‘Carspreading’ to wipe out up to 14% of on-street parking in European cities – study

European cities are facing an unprecedented threat to urban space because the trend towards large SUVs risks eliminating vast numbers of parking spaces. According to a new report published today by T&E and Clean Cities, all cities are set to lose between 8.5% and 14% of their on-street parking spaces by 2040 if the size of new cars continues to increase unchecked. 

Due to swelling car size, London is projected to lose between 72,000 and 118,000 on-street parking spaces by 2040, according to the analysis. Berlin faces similar losses of 71,000 to 117,000 spaces, while Rome could see a reduction of 58,000 to 95,000 spaces. Significant capacity reductions are also expected in Madrid (up to 41,000 spaces), Warsaw (up to 17,000 spaces), and Paris (up to 12,000 spaces).

Over 1 cm longer every year

The average length of newly sold cars is increasing by 1.2 cm every year, according to the report which analysed vehicle growth since the year 2000. Their total height is rising by 0.5 cm annually, the study also finds. Earlier studies showed that new cars also grow 0.5 cm wider each year, on average, while their bonnet heights increase by 0.5 cm annually. T&E said that despite family sizes and car occupancy declining, carmakers have moved away from producing small cars to extract higher profits from larger vehicles.

Lucien Mathieu, cars director at T&E, said: “Car manufacturers have pursued a strategy of larger, more profitable vehicles over smaller models. After 25 years of relentless growth, our roads are increasingly dominated by huge SUVs that pose a physical danger to everyone else. The result is that cities and towns are under pressure to make parking spaces bigger and then sacrifice public space to replace the lost parking.”

400 additional road deaths a year

Despite the EU’s ‘Vision Zero’ goal to reach zero fatalities in road transport by 2050, the unchecked expansion of car size will have severe consequences for road safety, the analysis also finds. It projects a growing gap in deaths of vulnerable road users – pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and moped users – with the gap widening to 400 additional deaths in 2040 under current trends compared to the ‘right-sizing’ scenario. Compared to right-sizing, the continuation of current trends would see an additional 2,500 adults, and 79 children, die on Europe’s roads over the period 2026 to 2040.

Under the current trajectory, 40% more children walking could be killed in car crashes by 2040 compared to vehicle right-sizing. Rising bonnet heights, which are projected to reach a fleet average of 86.2 cm by 2040, pose a particular risk to children. While adult pedestrians would most likely be hit in the vital organs or torso in crashes, children run a higher risk of being struck in the head or chest.

Barbara Stoll, Senior Director of Clean Cities said: “You can’t argue with physics: bigger cars mean more danger on our roads, especially for children and people walking around. This trend isn’t inevitable; it’s marketing over safety and the public good. Regulators need to wake up and set maximum limits for the size of new cars. Cities and governments can act now by structuring parking charges and taxes to reflect the risk that bigger cars impose.”

Urgent call for ‘right-sizing’ policies

To combat the threats to urban space and safety, T&E and Clean Cities are calling for immediate policy changes to shift the European car market towards safer, more efficient and compact models:

Note:

The safety analysis compares low and high-bonnet vehicles with the same level of crash avoidance technology. The literature shows that, all else being equal, a low-bonnet car poses a lower risk to other road users than a high-bonnet SUV.