A mini-thread on how the debate about NHS staff parking shows a/ how the transport narrative is dominated by an assumption of driving as the norm, and b/ more widely, how debates on universalism tend to be driven by the needs of better-off, more vocal groups.

1/x

I'm not going to re-hash the particular NHS parking debate – I'll say only that it's much more complex than billed – but whenever it does come up on Twitter, it's striking how many people assume driving is the only method of travel outside cities, even for the poorest-paid.

2/x

But that's not true. 46% of the lowest-income quintile of households don't have a car or van. Poorer households drive far less, on average, than richer ones. Yes, many less well-off people drive, but that's often a huge financial strain, and due to a lack of options.

3/x

When you point this out, many people say, 'Oh, well, of course there should be much better public transport to hospitals!' But oddly, I never received streams of unsolicited, outraged tweets about public transport. It's always about parking, and always from drivers.

4/x

This same bias goes into political discourse. It was assumed by pundits that Keir Starmer would mention free NHS parking at PMQs yesterday, as it was an 'easy win'. He did. But when Jeremy Corbyn devoted a PMQs a while back to buses, much of that same punditocracy laughed.

5/x

And thus you get an argument about universalism where proponents argue on the basis of fairness - 'What about low-paid NHS staff who drive?' – but it disproportionately helps the better-off, and excludes those on the lowest income. This happens elsewhere, eg higher ed.

6/x

Thus, with higher education, there's endless debate about abolishing university tuition fees, but the much-less middle-class terrain of FE colleges and other non-university further education is barely given air time.

7/x

Higher education isn't a precise parallel, in that in general, it's a societal good for more people to go to universities; not so for more people to drive, particularly shorter distances. But you get the idea.

8/x

Overall, parking is an interesting example of a thing claimed as an obvious, case-closed public good, which is often nothing of the sort. For now politicians still buy into this fantasy, mainly as parking fans are so noisy and well-connected. But it should be challenged.

ends/