F/on from FOI-1010-1920 Thank you for the reply to the Request of 6th July that I submitted. In view of that reply, and by way of a further request under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, please provide copies of - 1. The car park surveys for Finchley Central and High Barnet carried out by Traffic Watch, and the car park surveys for Arnos Grove and Cockfosters carried out by Tracsis, including any reports/commentaries/summaries prepared with regard to the surveys by traffic Watch or Tracsis. 2. typical occupancy data for each of the 4 car parks 3. all reports/memoranda/ advices concerning the possible impact of complete or partial closure of the car park on their surrounding localities or on persons using the stations held by, or commissioned by or on behalf of TfL or its subsidiary companies. This should include any considering or commenting on the results of the car park surveys referred to above.

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TfL Ref: FOI-1736-1920

Thank you for your email received by Transport for London (TfL) on 7 September 2019.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm we hold some of the information you require. You asked:

1. The car park surveys for Finchley Central and High Barnet carried out by Traffic Watch, and the car park surveys for Arnos Grove and Cockfosters carried out by Tracsis, including any reports/commentaries/summaries prepared with regard to the surveys by traffic Watch or Tracsis.

In respect of Arnos Grove and Cockfosters car parks, TfL instructed Tracsis to undertake qualitative surveys of the users of these car parks in June 2018.  Pell Frishmann is appointed as TfL’s Transport consultant in relation to these projects and have reviewed and summarised this data.

Please find attached: 

i.               Tracsis output from the Arnos Grove surveys

ii.              Tracsis output from the Cockfosters surveys

iii.            Technical Note: Review of car park survey data (Pell Frischmann – dated 07 June 2019).  This note summarises the key outputs of the surveys undertaken. 

In respect of Finchley Central and High Barnet car parks, TfL instructed Civic Engineers and Traffic Watch to undertake qualitative surveys of the users of these car parks in May 2018. Civic Engineers is appointed as TfL’s transport consultant in relation to these projects and have reviewed and summarised this data.

Please find attached:

i.               Traffic Watch’s summary of data from the High Barnet surveys

ii.              Traffic Watch’s summary of data from the Finchley Central surveys

iii.             Civic Engineers analysis from the High Barnet surveys

iv.             Civic Engineers analysis from the Finchley Central surveys

2. typical occupancy data for each of the 4 car parks

In terms of the occupancy/utilisation of the car parks, based on data made available by NCP – the operator of the car parks, we have determined a ‘peak average utilisation’ based on a typical week in April 2019.  This is presented in the table below:

	Number of spaces	Peak average utilisation
Arnos Grove	313	53%
Cockfosters	359	73%
High Barnet	157	94%
Finchley Central	269	74%

Please note, where reference is made to Cockfosters – this relates to the northern (NCP) car park only – surveys will be carried out in due course on the utilisation of the smaller southern car park.  The peak utilisation is the maximum number of car parking spaces occupied at any time during the day.  This is calculated from the average number of vehicle arrivals and departures in each hour over a five day period.

3. all reports/memoranda/ advices concerning the possible impact of complete or partial closure of the car park on their surrounding localities or on persons using the stations held by, or commissioned by or on behalf of TfL or its subsidiary companies. This should include any considering or commenting on the results of the car park surveys referred to above.

TfL has made no final decisions in respect of Arnos Grove, Cockfosters, Finchley Central or High Barnet car parks. Consideration is ongoing and it is intended that whatever decision is made in respect of the strategy for each site, that the required supporting analysis and evidence will be undertaken, presented and submitted as part of/to support any future planning application.  

At a strategic level we have and continue to consider our aspirations for development at all of these sites alongside local (LB Enfield and LB Barnet), regional (London Plan) and national (NPPF) planning policy, both existing and emerging.  We neither hold nor have we commissioned a report specifically on ‘the possible impact of complete or partial closure of the car parks on their surrounding localities or on any persons using the stations. 

However, we are continuing to engage with the public and stakeholders to build-up our understanding of the local areas to assist us in defining our position and carrying out analysis to support any eventual planning application.  As part of this we have:

• Begun to consider what alternative travel choices exist for those who choose to use our car parks at both Arnos Grove and Cockfosters.  This is set out in Technical Note: Technical Note: Review of car park survey data (Pell Frischmann – dated 07 June 2019).
• Begun to consider what alternative travel choices exist for those who choose to use our car parks at High Barnet and Finchley Central. This will be set out during the next stage of community engagement, which is likely to happen later this year.
• Carried out  ‘on-street’ parking surveys of the area around Cockfosters station (April / May 2019).  Please see attached document Technical Note: Review of on-street parking survey (Cockfosters) date 7 June 2019. 

Please note that in accordance with TfL’s obligations under Data Protection legislation some information, which we consider to be personal, has been removed from the attachments, as required by section 40(2) of the FOI Act. This is because disclosure of this personal data would be a breach of the legislation, specifically the first principle which requires all processing of personal data to be fair and lawful. We have taken the decision to withhold this information to avoid it being linked to a specific individual. It would not be fair to disclose this personal information when the individuals have no expectation it would be disclosed and TfL has not satisfied one of the conditions which would make the processing ‘fair’.

This exemption to the right of access to information is an absolute exemption and not subject to an assessment of whether the public interest favours use of the exemption.

If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for some reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.

Yours sincerely

Eva Hextall

FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

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