The aim of the first part of the chapter is to set the scene for parts 2 and 3 which more fully explore the issues relating to employee car parking at Heathrow airport based on interviews with key decision makers within BAA and airport-wide staff focus groups. Part 2 seeks to analyse the key issues arising from interviews undertaken with five key decision makers within BAA. Key areas, derived from the coding and analysis of the interview transcripts as detailed in section 5.6.2 are explored. Part 3 seeks to analyse the key issues arising from the focus groups conducted at Heathrow Airport and key areas derived from the coding and analysis of the focus group transcripts are explored.
PART 1: Heathrow Airport: Background Literature and Scoping Interview
6.1 Current Car Parking Provision at Heathrow
There are a total of 22 car parks at Heathrow, including 13 dedicated staff car parks, four dedicated public car parks and five shared use car parks, including shared use of four of the terminal multi-storey car parks.
BAA has an overall car parking strategy objective which is “to ensure that car parking facilities are used as efficiently as possible by passengers and employees who are not able to take advantage of public transport services or other alternatives to the car. This objective is consistent with the airport’s approach to sustainable development.” (BAA, 2004b).
A number of car parking spaces are controlled by Heathrow Airport Limited and administered by BAA, while others are tenanted to other organisations at various locations around the airport. BAA market research conducted in 2003 revealed that Heathrow Airport Limited controlled a total of 34,603 spaces of which 17,556 were for the public and 17,047 were for staff. A further 11,411 spaces were tenanted. (BAA, 2004a)
In addition there is parking available at hotels surrounding the airport and a presence of off-airport car parks not controlled by Heathrow Airport Limited. These car parks do not contribute to the total number at Heathrow, and are not knowingly used by any employees.
(BAA Head of Communication and Change)
Data from 2000 shows that approximately 37,000 employee car park passes were issued to 450 companies for 12,000 spaces, a ratio of approximately three to one, and that the annual income generated from staff parking permits is approximately £13 million.
Currently, BAA charges employers for each car parking permit they require, at the rates shown in Table 6.1. Almost all employers absorb the charge and only a very small number pass it on to staff. The identity of these companies is not known by BAA; once they have issued passes they do not control what each individual company does with them. Anecdotal evidence, however, suggests that some of the private security firms charge employees (BAA Head of Communication and Change). BAA recognise that the consequence of employers paying for parking is that most employees are unaware of the real cost of car parking (BAA, 2004b).
Staff car parking at Heathrow is a “specified activity” due to the Competition Act and the subsequent regulated nature of the business. As such it must be operated on a financially neutral basis.
Figure 6.1: Map Showing all of the Public and Staff Car Parking Areas at Heathrow Airport
Source: BAA, 2004c
Table 6.1: Staff Car Parking Permits at Heathrow Airport
Perimeter £491 Central Terminal Area £780 Group 60* £1008 Group 50** £1298
* Group 60 is a “Heathrow Rover” which allows access to multi-storey car parks 1B and 4. It does not form part of the “specified activity” calculation.
** Group 50 is a “Heathrow Rover” which allows access to multi-storey car parks 1B, 2, 3 and 4. It does not form part of the “specified activity” calculation.
Source: BAA, 2004a
6.2 Pressures Facing Car Use and Car Parking
6.2.1 Terminal 5 Parking Cap
In November 2001, the UK Government approved the development of a fifth terminal at Heathrow Airport. Terminal Five will open in March 2008 and accommodate 30 million passengers per annum by 2016 (Caves and Humphreys, 2002). As a condition of the development of Terminal Five, Heathrow is subject to a parking cap of 42,000 spaces. This is currently active and must also accommodate the additional car parking demand when Terminal Five opens. Within this cap, there is a limit of 17,500 spaces for employees (ODPM, 2001).
The meeting with the BAA Head of Communication and Change revealed that if growth was to continue with no constraint then the 42,000 spaces would be hit in 2008. By 2016, there would be a shortfall of 4,600 staff car parking spaces with no growth constraints. BAA publicity aimed at employees states, “this cap allows for 8,500 more spaces – as you can imagine with the additional passengers this leaves no room for growth in staff spaces. In fact, it requires us to reduce the amount of spaces allocated to staff on airport.” (BAA, 2004d).
6.2.2 Sustainable Development and the Environment
Heathrow is in an Air Quality Management Area, designated by the London Borough of Hillingdon, to manage the levels of nitrogen oxide and particulate matter. Cars in particular contribute a substantial amount to the levels and as such are a target area to reduce the airport’s impact on local air quality (BAA, 2004b). This was reflected by the BAA Head of Communication and Change with reference to high car usage, “The sustainable development of Heathrow will be damaged if nothing is done.”. BAA Heathrow currently produces a comprehensive sustainability strategy and a range of associated documents, such as the
“Sustainability Report 2003/04” (BAA Heathrow, 2004) and “Air Quality Strategy and Action Plan 2001 – 2006” (BAA Heathrow, 2002), which detail their work to meet sustainable development targets.
The Government’s Aviation White Paper (DfT, 2003 p. 122) also demonstrates the importance of managing air quality, “compliance with air quality limits for NO2 will require a concerted effort by the airport operator and the aviation industry to identify ways of
reducing emissions from aircraft, from other airport activity and from airport-related road traffic.” A particular challenge for Heathrow will be complying with the mandatory air quality limit values for NO2 that will apply from 2010. The White Paper also stipulates that air quality issues need to be resolved before a third runway is considered.
6.3 Focus on Employees
In the meeting with the Head of Communication and Change at BAA, the issue of BAA focussing efforts to reduce car use on employees, rather than passengers, was discussed. The reasons stated were that it was easier to target employees because of the information BAA hold on them and because they made regular repeating journeys, unlike passengers. BAA is a customer focussed business which was regarded as another important consideration and financial impacts were also highlighted as very important; it was explained that it cost approximately £2.5 million to generate a one percentage point decrease in passenger car use and £800,000 to generate a one percentage point decrease in employee car use.
With reference to congestion on the roads surrounding Heathrow the Terminal Five Public Enquiry report stated “bearing in mind that these problems would inevitably be greatest in the peak hours, employees should be encouraged to make greater use of public transport.”
(ODPM, 2001, pp 240).
6.4 Future Strategies
The meeting with the BAA Head of Communication and Change also highlighted some of the current thinking within BAA. It was considered that forward thinking and planning for the future was generally not good within BAA. Current strategies to reduce car use were thought of as “all carrot, no stick” and that a new strategy incorporating both incentives and disincentives was required. Incentives were considered to be high cost but low impact while incentives were considered to be cost neutral with a larger impact. It was also regarded that any new strategy should be as equitable as possible.