Cheap parking for 'green' cars

David Ottewell

July 10, 2007

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DRIVERS of eco-friendly cars can save hundreds of pounds on city centre parking under a pioneering green scheme.

Manchester council is offering 25 per cent off season tickets to all major NCP car parks for vehicles that emit small amounts of pollutants.

Some motorists will be able to save more than £900, depending on the type of ticket they have. The first discounted tickets went on sale today, with a launch event held at the Printworks at lunchtime.

The scheme - believed to be the first of its kind in the country - was drawn up after a survey of 35,000 cars parked in Manchester found only 2.2 per cent were classed as low emission. That covers vehicles that pump out less than 120g/km of carbon dioxide and 0.02g/km of particulates.

The council - which has set a target of being the greenest city in Britain - hopes to encourage residents to switch to greener cars if they cannot use public transport.

Town hall officers estimate the number of low emission cars in Manchester could go up by between two and five per cent as a result of the discount scheme.

Council spokesman Neil Swannick said: "This is just one of many steps we are taking that has a direct impact on climate change. While using public transport is the best way to travel, we recognise that this isn't practical for everyone and we have identified cheaper parking as a positive way to reward drivers that help cut emissions.

"We hope that this scheme will be the first of many across Greater Manchester, and we are working with the Manchester is my Planet campaign to share our experience across the region."

Paddy Dyson, from NCP Manchester Limited, said: "We are proud to have joined forces with the council to launch this unique scheme.

"We recognise that it is in everyone's interest to reduce the impact on the environment, and offering a substantial discount to drivers that choose a low emission car is a simple and effective way that we as a responsible business can help make a difference."

Petrol cars that currently qualify include the Citroen C1 1.0, Daihatsu Sirion 1.0 and Charade 1.0, Honda Civic Hybrid 1.3, Peugeot 107 1.0, Smart Fortwo and Roadster models, Toyota's Aygo 1.0 and Prius 1.5, and the Vauxhall Corsa 1.0

More than 30 diesel models also fall within the limits - including a number of small-engined Citroens, Fiats, Fords, Peugeots, Renaults, Skodas, Toyota and Vauxhalls.

More information on the scheme, including up-to-date emission data for different cars, is available at www.manchestergreencity.co.uk.

What do you think about the pioneering green scheme?

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Taliesin71, Rochdale (10/07/2007 at 12:38)

"The council - which has set a target of being the greenest city in Britain"

Guess this explains their blinkered plans for the congestion charge.

Joey, Ashton under Lyne, (10/07/2007 at 12:49)

So four cars in which the driver is the sole occupant that knock out 120g/km each (480g/km) get a discount while some one with a car that knocks out 150g/km and takes three passengers into work does not.
Sounds like they did a lot of thinking on that.

CliffeMafia, Radcliffe (10/07/2007 at 14:29)

Everyone go out and buy a new car - doesn't seem very green to me! The council should be encouraging people to keep their old cars as most damage to the environment is caused in production.

Andrew, Manchester (10/07/2007 at 14:56)

The figures found recently for CO2 calculations have been found to be inaccurate. Did you know, to get the CO2 figures, only the engine and gearbox are connected to a machine, not the whole car being driven on a test bed with varying degrees of weight on board or hill simulation.

I used to own a new Ford Ka and it struggled on occasional jaunts on the motorway and when in the hills, i averaged 25 mpg. I sold this a got a used Mercedes E-Class 2.0 petrol auto which averaged 29 mpg. Small cars and/or small engines only work well in city centres or local suburbs. Most of us need to use the motorway and small engines or cars drink fuel as they are under powered. The CO2 figures don't tell the whole story. I do like the idea of reduced fees for green cars, i just think they should 'realistically' find out which cars are truly green in the real world.

ace, manchester (10/07/2007 at 16:38)

Everybody should use smaller cars in this day and age ? slowly but surely the size of cars are comming down even if you look at most family saloons now they are actually smaller than their counterparts years ago.if you work and live in the city or near to the city its madness to drive a large car even if youve got a couple of kids..its cheaper on insurance and fuel as well as kinder to the enviroment..

Andrew, Manchester (10/07/2007 at 16:58)

Ace i agree we should be using smaller cars, but how you can say cars are getting smaller i cannot fathom out. Todays VW Polo is much bigger than the original Golf, the next model up. Todays MINI is twice the size of the original and has the same wheelbase as a late 1980's Range Rover. The new baby Mercedes saloon, the C-Class is only 2.5 inches narrower than a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow II. All cars today are massive compared to their forebears. Even the BBC featured a story on this last week with an interview with automotive industry expert Professor Garel Rhys of Cardiff Business School. He mentioned how all this extra weight is cancelling out many savings on fuel and requiring more fuel to move the vehicle along. Checkout the story with the link http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6277636.stm

Also, contrary to a point a lady made about, most of the energy in a cars lifetime being in production of the vehicle, this is untrue. Only 10% is in the production and most of the components in the cars now are recyclable. Unlike the Toyota Prius eco car which would generally need 2 sets of batteries and motors in it's lifetime and there's the problem. What do you do with all the dead batteries. This has been an industry problem for years.

ace, manchester (10/07/2007 at 19:14)

Andrew, Manchester
What i should have said cars from the 1960/70s i worked in the car industry and worked on things like for consuls granadas capris ect they were heavy beasts,but the majority of cars are daewoo matiz, fiat puntos,KIAs ect suzuki Ect i look around and see people are going for smaller cars in general .next time your on the stores car park just look around you will find most of the cars are small cars.

Andrew, Manchester (10/07/2007 at 21:45)

Generally i agree with you Ace. The only exception is, for decades, the Ford Escort was the best selling car in Britain. Now it's replacement, the Ford Focus is also Britains best selling car. While the position of the car in the market has remained the same, the cars size and weight has gone up dramatically, thus needing much bigger engines for propulsion. Also, older cars were not as heavy as todays cars. I too worked in the motor industry, for Ford Motor Company to be exact. Checkout the dimensions (not inc' mirrors), engine sizes and the weight of the MK1 Ford Fiesta Ghia and compare them with the new one. You'll be shocked. You can say the same about almost any car. The Jaguar XJ is an exception, but that is because it's aluminum. If the orginal smaller one had been made the same way, imagine what benefits in economy and smaller engines needed you would have had.

The new Peugeot 207 is exactly the same width as the current 307 and just 40cm shorter and the 307 is massive compared with the 306 it's forebear. The 407 coupe is a very similar size to the new Jaguar XK. Maybe it's time to make parking spaces smaller to stop large vehicles parking in the centre.

BluePolarBear, ex of Stockport (12/07/2007 at 23:25)

Environmental issues will inevitably become more prominent in the coming years,as the world responds to a deepening in climate chaos.Our response,as governments and people has been long overdue.Hopefully even those who currently deny the physical georaphic and climate evidence,and the research of climate change scientists (meaning the serious scientists,who publish their research and results in peer read journals )will start to accept that this is a real threat to us all.I agree with Ace on this one,smaller cars and more car sharing are nescessary.A government commitment to a cheaper and ultra efficient public transport system has to be an essential step forward too.

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