CitiPark introduces emissions-based parking tariff

Car park operator CitiPark has announced the introduction of an ‘emissions based’ parking tariff at its Clipstone Street car park in central London, following a short trial of the initiative.

The tariff will be available to drivers of electric and hybrid vehicles, and amounts to a reduction of around 20% compared to the operator’s regular tariff, according to CitiPark.

CitiPark will use number plate recognition software to assess eligibility for its ‘green tariff’. Picture by Richard Walker

Drivers of non-eligible vehicles currently pay a fee of £5 for one hour of parking at the site, compared to £4 for the ‘green tariff’, and £30 for 24-hours parking for a standard vehicle, compared to £25 for a low emission car.

The company, which operates 15 car park sites in cities including London, Manchester, Leeds and Watford, claims that the move has been rolled out in support of the ‘T-charge’ levy, which will apply to vehicles operating in central London from October this year.

Vehicle emissions will be assessed using software developed by CitiPark’s parking partner, APT Skidata.

Software

The software uses automatic number plate recognition cameras to identify and record each vehicle entering the site, which is then checked against vehicle registration databases to identify the level of emissions from the vehicle.

Vehicles emitting below or equal to 75g/km of CO2 will qualify for the new ‘green tariff’, which will be discounted automatically at the point of payment.

Ben Ziff, Managing Director of CitiPark, said: “We believe that the infrastructures supporting the auto-motive industry and governmental green agendas should also be adopting the same forward thinking approach. We are investing a great deal into our London car parks at the moment, not just aesthetically but operationally too.”

CitiPark recently partnered with Tesla to offer customers the use of Tesla Destination Chargers across its car park portfolio, including three points at Clipstone Street.

The Central London branch also offers a further three universal charging points to accommodate all electric vehicles, with the outlook to install more in order to cater for the rising number of EVs on UK roads.