I’ve heard that the new charges will be based on vehicle emissions, like vehicle tax, why has this decision been made?
As we are implementing a new permit charge system the decision has been made to follow recent trends by the Government, other Universities and Local Authorities to base car parking charges on vehicle emissions (such as Exeter University and London Borough of Richmond upon Thames). This move will be a common one in the sector over the next few years and the University may be required to implement it in the future. However, as the University of Leicester is committed to a 60% carbon reduction by 2020 (Environmental Sustainability Strategy 2010), and we have an obligation to contribute to the Local Transport Plan’s carbon reduction commitment, the University decided to get a ‘head start’ and introduce such a scheme early on. The basic principle of the scheme is that the standard parking tariffs will increase from their current rate, whilst drivers with less polluting vehicles will be able to qualify for medium or low tariffs depending on the level of vehicle emissions.
