Car Parking 2010-11

Background

A statement of the University's policy on car parking may be found at http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/estates/travel/carparking/carparkreg.shtml. Basically, three types of parking permit will be available from Security Services as listed below:

• Peak-time permits: allocated on the basis of need, allow holders to park in designated non-departmental spaces at all hours of the day.
• Off-peak permits: available to all members of staff, allow holders to park in designated non-departmental spaces between 4pm and 7am each weekday and all day at weekends.
• Temporary permits: for use in departmental spaces by contractors, visitors, deliveries, service workers etc.

Permit Calendar

The 2010-1 car parking permits are valid from 1st October 2010 to 30th September 2011. 

Permit Charges

• Peak-time permits: 0.5% of gross contractual salary per annum (Payments will be taken in full monthly instalments for each month or part of the month from the date of permit issue until the date of permit expiry or cancellation.  Subject to a minimum annual charge of £20 and a maximum annual charge of £495.)
• Off-peak permits: £20 per annum (Payment will be taken in one instalment.  Refunds are not available for returned off-peak permits.)
• Temporary permits: £20 each [to be paid for by department]
• £5 for the reissue of a lost permit / change of sharer details

Permit payment

Staff on the main University payroll must pay for car parking charges via salary deduction. 

Non-payroll staff must pay via the online payment system at https://www.oxforduniversitystores.co.uk/catalogue/products.asp?deptid=73 and attach a copy of their confirmation of payment email to the application form.

Please note:  cheques will no longer be accepted for payment of car parking permits.

Number of Spaces

The department has been allocated 6 central area peak permits; 3 RI site ONLY peak permits; 4 temporary permits at St Giles; 5 temporary permit at the RI site. There is no restriction on the number of off-peak permits that may be allocated.

Assessment of applications for peak-time permits

Peak-time permits will be allocated on the basis of need against the following criteria and does not afford any particular priority on basis of seniority or rank within the department. Applications will be assessed and approved by a small panel including the Head of Department, Vice-Chairmen, and the Administrator.

• Disability - A need to park close to the place of work due to a medical or physical condition which does not qualify the applicant for a blue badge. [Blue/Orange badge holders have automatic entitlement to a designated parking space as close as possible to the accessible entrance of their contractual place of work.]
• Operational Requirements - A requirement to use a car on a regular and frequent basis during the working day in order to fulfil contractual duties.
• Family commitments - A need to attend to dependent family members during the day in areas not immediately accessible by public transport.
• Unsocial hours of work - A requirement to work unsocial hours on a regular and frequent basis, finishing and/or starting at a time when public transport provision is less adequate than during the standard working day.
• Inadequate public transport - Applicable to staff who reside beyond a distance where they could reasonably be expected to walk or cycle to work, or in areas beyond reasonable reach of public transport. Reasonable public transport provision is defined as follows: a total journey time not in excess of 45 minutes each way including walking time. Staff applying on this basis should note why they need to drive into Oxford rather than use the Park and Ride.

Maximising the use of peak-time permits

To date, the limitations necessitated by the ever-reducing number of parking spaces, have been accommodated by reducing the number of people granted permission to park at work - i.e. where a department receives an allocation of, say, 10 permits, it uses these to enable 10 members of staff to drive to work. The CPWG hopes that the focus of the scheme may now begin to change to recognise that it is possible to reduce the number of staff cars travelling to the University each day without necessarily reducing the number of people permitted to travel to work by car. It is hoped that this can be achieved by encouraging staff applying for peak-time permits to consider not only why they need a permit, but also when they need it. There are then three ways in which a department can seek to maximise its peak-time permit allocation:

Car Sharing:

Previously the scope for car sharing has been limited: in a small department the chances of finding someone who lives close to you and with a similar working pattern are slim; the larger the department the better the odds, but the likelihood of encountering potential car share partners is reduced. The University has now launched Oxshare, a web-based system which identifies possible matches for you, based on your stated home and work locations, work times, and other factors, including a need to travel to and from work via another location, e.g. child's school. To register go to www.234car.com/oxford.

Permit Sharing:

As an established car share system will enable staff working the same hours to share a parking space, so permit sharing will enable those working opposite hours to do the same. It is likely that most permit shares can only be identified by the department (rather than individual staff members). This system enables the department to accommodate up to five members of staff, while only using one permit from its allocation. This system should be particularly useful when part-time staff need permits, but with more detailed applications can also apply to full time staff so that, for example, the member of staff who has a permit in order to do the school run on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, would share their permit with the member of staff who works late on Tuesday and Thursday. Where set patterns like this can be identified one permit will be issued to each member of staff.

Applications for parking permits

Application forms are available in paper form from brenda [-at-] maths [dot] ox [dot] ac [dot] uk and at http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/estates/travel/carparking/index.shtml

Please submit your completed application form to the Administrative Assistant by 7 August 2009 at the latest. This will allow time for assessment and onward transmission to Security Services in time to meet their deadline.

Notes

Please be aware of the following points:

• The scheme is based on need, not status.
• Please note that peak-time and off-peak permits are `permits-to-hunt': the holder is not guaranteed a parking space at the department.
• The department has no option other than to comply with this scheme; any complaints or representations should be directed to Security Services.
• The 9 departmental spaces may be booked in advance for visitors but in the main will have to be kept free on a day-to-day basis for contractors, service calls, deliveries etc. They will not generally be available for staff use.