Browsing by Author "Dale, Simon"

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    An Exploratory Study of Mobility Hub Implementation
    (Elsevier, 2023-08-03) Arnold, Tom; Frost, Matthew; Timmis, Andrew; Dale, Simon; Ison, Stephen
    Mobility Hubs (MH) have been developed, as multimodal interchanges focussed on public transport, active travel modes, and shared mobility, with the aim of encouraging more sustainable forms of travel. There is emergent evidence of MH development and implementation across an increasing number of international cities often with different interpretations of the concept. The aim of this paper is to analyse the decision-making factors behind MH implementation. 11 semi-structured interviews were conducted with transport professionals involved with MH implementation in the United States, mainland Europe and the United Kingdom. The interviews revealed common elements in the decision-making process categorised under four headings, namely: Purpose, Process, Place and Performance referred to as the 4 Ps. These are used as explanatory factors to understand the variety of MH implementation globally. Furthermore, they have utility as a decision-making guide for prospective cities considering MH implementation. This enables exploration of how MHs develop and are implemented responding to the specific aims, opportunities, challenges, and contexts of a move from private transport to more active and shared modes of mobility.
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    Evaluating the impact of a workplace parking levy on local traffic congestion: The case of Nottingham UK
    (Elsevier, 2017-07-28) Dale, Simon; Frost, Matthew; Ison, Stephen; Quddus, Mohammed; Warren, Peter
    A Workplace Parking Levy (WPL) scheme raises a levy on private non-domestic off street parking provided by employers. In April 2012 Nottingham became the first UK City to implement such a scheme with the revenue generated hypothecated for funding transport improvements. The lag between the introduction of the WPL and the opening of related public transport improvements represents an opportunity to study the impact of a WPL on congestion as a standalone measure. In order to achieve this it is necessary to consider changes to variables external to the WPL, which also impact on congestion, which may obscure any beneficial impact of the scheme. An autoregressive time series model which accounts for the impact of these exogenous variables is used to evaluate the impact of the introduction of the WPL on congestion. Delay per Vehicle Mile is used as the dependent variable to represent congestion while the number of Liable Workplace Parking Places (LWPP) is used as a continuous intervention variable representing the introduction of the WPL. The model also contains a number of economic, transportation and climatic control variables. The results indicate that the introduction of the WPL as measured by the number of LWPP has a statistically significant impact on traffic congestion in Nottingham. Additionally, external explanatory variables are also shown to impact on congestion, suggesting that these may be masking the true impact of the scheme. This research represents the first statistical analysis of the link between the introduction of a WPL and a reduction in congestion.
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    An evaluation of the economic and business investment impact of an integrated package of public transport improvements funded by a Workplace Parking Levy
    (Elsevier, 2017-05-16) Dale, Simon; Frost, Matthew; Ison, Stephen; Nettleship, Ken; Warren, Peter
    Hypothecated revenue from the Nottingham Workplace Parking Levy (WPL) is being used to fund additional tram lines, refurbish the Nottingham Railway Station and to sustain the supported Linkbus network. This strategy aims to constrain congestion, cater for future economic growth and make Nottingham a more attractive location for business investment and to live, visit and work. Literature reveals that the Nottingham WPL forms a relatively small proportion of a business’ turnover and that the availability of an efficient public transport system is an important factor in business location decisions. Consequently, central to the WPL package is the expectation that an improved public transport network will prove sufficiently attractive to the business community to offset any perceived negativity of the WPL and hence make Nottingham an attractive business location relative to other UK and European Cities. This paper aims to evaluate the economic and inward investment impact of the Nottingham WPL package. The Theory of Change approach is used to analyse the impact complemented by benchmarking against comparator Cities. A range of available indicators are used including economic output, employment, net business VAT registrations, the level of investment enquiries and successes and investment case studies. The paper concludes that there is strong evidence that the WPL is not having a significantly negative impact on inward investment. Additionally, strong growth in employment and output, combined with a positive movement of inward investment indicators, suggests that Nottingham remains relatively attractive to investors. There is emerging evidence from investment case studies that the public transport improvements are playing a role in this.
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    ItemOpen Access
    The Impact of the Nottingham Workplace Parking Levy on Travel to Work Mode Share
    (Elsevier, 2019-09-28) Dale, Simon; Frost, Matthew; Ison, Stephen; Budd, Lucy
    A Workplace Parking Levy (WPL) scheme raises a levy on private non-domestic off-street parking provided by employers. In April 2012 Nottingham became the first UK City to implement such a scheme with the revenue generated hypothecated for funding two additional tram lines into the city, the refurbishment of the main railway station and enhancements to a number of bus services. Evaluations of similar Parking Space Levies schemes in Australia show that their introduction, along with any transport improvements they part fund, have been followed by mode switch to non-car based modes, a pre-requisite for congestion constraint. The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact the introduction of the Nottingham Workplace Parking Levy and its associated transport improvements has had on transport mode choice for commuters. This research however, does not directly demonstrate cause and effect leaving open the possibility that the observed mode shift could be caused by exogenous factors. The paper is based on data collected from a survey of 2,500 commuters in Nottingham, relating to their mode choice. The results indicate that 8.6% of commuters currently travelling by sustainable modes switched from the car between 2010 and 2016 at least in part due to the implementation of the WPL and/or the associated transport improvements. In the region of 50 per cent of those individuals gave the WPL as a stand-alone scheme as an important factor in their decision to shift away from the car via an increase in the cost of parking at work or because their employer had removed workplace parking spaces. However, this research has also revealed evidence of commuters switching to the car away from other modes demonstrating a significant suppressed demand for travel by car which in part offsets some of the beneficial impacts of the WPL package.
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    Mobility Hubs: Review and Future Research Direction
    (Sage, 2022-07-30) Arnold, Tom; Frost, Matthew; Timmis, Andrew; Dale, Simon; Ison, Stephen
    Globally, cities face a range of transport-related environmental, social, and economic challenges, not least congestion, air pollution, and promotion of sustainable modes of public transport. Mobility hubs (MHs) have been identified as a mechanism to aid the move toward a sustainable transport network and are at various stages of implementation in cities throughout the world. The growing prevalence of MH schemes highlights the requirement for a holistic overview of MH networks to ascertain their characteristics and inform policy direction. Consequently, this study presents a review of current MH deployment and literature, with the aim of examining this global phenomenon and identifying a future research agenda. The study combines a comprehensive review of web searches with gray literature and a limited number of articles from academic journals. Twenty locations, at different stages of development and implementation, were identified as examples to be reviewed and analyzed, thereby providing a context for the review. Subsequently, four themes have emerged: objectives of MHs, format, location, and operational factors. Key findings include the importance of stakeholder engagement in design and location choices, the significance of branding, and connection with existing travel infrastructure including public transport and active travel. Additionally, the provision of amenities is common to MH schemes because it promotes usage and integration into the local landscape. From this detailed review of the state of MHs, a future research agenda has been identified, including further defining MHs, understanding the origin and applicability of MH objectives, considering day-to-day operations, policy transfer implications, and further evaluations of single and network MHs.
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    The Theory of Change and Realistic Evaluation applied to the Evaluation of a Transport Intervention: The Case of the Nottingham Workplace Parking Levy
    (Elsevier, 2023-03-28) Dale, Simon; Frost, Matthew; Ison, Stephen
    This paper focuses on the application of evaluation based on a Theory of Change Approach, including elements of Realistic Evaluation to a transport intervention; the UK’s first Workplace Parking Levy (WPL) introduced in 2012 in the City of Nottingham. A WPL places a charge off-street parking provided by employers. The scheme acts as a transport demand management measure with the revenue hypothecated for funding transport improvements. The WPL and the measures that it funds thus form an integrated package aimed at achieving social, economic and environmental benefits. The approach afforded a robust evaluation of the outcomes and impacts of a WPL package of measures. Based on this case study it is able to conclude that this evaluation approach is an appropriate framework for evaluating public sector interventions in general and transport interventions specifically and recommend as to how the methodology may be refined for future transport evaluations.
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    The Workplace Parking Levy: A Review of its Social Benefits
    (ICE Publishing, 2022-10-05) Flack, Sue; Budd, Lucy; Dale, Simon; Ison, Stephen
    Reconciling economic development with the provision of safe, affordable, accessible and environmentally sustainable urban transport networks is key to securing the future vitality of cities and the health and wellbeing of urban residents. Although increased automation and electrification may offer opportunities for decarbonising urban transport in the medium to longer term, more immediate and lower-cost policy interventions are also required to reduce reliance on private vehicles and fund sustainable public transport alternatives. One possibility exists as a result of enabling legislation to implement a Workplace Parking Levy (WPL) which imposes a charge on employers providing liable car parking places at the workplace. The legislation stipulates that the net WPL-derived revenue is hypothecated to fund local transport improvements. As of late 2020, only one English city (Nottingham), has introduced a WPL although a growing number of English local authorities are considering introducing one. The aim of this paper is to examine the potential social benefits of a WPL and offer recommendations for future policy and practice.