Co Wheels has revealed the UK’s extensive parking queries, tracking Google searches for the most asked parking questions over the past year in the nation’s largest cities.

London was named as the UK’s most parking-frenzied city, with over 134,000 parking related Google searches between June 2020 and May 2021. Edinburgh had seen the biggest increase in searches in that period, with a 2,289% increase in that same time period.

The research from the car share club also revealed the Bristol’s increasing demand for parking spaces, as well as our confusion over street parking rules. Single yellow line parking was queried by Bristolians (per capita) more than the rest of the UK on average. Terms such as ‘single yellow line’ and ‘single yellow line parking’ were both searched for 57 per cent more than the national average. In Bristol, single yellow lines mean you can only park at some times and will depend on where you are.

Richard Falconer, Director of Co Wheels Car Club said: “While it should come as no surprise that many Bristol residents are actively searching for car parking spaces – a key thing we've recognised over the course of the past 12 months is the significant growth across every city in the UK – not one had a decline in searches for parking-related terms.

“This can mainly be attributed to more people being out and about as restrictions have eased, while similarly, more people choosing to holiday at home. It's clear to see that active locations such as London, Edinburgh and Bristol have been significantly impacted by parking shortages. Surely these numbers suggest that we, as a nation, need to look into alternative transport solutions?”

The rapid rise in parking searches comes amid the easing of lockdown restrictions, with normal life slowly returning. However, in the period where parking-related searches have increased over ninefold, government data shows that car transportation had only increased by 33 per cent in the same period. This may suggest that the limits of parking in London, Edinburgh and Bristol far exceeds demand. In June 2020, there were only 915 searches for parking-related terms in Bristol. By May 2021, this had grown to 9,410.

Falconer continued: “The increase in more alternative transport methods during the pandemic, such as cycling and running, proves that the public is open to more sustainable transport. Co-Wheel’s Car Club offers another viable solution for the UK’s sustainable transport community, offering fully electric vehicles ready to drive for low prices at locations across the UK.”