Taunton to get electronic car parking guidance system

An on-street parking guidance system connected to pay-on-foot systems in car parks is to be installed in Taunton, Somerset. The £1.2m scheme is set to start in late 2017, with pay-on-foot replacing pay & display in seven town centre car parks. The system will cut congestion, improve air quality and played a central role in the town’s regeneration, said Taunton Deane Borough Council. 

Variable message signs (VMS) will offer drivers real-time data on the number of available spaces in each car park and whether they are short-stay, long-stay or commuter bays.

Taunton Deane Borough Council said it is working closely on the scheme with Somerset County Council and several local businesses, which “have been pressing for modernisation and improvements”. 

Roger Habgood, Taunton Deane's executive councillor for transport and parking, said: “The introduction of VMS will really improve the flow of traffic and help drivers find the space they need quickly and efficiently.

“Similar systems operate in cities across the country and I am pleased that Taunton Deane is planning such a significant investment. Pay-on-exit has also proved popular elsewhere as it removes the time pressure on motorists using our car parks.”

Installing VMS will halve the time that drivers spend trying to find a space, the council estimates. “The signage reduces unnecessary circulation to car parks and minimises queuing at car parks through influencing driver behaviour.” Meanwhile, pay-on-foot “removes the time limitation created by pay & display car parks”. This is “likely to encourage people to spend more time in the town”, boosting the local economy.

The installation of pay-on-foot has increased parking revenue by 15% - 20% in other towns, the council notes. The expected rise in income will enable the council to invest further in car park improvements. It hopes to install pay-on-foot systems at other car parks in Taunton over the “next few years”. 

Searching for parking may be responsible for as much as 30% of traffic on main urban roads while time spent searching for a parking space can represent up to 40% of total travel time, says the council. 

“Studies suggest that the benefits of parking guidance systems can exceed the cost,” said the council. “A cost-benefit calculation made for the Southampton City Council parking guidance system suggested that the signs were economically viable, with an economic rate of return of 91%, and over a five-year period the benefits outweighed the cost of installation and maintenance.”

Improved parking information from electronic signage systems can also “raise the public’s image of the area, which can lead to improved revenue generation. It can lead to safer driving behaviour, as drivers are guided straight to an available space. The efficiency and accessibility benefits from reduced searching may be associated with some reductions in environmental intrusion and accidents, but these depend on the local circumstances.”

Another benefit of parking guidance systems is they can result in a “non-trivial reduction in vehicle emissions”, said the council. “As the difficulty of finding  place increases, measured by the unaided search time or distance, then the benefits increase. Typical benefits are 2% reductions in emissions of CO and HC and 1% in emissions of NOx and PM10.”

The scheme will be financed through the New Homes Bonus (NHB), a grant paid by central government to local authorities to incentivise housing growth. The grant is not ring-fenced, enabling it to be used as additional funding towards the council’s “key corporate priority of growth and regeneration”.