Tax on parking: UK cities to impose levy on cars in bid to cut pollution – Observer

Niamh McIntyre
Councils across the UK are using radical strategies to cut the number of polluting vehicles on their streets in response to the climate emergency.
Leicester city council hopes a new charge on workplace parking will improve air quality, fund public transport and incentivise walking and cycling.
The power to raise a “workplace parking levy” (WPL) from local businesses was introduced by Labour more than 20 years ago. But parking is such a controversial issue in local government that Nottingham is the only city in the UK with a scheme.
Leicester is now set to become the second: it is consulting on proposals to charge companies with more than 10 parking spaces £550 a year per space from next year. It is up to employers to decide whether to absorb the cost or pass it on to their staff. It could raise £450m in the next decade to invest in a new fleet of electric buses, an expanded cycle network and train station renovations.