titlepage/contents pg 1-16 - British Parking Association

Defining Parking Objectives 55levels of car ownership arebelow those expected in relationto household income becausethere are alternative modesavailable and there aredifficulties in parking a carovernight. The debate on trafficrestraint has focused oninfluencing car use rather thancar ownership. The introductionof “car free” and “car reduced”residential development incertain inner city areas is alsoanother option. In future, manycity dwellers may choose not toown a car for their own personaluse because of the difficulty ofparking the vehicle, but insteadtake part in neighbourhood carfleets/city car clubs which givethem access to a car (of differentsizes and types for differentpurposes) as and when needed.The Advantages andLimitations of ParkingValleley (5) identifies thefollowing advantages andlimitations to the use of parkingpolicy as a means of achievingtransport and wider policyobjectives.The advantages:● Can further a wide range ofurban policy objectives;● Represent one of the fewways of directly managing orrestraining car use;● Can be introduced relativelyquickly and cheaply(compared to majorinfrastructure schemes);● Are flexible and can bemodified to reflect changingcircumstances; and● Produce a revenue stream.The limitations meanwhile showthat:● There is a lack of clearunderstanding about theprecise effects of themeasures;● Incomplete control of theparking stock can limit theability to achieve theobjectives;● Policies are not developedand implemented in acomprehensive way due to●●●●the organisational andinstitutional complexities ofthe parking system;There is conflict between theobjectives that parking policyis aiming to serve;They are not a total solutionand need other supportingmeasures if urban policyobjectives are to beachieved;They cannot restrain ormanage through traffic;Implementation of localisedsolutions may just displacethe parking problem, withconsequent safety andamenity impacts; and● Parking controls can berendered ineffective by lackof adequate enforcement.In addition, parking measurescan also help to achieve ruralobjectives, such as themanagement and protection oftourist locations such as inNational Parks.Overarching goalsIn general, while the emphasiswill vary from place to place, andfrom time to time, the generalgoals will relate to the success ofthe area in social, economic andenvironmental terms. In additionthe Government has highlightedin the new guidance for futureLTPs four key principles (6).These are that LTPs should:●●Set transport in a widercontext;Set locally relevant targetsfor outcome indicators;● Identify the best value-formoneysolutions to deliverthose targets; and● Set trajectories for keytargets, to enable greatertransparency and rigour inassessing performance.In doing so the Government, inconjunction with the LocalGovernment Association, haveidentified four key priorities thatshould be reflected within thepolicies and programmescontained within the LTP. Theseare: accessibility, congestion, airquality and road safety. Otherpriorities may be developed by