn’t happen overnight. It’s not telling staff what they must do, but rather asks if they would consider changing their behaviour.

In conclusion, the NHS can’t single-handedly steer the change toward sustainable travel. Partnerships, collaborations, and joint action are the driving forces to collective change.