Park-and-Ride motivations and air quality norms in Europe

• We study motivations to develop P + R after implementation of the EU air quality directive 2008.
• We compare motivations of local authorities for developing P + R in 2010 with 2005 levels.
• We find air quality concerns are an increasing but currently not strong motivation.
• We find that perceived community pressure has become a significant motivation.

Transport congestion and the quality of the air in cities is a persistent concern for urban planners, and in this context Park and Ride (P + R) facilities have been proposed as an element of urban sustainability strategies in many cities in Europe. In 2008 a European Commission directive aimed at improving local air quality has been introduced, the Directive on air quality and cleaner air for Europe. It seems reasonable to suggest that increased regulatory measures at European level may have spurred interest in developing potential sustainable transport (policy) innovations such as P + R.We test this hypothesis through a survey among 25 cities in North-West Europe. We find that by 2010 perceived regulatory pressure for P + R has indeed increased compared to 2005, although it remains weak and is still not a significant motivation for P + R development. Furthermore, it was found that perceived community pressure has become a significant motivation, possibly because of increased public awareness and attention for global warming and sustainability. Overall we find that framing of P + R among urban planners as well as the cities’ engagement levels have not evolved significantly from 2005 levels and thus that air quality concerns are an increasing but currently not strong motivation for local authorities in North-West Europe to develop P + R.