Car parking shouldn’t be a source of councils’ funding

The Galway Cycling Campaign is calling on the Government to remove car-parking revenue from local authorities and take away financial incentives to promote private cars over other forms of transport.

Figures in a 2010 report for the Irish Parking Association show that nationally, Irish local authorities accounted for 27% of car-parking capacity and 33% of parking revenue. The local council component of the business accounted for €115 million in annual revenue. In their submission, the cyclists point out that car parking revenue gives local authority managers a financial motive to prioritise cars over other forms of transport.

This conflict of interest has strong negative implications for state transport policy. To fix the problem, the cyclists are proposing a system of strategic parking levies.