titlepage/contents pg 1-16 - British Parking Association

56 Chapter 5individual local authorities toaddress specific local issues.Invariably, parking in its variousguises has an important, if notcritical, role to play in how localauthorities can meet successfullythose key priorities.The Government hasestablished criteria for theappraisal of transport schemes(7), and these can guideconsideration of parking strategyobjectives. These criteria are:● Accessibility● Economic vitality● Efficiency● Environmental quality● Safety and security● Social inclusion and equityThese are discussed in turn.AccessibilityCar parking is about providingaccess, in enabling car users toundertake trips for a range ofpurposes associated with landuses at the origin or thedestination. Parking is alsoinherently involved in access byother road vehicles, includingtaxis, cycles, powered twowheelers,coaches and freightvehicles, though the issuesraised are often different fromcar parking. For example,access by coach does notnecessarily mean that the coachmust be parked at thedestination served, while cycleparking can be encouragedwithout creating significantnegative impacts.Parking provision and controlcan be used to increase ordecrease vehicular-basedaccessibility. However, parkingalone does not determine overalllevels of accessibility of an area.In some places parking canmean lower accessibility forthose using other modes oftravel. Accessibility needs to beassessed in terms of people andgoods rather than by vehicles. Inthis way, for example, centralLondon is clearly the mostaccessible location in Britain, yetit has relatively poor accessibilityby road vehicle. Conversely adevelopment next to a motorwayjunction in the Midlands may beextremely accessible by roadvehicle and yet be virtuallyinaccessible by any other mode.There is, and will continue to be,an imbalance between thedemand for road and parkingspace and its supply, particularlyin large towns and cities.Accessibility by car will,therefore, have to be limited toreflect local conditions andenvironment. This involvescontrols on the degree ofvehicular access given todifferent types of user and atdifferent times. Parking controlsmust, therefore, be seen andused as part of overall traffic andtransport management.The Government are also puttinggreater weight on accessibilityconsiderations in transportplanning decision-making thanhitherto. Draft guidance onaccessibility has been published(8). Accordingly, local authoritieswill need to give much greaterattention to accessibility as aplanning tool. It is crucial tofocusing development in the rightlocation and enabling people toaccess the things they need in away that reduces travel,particularly by car. It is also ameans whereby the amount ofparking in a development can beminimised without prejudicing itsviability.Accessibility planning canoperate at four levels within localauthorities:1. The formulation andrevision of developmentplans and frameworks;2. The formulation andrevision of Local TransportPlans;3. The negotiation or carryingout of TransportAssessments in relation tonew developments. DetailsaboutTransportAssessments appear inChapter 3; and4. The encouragement orcarrying out of Travel Plansin relation to both new andexisting developments.