This article reports a UK-wide survey of the attitudes of decision makers on the role of the workplace parking levy in managing the health effects of road traffic in urban areas. The survey was conducted by S Ison and S Wall of Anglia Polytechnic University and J Thorne of St Andrews University. They aimed to find out how effectively the levy would tackle traffic health effects, and if the levy is an acceptable measure for this purpose in urban areas. 258 questionnaires were sent to decision makers, local authority council members and officials, and transport academics; 147 of them replied. Most of them believe that the levy would effectively address the health effects in urban areas, but remain deeply concerned about the acceptability of this policy. 66% of the respondents thought that the health effects were serious or very serious, compared with 70.5% for urban smog, 84.3% for morning peak congestion, 76.9% for evening peak congestion, and 41% for noise. The perceived degree of seriousness increases from County Councils, through Metropolitan Councils, to London Borough Councils. Of 16 Government measures suggested for handling the problem, the encouraging of tele-working was considered the least effective, and improved frequency and reliability of public transport was considered the most effective.
Samenvatting