Parking Business Plan 2012-13

Executive Report Report of Head of Operational Services Author: Kevin McKee Tel: 01483 444530 Email: kevin.mckee@guildford.gov.uk Lead Councillor responsible: Jenny Wicks Tel: 01483 222503 Email: jenny.wicks@guildford.gov.uk Date: 5 January 2012 Parking Business Plan 2012-13 Recommendation to Executive 1. To carry out the following work using funds from the Car Park Maintenance Reserve as described in section 5 of this report : (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) the decoration of the main areas of Bedford Road Multi-Storey Car Park at an estimated cost of 326,000 a deep clean of Bedford Road Multi-Storey Car Park and redecoration of the pedestrian ramp to the Friary at an estimated cost of 30,800 the application of a protective deck surface at Farnham Road Multi- Storey Car Park at an estimated cost of 550,000 the decoration of unpainted concrete barriers in Farnham Road Multi- Storey Car Park at an estimated cost of 100,000 repairs and decoration of the stairwell on the cinema side of Bedford Road Multi-Storey Car Park including the external cladding at an estimated cost of 120,000 changes at the entrance and exit of Bedford Road Multi-Storey Car Park to accommodate pay on foot at an estimated cost of 70,000 2. To put the uncommitted balance of any surplus from on-street parking in 2011-12 received by the Council under the agency agreement with Surrey County Council towards the costs of park and ride in 2011-12. 3. To implement the following tariff changes with effect from 2 April 2012: (i) (ii) increase the Monday to Saturday 8.00am to 6.00pm tariff in the central car parks from 1.10 to 1.20 per hour or part hour as described in paragraph 7.3 and option 1 in Appendix 4 increase the tariff in Commercial Road Car Park Monday to Saturday 8.00am to 6.00pm for the fourth and subsequent hours from 1.10 to 2 per hour or part hour as described paragraph 7.6 and option 3 in Appendix 4. 1

(iii) (iv) (v) reduce the tariff in Bright Hill Car Park Monday to Saturday 8.00am to 6.00pm by changing the charge for the fourth and subsequent hours from 2 per hour to 1.10 per hour or part hour as described in paragraph 7.7 and option 2 in Appendix 4. increase contract parking and season tickets charges by 5 per cent increase garage rents by 3 per cent 4. To place the required notices to make clear the Council s intention to change the Off-Street Parking Order to give effect to the change in car park tariffs listed in recommendation 3. Reason(s) for Recommendation: To approve charges for the financial year 2012-13 and to continue to meet the aims of the parking strategy. 1. Purpose of Report 1.1 This annual report is to update councillors on the car parks service provided by the Council. It contains performance information and reports on current and future issues of significance. Recommendations are made which include expenditure on car park maintenance and improvement together with proposed changes to parking charges for 2012-13. 2. Strategic Priorities 2.1 The Car Parks are a major gateway to the town and support a dynamic economy. They support a sustainable environment by reducing congestion. The aim of the proposals in this report is to assist all of these objectives by keeping prices competitive while providing a high quality service. 2.2 Appendix 5 contains a summary of the joint parking strategy for Guildford 2003. A more detailed strategy is being written to link parking needs to retail developments in the town centre and to look at the location for additional parking spaces. 3. Performance Information Car Parks Financial Year 2010-11 3.1 Appendix 1 provides information about service costs and income. The projections are based on period six information i.e. as at the end of September 2011. Appendix 2 provides detailed information on the main public car parks in terms of tickets sold and money paid, and penalty charge notices issued in the car parks. 3.2 In the financial year 2010-11, 3.3 million tickets were purchased in the public car parks compared to 3.06 million in 2009-10; a 7.5 per cent increase. The main reason for the increase is the introduction in April 2010 of a modest charge which introduced the requirement for motorists to buy tickets in the evening. However, the overall increase is considered too large just to be caused by the evening charge and it is likely the day-time use of the car parks has also increased. 2

4. Major issues during 2010-11 Customer Service Excellence/ISO 9001 4.1 In 2008 the service was awarded a Charter Mark and in October 2009 this was updated to the Customer Service Excellence Award (CSE Award). The CSE Award was reassessed in 2011 and the service passed. The service has held the ISO9001 quality standard for the last ten years and this was also subject to an annual review in 2011. Safer Parking Awards 4.2 Every February our car parks are assessed for safety and anti-crime measures against criteria set by the Association of Chief Police Officers. In 2010 the service increased the number of safer car park awards to 26. All the metered car parks in the town centre now have the award and they retained them at this year s assessment. Major Projects funded from the Car Park Maintenance Reserve Deck Protection for York Road Multi-Storey Car Park 4.3 A surface coating has been applied to all floors of York Road Multi-Storey Car Park. This coating protects the concrete from water penetration and helps maintain the structure. It has also improved the aesthetic appearance and enhances the customer experience. Pay-on- Foot 4.4 In October 2010 all the existing pay-on-foot machines in Castle, Tunsgate, York Road and Farnham Road Car Parks were replaced. The new payment machines all provide the facility to pay using notes and credit/debit cards and all provide change in coins and notes. Only some of the previous machines were able to provide change and then only using coins. None of the previous machines accepted credit or debit cards. Credit card payment rates are now running at 14 per cent of all transactions in these car parks. 4.5 A pre-payment card system is now in use in the pay-on-foot car parks. The user is issued with a card which is used to enter and exit the car park providing their account has enough credit. Payment is made in advance by the user topping-up their card at any pay machine. In return the user receives a 10 per cent discount on their parking in the pay-on-foot car parks. This system is similar to the successful Oyster Card system used on the London Underground, and provides users with an easy way to pay and promotes loyalty. 4.6 The second phase of the pay-on-foot project is to convert Bedford Road Multi- Storey Car Park. Work is progressing on designs for reconfiguring the exits at Bedford Road. The work to re-configure the car park was not included in the original tender for the equipment and it is estimated that this will cost 70,000. It is recommended that this additional amount is funded from the Car Park Maintenance Reserve. 3

Electrical Work and Re-Lighting of Bedford Road Multi Storey Car Park 4.7 Funding has been agreed for replacing the lights and updating the electrical wiring in Bedford Road Multi-Storey Car Park. This work is being planned and it is expected to take place early in 2012, providing significant energy savings. Replacing and networking pay-and-display machines 4.8 Funding has been agreed for replacing all the car park pay-and-display machines. The new machines will be linked with the control room in Bedford Road Multi-Storey Car Park and provide management information and alerts when a machine has a problem. This will improve the level of financial and usage data and enable the service to identify and fix problems with machines faster. 4.9 Surrey County Council has tendered for pay-and-display machines and awarded the contract to Parkeon who are one of the leading suppliers of this type of equipment. Surrey County Council s contract is a framework agreement so it is open to others. Two Parkeon machines have recently been installed on-street in Alexandra Terrace. The County Council plans to replace all of the on-street payand-display machines with Parkeon equipment. It would be easier for users and for maintenance arrangements if the same machines were fitted in our own offstreet car parks. The new machines in Alexandra Terrace are providing an opportunity to use the equipment in a live environment and assess whether it meets our business needs before deciding whether to use the framework agreement to purchase them for the car parks. Introduction of pay-by-phone 4.10 Pay-by-phone provides users of pay-and-display car parks a method of paying for parking without needing any change. It also provides a method of topping up payment without the need to return to the car park. Users need to register with the provider and the cost of operating the service is usually added to the cost of parking. The charge is normally around 20p per transaction, but this can be reduced if there are large volumes of transactions. 4.11 Funding has been agreed to implement a system. Surrey County Council is looking to procure a supplier under a framework agreement. As users need to register before using the system and because charges can be lower with greater volumes it makes sense to try to use the same supplier for on and off street parking. A number of other boroughs and districts in Surrey may also use the appointed supplier and so the ease of parking and volume may become even greater. 5. CAR PARK MAINTENANCE RESERVE 5.1 Beginning in 2006-07, the Business Plan includes a Car Park Maintenance Reserve (CPMR), established to help pay for major items of expenditure which occur in the multi-storey car parks at a set frequency. The nature of the work and the planned frequencies are set out below: Decorating every 5 years Applying protective deck surfaces every 12 years 4

Replacing lighting every 12 years Electrical re-wiring every 24 years Replacing pay-on-foot equipment every 10 years 5.2 It is recommended that for 2012-13 the following programmed works are funded from the reserve: (i) (ii) (iii) the decoration of the main areas of Bedford Road Multi-Storey car park at an estimated cost of 326,000, the application of a protective deck surface at Farnham Road Multi- Storey car park at an estimated cost of 550,000, the decoration of unpainted concrete barriers in Farnham Road Multi- Storey car park at an estimated cost of 100,000. 5.3 In addition, it is recommended that the following one-off improvements be funded from the reserve: (i) (ii) (iii) repairs and decoration of the stairwell on the cinema side of Bedford Road Multi-Storey Car Park including the external cladding at an estimated cost of 120,000, a deep clean of Bedford Road Multi-Storey Car Park and redecoration of the pedestrian ramp to the Friary at an estimated cost of 30,800, changes at the entrance and exit of Bedford Road Multi-Storey Car Park to accommodate pay-on-foot at an estimated cost of 70,000. The total estimated cost of all work proposed is just under 1.2 million. 6. Service Development current and future issues 6.1 On-Street Parking The parking service has been managing on-street parking in Waverley since April 2011. The service had been making a significant deficit but it is projected to break even this year. 6.2 Surrey County Council is still considering the best form for a future agency agreement with the boroughs and districts. Under the existing agreement, which expires at the end of March 2012, we will receive 35 per cent of any surplus made from on-street parking in the combined area (Waverley and Guildford). The surplus for the combined area is projected to be around 500,000. 6.3 A surplus from on-street parking can be used only in accordance with Section 55 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 which limits expenditure to improving transportation and parking. The surplus from on-street parking in Guildford has always been used to support the park-and-ride operation. It is recommended that any money received under the current agency agreement is used to fund park-and- ride once all other commitments have been met. Surrey County Council has agreed to meet any further funding required for park-and-ride. 6.4 Coach Parking There are two coach parking bays at the Artington Park-and-Ride site and three at Guildford Park car park. On-street there are two further coach parking bays in 5

Bedford Road. There are also facilities for coaches at the cathedral. The Tourism and Marketing Manager is trying to encourage more coach trips into the town. One factor that may help achieve this would be the ability to book space so there was a guarantee of somewhere to park a coach when it arrives. The Parking Manager will therefore investigate the feasibility of introducing a booking system for coaches using the coach bays at Artington and Guildford Park Car Parks. 7. Proposals for tariff changes for 2012-13 Pricing Strategy 7.1 The data in Appendix 2 shows a 7.5 per cent increase in users buying tickets in the car parks between 2009-10 and 2010-11. The majority of this increase is likely to be due to the introduction of an evening charge in April 2010 but it is also considered that the usage of the car parks during the day has increased during this period. 7.2 For many years charging on a Sunday had been at a flat rate per visit in Guildford. In April 2010 a tariff which increased after the third hour on a Sunday was introduced in the most central car parks and in April 2011 a charge per half an hour on a Sunday was introduced in North Street. Both of these measures appear to have increased the turnover of space and increased the number of users in the car park affected. 7.3 In the first six periods of 2010-11 the usage of short-term car parks in the centre has tended to increase while the usage of those further out has reduced slightly. On Monday to Saturday 8.00am to 6.00pm the tariff for the first three hours is currently the same in all the short-stay car parks and motorists obviously prefer to park as close as they can to the centre. It is therefore recommended to increase the charge in the most central short-stay car parks for the first three hours from 1.10 per hour to 1.20 per hour. This should lead to fewer users heading for the centre, a better spread of users and is also estimated to increase revenue by 130,000. 7.4 The short stay tariff in Guildford compares favourably with those in competing centres and Appendix 3 shows the current tariffs in other towns and cities. 7.5 Last April the tariffs in most of the long stay car parks were increased and this has produced a 5 per cent reduction in the number of users. This helps reduce congestion on the roads at peak times. One of the main alternatives to the long stay car parks is the park-and-ride services and it is considered that these will have benefited from additional users. It is recommended that there is no change in long-stay parking charges this year. 7.6 Commercial Road car park has a tariff between 8.00am and 6.00pm Monday to Saturday of 1.10 per hour. It is close to the Old Police Station car park where the tariff is 1.10 per hour for the first three hours but increases to 2.00 per hour for the fourth and subsequent hours. In 2010-11 the Old Police Station car park had 2,000 users per space and an income of 3,224 per space. In the same period Commercial Road car park had 1,400 users per space and an income of 2,756 per space. It is recommended that the tariff which increases to 2.00 per 6

hour after the third hour is introduced in Commercial Road. This is likely to deter longer stays and increase income by 20,000. 7.7 Bright Hill car park is on the same route into the centre as Castle and Tunsgate car parks. All three car parks have the same tariff structure which between 8.00am to 6.00pm Monday and Saturday is 1.10 per hour for the first three hours increasing to 2.00 per hour for the fourth and subsequent hours. Castle and Tunsgate benefit from being a shorter and flatter walk to the centre. Bright Hill has experienced a reduction in usage in the first six periods this year. To counter this and reduce traffic along the south western part of Sydenham Road it is recommended that the increase to 2.00 per hour after the third hour is removed and the tariff remains at 1.10 per hour between 8.00am and 6.00pm Monday to Saturday. This proposal is estimated to be cost-neutral. 7.8 The charge for season tickets has not been increased since April 2009 and for contract parking since April 2008. 95 per cent of season tickets have been sold and contract parking is 91 per cent let during the week. The contract parking spaces which are not let are concentrated in a few car parks. It is therefore recommended that the charges for season tickets and for contract parking are increased by 5 per cent from 2 April 2012. The increase in the season ticket charge is estimated to increase income by 30,000 and contract parking by 25,000. 7.9 The parking service manages 200 garages and of these 95 per cent are let. The cost of renting a garage was increased in April 2011 by 3 per cent and it is recommended that this year the cost is increased by a further 3 per cent. This measure is estimated to increase income by 3,000. 7.10 The effect of all the changes recommended is estimated to increase income by 208,000. Appendix 4 details the recommended options and other options for tariff changes. 8. Financial Implications 8.1 The financial implications are discussed in the report. The main implications are expenditure from the Car Park Maintenance Reserve of an estimated 1.2 million for works to the car parks described in section 5 and changes to car park charges and tariffs described in section 7 which are estimated to increase income by 208,000. 9. Legal Implications 9.1 Notice will need to be given of the changes to the tariffs to amend the Guildford Off-Street Parking Places Order. 10. Human Resource Implications 10.1 There are no direct Human Resource implications resulting from the recommendations in this report. 7

11. Conclusion 11.1 The Borough Council s car parks continue to provide a high quality parking experience and the proposed works will help to keep them at a high standard. The adjustment to charges will help balance demand for space and increase income. 12. Background Papers 12.1 None 13. Appendices 13.1 Appendix 1 - Financial Information Appendix 2 - Car Park Performance Data Appendix 3 - Comparison of short stay parking charges in other towns and centres Appendix 4 - Options for varying tariffs. Appendix 5 - Summary of the Guildford Parking Strategy. 8