Kensington and Chelsea council signs up for cash-free parking meters from 2020

BY YANN TEAR
yann@slpmedia.co.uk

Kensington and Chelsea council has signed up to a deal with car parking payment firm PayByPhone, which will see all cash metres scrapped by 2020.

The aim is to reduce carbon emissions and eliminate thefts of parking metres. Council departments will no longer waste time and cause unnecessary pollution by driving around to collect cash from the parking machines.

There is an added environmental benefit. As part of PayByPhone’s carbon footprint reduction initiative, Meters for Trees, the company has committed to donating more than 70 new trees to the borough, and will donate funds for a similar number of trees to be saved in the Brazilian rainforest.

The council was due to begin to take machines out of service on Monday, with the actual removal process starting on September 1.

Councillor Cem Kemahli, the borough environment spokesman, said: “The shift to cashless parking and PayByPhone’s Meters for Trees initiative are huge steps forward in our quest to make our borough’s parking service carbon neutral.

“Cashless parking is more convenient for drivers and eliminates the risk of theft from machines. But more importantly it also means that our staff will no longer have to drive 23,000 miles every year, almost a 10th of the way to the moon, to maintain and to collect cash from parking machines.

“This is the type of smart, green initiative we think will become the new norm for cities around the UK. It’s great to be leading this change.”

The removal of more than 700 parking machines in the borough will take place in phases in order to give residents and visitors ample time to adjust to the change.

PayByPhone signage will be displayed to inform drivers on how to use the service. The council aims to complete the transition to cashless parking by 2020.

Jonny Combe, PayByPhone’s UK chief executive, said: “Kensington and Chelsea’s commitment to our Meters for Trees initiative is a fantastic example of how cashless parking can support forward-thinking councils on their journeys to improve the air quality in their boroughs.

“In addition to the environmental benefits and crime reduction for the council, cashless parking also delivers significant convenience to drivers, as they can start a parking session in a matter of seconds and use their phones or even their smart watch to extend the parking from anywhere.”

Kensington and Chelsea council is the first participant in PayByPhone’s new carbon footprint reduction initiative, which was created in collaboration with Carbon Footprint Ltd, to support local authorities across the UK to reduce pollution. Councils which sign up to Meters for Trees agree to reduce the number of parking machines over a set period of time.

PayByPhone, in return, will donate one tree to the borough for every 10 parking machines – whether or not they are in operation – and one tonne of carbon dioxide will be saved in the Amazon rainforest through Portel-Pará REDD, a Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) audited project which combats deforestation.

For more information about PayByPhone and its work with Kensington and Chelsea, visit www.paybyphone.co.uk/rbkc and to find out more about PayByPhone’s Meters for Trees, visit www.paybyphone.co.uk/metersfortrees.