Case Study
Capital Redevelopment and Parking Shortages
Expert.
Independent.
Cost-effective.
We are The Parking Consultancy.
Client: Central Manchester and Manchester Children's University Hospitals NHS Trust
The Trust is one of the largest teaching Trusts in the country, with over 8,000 employees and a contract income of £322m a year.
Initially, the Trust was based at three sites (Central Manchester, Pendlebury and Booth Hall); in 2004, work began to transfer all services to the Central site.
The Central site is located just outside Manchester city centre, along the busy Oxford Road corridor containing three major universities.
Client Issues
The first phase of the redevelopment led to the loss of 1,500 parking spaces for 18 months. This was further exacerbated by the city centre location; parking demand far outstrips supply in the surrounding area.
While some of this would be resolved by the opening of a multi-storey car park (MSCP) in 2006, the migration of all Trust staff onto the site in 2009 required the implementation of a long-term parking management plan.
This included:
- To make the best use of on- site car parking capacity and to investigate potential off-site solutions;
- O discharge access and car parking related planning conditions;
- Alleviate residential parking problems;
- To keep the Trust site operational with minimum disturbance to patient services.
Our Solution
With our extensive background in both parking management and sustainable travel plans, it was clear that the long-term solution lay in a mixture of both replacing the lost parking and encouraging staff to walk, cycle, car share and use public transport.
The first step was to maximise use of remaining parking onsite and finding alternative parking off-site. We secured Manchester’s first park and ride facility, relocating 1,200 staff vehicles from the city centre location. We also critically reviewed plans for the MSCP to ensure that maximum capacity was achieved.
We introduced a points-based car park permit allocation system based on both business needs and social needs, in order to manage the demand for parking and ensure that those that needed parking most received a permit.
A host of travel plan measures were introduced, including measures to incentivise walking, cycling, car sharing, bus use and train use. The most critical of these measures was the procurement of a ‘rail-link’ shuttle bus that allowed staff to access the site from the nearest major rail station (1.5 miles away).
This was funded jointly with other partners along the Oxford Road corridor.
Throughout this whole process, staff were informed and consulted so that they were made aware of the reasons for change and how they would be affected.
Services Provided
- Sustainable Travel Plan development, implementation and monitoring;
- Marketing and branding of the Sustainable Travel plan;
- Change management and staff consultation, to raise awareness of the hospital redevelopment program, loss of car parking and associated transport issues;
- Implementation of Demand Management strategies;
- Briefing sessions and technical reports to inform senior management, the Local Authority and the Trust Board;
- Introduction of a new points-based car parking permit allocation system, based on social and work-related needs;
- Tendering and contract negotiation;
- Critical review of MSCP designs and key recommendations;
- Procurement of off-site parking facilities and park and ride bus contracts;
- Identification and enabling of infrastructure improvements both on and off site;
- Direct liaison with the Local Authority and other stakeholders.
The Results
Thanks to the measures put in place during redevelopment, the loss of onsite parking had a minimal impact on the hospital’s operational activity and staff retention. Furthermore, all planning conditions pertaining to travel planning and accessibility were successfully discharged.
In the longer term, the travel plan measures resulted in a 21% reduction in single occupancy car use between 1999 and 2006, saving over 10,000 tonnes of CO2 between 2000 and 2005.
The rail link shuttle bus service now carries over half a million passengers a year. This number is sufficiently large that CMMC’s subsidies of the service have reduced by over 50%.
The project also improved relationships with the Local Authority / community and improved accessibility to the site by all modes of transport for patients, visitors and staff.
Contract Data
Duration: 3 years
Contact: Ian Goodwin and David White theparkingconsultancy@outlook.com
Tel: 01430650343
Mobile: 07410117113