Parking as a means of climate change
It is important to build in flexibility so that travelers can make a daily choice, and more often choose the sustainable option. This is according to Hassan Mahdi, manager at Wihlborgs responsible for parking issues and charging infrastructure at Wihlborg Real Estate in Lund. In the Great Collaboration Project CoAction Many actors work together to create a more sustainable Lund, for example by encouraging climate-friendly commuting.
“As a property owner, it's about creating consensus around the changes we're making and bringing our tenants along on the journey,” he says.
Wihlborgs has a large stock of commercial premises and many people take to their properties every day to work. Even before CoAction, Wihlborg's focus was on mobility issues, with the motto of making travel easy sustainably. In this, parking issues have been part of their work, where a key ambition is to separate premises leases from parking.
“If the parking spaces are free and included in the local lease agreement, more people are more likely to take the car to work,” says Hassan Mahdi. Another measure is that we do not sell subscriptions for periods longer than one month. In this way, we open up to the fact that people evaluate their travel more often. In addition, we work with co-utilization of parking spaces. With higher utilization rates, we don't need as many parking spaces.
Within CoAction, Wihlborgs has initiated two pilots on Mobilvägen. It has around 50 businesses with a total of 4,000 employees and 1,500 parking spaces, where occupancy rates are high.
- When the area was built, it was located on the outskirts of Lund and the car was the focus when planning the area. That has changed, not least through the tramway, but the occupancy at the parking lots is still high. Therefore, this is a good place to test how to use parking fees as a guide to a more sustainable travel,” says Hassan Mahdi.
In the parking lot, two novelties are currently being tested. The first involves a change in the fee so that the daily tickets become significantly cheaper while the monthly card costs slightly more.
- If every day there is an active choice whether to buy parking, we believe that the likelihood of choosing to walk, cycle or ride by public transport increases.
Wihlborgs has been testing this since December and yet it is not time to evaluate. What has been shown is that it has only been met with positive reactions.
The second CoAction pilot that the Wihlborgs are involved in started on February 1 with Coride, which is a carpooling service that encourages more people to travel together. Coride makes use of The Parksters solutions, where a new zone for the specific area has been developed. Those who travel via Coride and use the app receive a reduced daily fare on Mobilvägen.
When working with sustainable mobility, it is not just about parking, but about creating a whole. There is already well-developed public transport to the area and Wihlborgs is committed to improving conditions for cyclists.
“We are working on improving the facilities for those who want to cycle, which means access to changing rooms, showers and secure bike storage,” says Hassan Mahdi.
Wihlborgs has also arranged places for easier bicycle service and in some properties there are spaces for charging electric bike batteries, something that is increasingly in demand. There is also a bike pool where renters can borrow bikes free of charge during the day.
When the tramway was inaugurated, Wihlborg's two entrances opened towards the Ideontorget and Telefonplan stops, and screens with public transport information were set up. Mobilvägen will install a fast charger with four sockets in March.
- We also know that we are more able to change habits in the event of a change such as an office move, so we usually inform about public transport and bike-friendly workplaces. At events, we talk about how to get there sustainably. It's often small things that make an impact.
- We want to build in flexibility so that travelers can make a daily choice, and more often choose the sustainable option to reduce their climate footprint. If we are to reach climate-neutral Lund by 2030, we must all help and take responsibility. As a very long-term vision, I see that we could make something more enjoyable out of land than have parking spaces on it.
CoAction Car Parking Group aims to find opportunities for collaboration in car parking. Representatives from several stakeholders cooperate to develop each party's car parking. Through dialogue and collaboration, a clearer picture of measures related to car parking spaces can be created, for example better co-use of parking between properties.