titlepage/contents pg 1-16 - British Parking Association

Defining Parking Objectives 59EfficiencyThe policies adopted shouldenable the most efficient use tobe made of public resources,including the transportinfrastructure. The extent andmanagement of parking caninfluence the extent and qualityof access by car as compared toaccess by other modes. One ofthe difficulties in achieving anefficient balance is the fact that alarge proportion of parking spaceis in private ownership.Private non-residential parkingtypically forms half or more of thetotal stock in town centres. Thismeans that policies to influencedemand through parking are lessefficient than if local authoritieswere able to control the entireparking stock.Residential parking spaceswithin the dwelling curtilage leadto inefficient use of spaces sincethey cannot be readily expandedor contracted in response tofluctuations in demand withinand between households overtime. Collectively providedparking is potentially moreefficient, in that demand can bemet with less spaces overall.This enables higher densities tobe achieved for a given level ofenvironmental quality. (Seereferences to Llewelyn-Davies)(10).Parking controls as part of trafficmanagement schemes canpromote more efficient use ofroad space, for example byallowing the introduction of busand cycle lanes when parking isrestricted.The effect of on-street parking onthe capacity of the highway ispoorly understood. Early studiessought to demonstrate therelationshipbetweencarriageway width, frequency ofparked vehicles, and throughputof vehicles. Now it is recognisedthat the relationship is far fromsimple. For example, the designof junctions has a far greaterimpact on capacity than thewidth of links and incidence ofparking between them.Conversely, it is generallyacknowledged that parking nearjunctions can have adisproportionate impact oncapacity.If capacity is measured in termsof people and goods rather thanvehicles, better overallaccessibility may be achieved byallocating space and time to noncarmodes. In a more holisticapproach to traffic management,throughput in some instances isless important than the ability ofa street to support pedestrianactivity, as in a shopping streetfor example. Preventing delaysto vehicles is still an importantobjective of the management ofstreet and parking space, but it isno longer (or should not be) thesole criterion. The TrafficManagement Act (11) providesfor a more network-orientatedapproach than hitherto.Parking is also a land use. It isnecessary to question whetherthe competing demands forspace would mean that the landconsumed by an off-street carpark could be used moreefficiently if used differently. Tomake such an assessmentrequires the cost of providing thecar park to be related to thevalue of its contribution to theurban economy. Typically suchassessments are made in aqualitative rather than aquantitative way. Maximumparking standards may have theeffect of encouraging moreproductive use of land, but againthis may not be the most efficientin transport terms. One way ofmoving towards greaterefficiency would be to ensure asfar as possible that all towncentre parking is under unifiedpublic control or influence and ischarged at a rate that reflects thecost of provision including land,debt charges, asset depreciationand other costs.Shared provision of parkingbetween different land uses andactivities will tend to increaseefficiency, for example weekendleisure use of spaces used byoffice workers during onweekdays. Many local authoritiesnow require shared provision asa condition of planning consent,