Parking Management: A Contribution Towards Liveable Cities

Introduction

Why is parking so important?

What’s wrong with parking in many towns and cities?

Parking: some definitions

Parking Demand

Qualified demand

Parking management strategies

Introduction: matching problems and solutions

Using parking to achieve transport objectives – developing a parking policy

Introduction

There is a tendency in many cities in developing countries to deal with parking management in a rather reactive way. If a parking problem appears in an area parking management is implemented in that location only to deal with the specific problem. However, if parking is addressed in a more strategic way, then it can be used very effectively as a way to help achieve many environmental, social and economic objectives. National transport policies have remarkably similar objectives across many countries.

The following are typical:

• Developing the local and national economy and making city centres attractive for economic activities;
• Reducing car use to reduce congestion;
• Encouraging the use of alternatives to the car;
• Improving public transport, including its integration with other modes, especially in larger towns and cities;
• Reducing the environmental impacts of car use;

Development of a typical parking policy

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3

Stage 4

Stage 5

Stage 6

Stage 7

Aligning the parking policy with a general Transportation Demand Management strategy

Relationship between parking and public transport use policies to encourage public transport

Measures to deliver your parking policy and achieve objectives

• Start prices low, but remember that you can increase them from that level until occupancy levels are optimised (with around 85 % of spaces full at peak times – this guarantees that it is relatively easy to find a space).
• Keep maximum durations 3–4 hours in shopping/business areas so that commuters cannot park there and spaces are used several times a day by different shoppers and business visitors.
• Decriminalise enforcement (so that it is no longer the responsibility of the police). This is normally found to make enforcement more effective.
• Price off-street parking lower than on-street and make people aware of that, so that they are encouraged to use the former.
• Make clear to people how the revenue generated from parking is used, to increase the acceptability of charging
• Have maximum but not minimum parking standards for the amount of parking required to be built with new buildings (or do not allow new parking spaces with new developments, e.g. in dense urban areas with good public transport accessibility).

Regulating and managing on-street parking

Where the legislation to regulate on-street parking exists, it is normally the local authority which decides on the parking regulations. There is a general tendency for on-street parking regulations to become more stringent (restrictive), the closer that one goes to the centres of towns and cities – because these are the areas of greatest demand. The vast majority of on-street spaces in any country remain un-regulated in any way, because demand is less than supply.

• No parking at any time around the mouths of junctions in order to ensure sightlines for vehicles, and safety and access for pedestrians crossing.
• Parking restrictions on main roads at peak hours to facilitate traffic flow.
• Parking restrictions on one side of a narrow road to permit two-way traffic flow.
• Time limited on-street parking in order to facilitate the turnover of parking spaces – usually to ensure that short term parkers (e.g. shoppers) can get a space. Maximum stays might be set at 30 minutes, 1 hour or 2 hours, depending on demand.
• Parking restrictions in certain areas to provide kerb space so that commercial vehicles can load and unload to service shops and offices alongside the road (see further details in next section).
• Time limits around stations (e.g. no parking 13:00–14:00 on weekdays) to stop informal park and ride if this activity is not desired by city authorities.
• Use parking as one tool for traffic calming: Parked cars can help to slow down traffic – however, careful implementation in view of traffic safety is needed.
• Bicycle parking: Require bicycle parking in new development, and allow bicycle parking to substitute for minimum automobile parking in zoning codes.

Loading for commercial vehicles

It is very important for a functioning local economy that commercial vehicles can stop onstreet to load and unload deliveries to shops and other businesses that do not have space for loading and unloading within their own building area. Conversely, it is also important for traffic flow, safety and the environment that such vehicles cannot always stop exactly when and where they choose to do so – some compromise is usually required. This is normally in the form of time limited loading (e.g. maximum stay 15 minutes) and bans on loading at peak hours, on main roads (to allow traffic to flow), or in main shopping hours (on pedestrianised shopping streets). Such restrictions must be well-signed and companies informed so that they know the restrictions; but good enforcement is also necessary.

Managing off-street parking

From the point of view of reducing the visual impact of on-street parking, reducing congestion from search traffic and in some cases reallocating surface street area from parked cars to pedestrians, there are considerable attractions in constructing new off-street public parking, but the construction costs are significant. The key point to highlight here is that such high charges are required to make a profit on the investment that it is difficult to set a price that is attractive in relation to on-street parking. This means that the off-street car park will have to be subsidised if it is to be used – but the local authority may decide that the subsidy is better targeted at public transport or park and ride In addition, from a policy point of view, the provision of new off-street car parks in central areas of cities can exacerbate problems of congestion, because the new ease of parking may encourage more people to drive. This means that it makes sense to consider whether it can be replaced by parking further out of town with good public transport links in – park and ride. Some recommendations about public off-street parking are as follows:

• Consider carefully whether it is really needed or whether it can be provided instead by parking further out of town (park and ride) and good public transport links. If the decision is taken to provide public offstreet parking in or close to the city centre, then:
• Make sure it is near to where people want to go – an obvious but often overlooked point.
• Even if a private operator runs the car park, ensure that the local authority can influence the pricing structure.
• Set prices lower per hour for short (up to 3–4 hours) and much higher per hour for long stay, to encourage turnover of spaces and to deter commuters.
• Set prices lower than the price of on-street parking. If on-street parking near the new off-street car park is very cheap or free with no time limits, almost nobody will use the new off-street car park.
• Make sure that traffic to and from the entrances and exits to the car park does not cause congestion, especially for public transport.
• Once the car park is open, reduce/remove on-street parking to compensate, especially in areas where people searching for car parking and manoeuvring into spaces was causing congestion.

Institutional issues and enforcement

Institutional issues

International experience shows that a private organisation working under the roof of the public administration seems to be the best form of organisation for parking management. In this setting, the public authority retains control over policy and strategy (e.g. the total supply of on- and off-street parking), and over important issues of policy such as the level of fines, and whether fines should vary according to the severity of the parking violation. The tasks of the private organisation should include:

• Inventories and forecasts for both parking supply and demand.
• Provision of on-street parking supply (design, road markings, sign posting).
• Operating public off-street parking facilities/ Control on public off-street parking facilities.
• Definition of terms of use for on-street parking.
• Operation of controlled on-street parking.
• Parking enforcement should be handled by a separate organisation which also should be organised as a private company under the roof of the public administration, at least if the national law allows this. If not, this entity has to be part of the local administration.

The tasks of this organisation are:

• control of parked areas in areas with specific regulations (time restrictions, parking fees),
• issuing of the fine tickets, and
• control of the payment of the fines.

Enforcement

The key point to remember about enforcement is that it can and does improve. Some political will is required but it is normally the case that if enforcement changes a chaotic situation to one that is more orderly, people see the benefit and accept it.

Implementation – Gaining acceptance for new parking policies

Small and/or incremental (step by step) change is likely to be more accepted than a large sudden change. But in any case, the public must be “carried along” with the changes, and whether they are or not will depend to a large degree on the communication that has been carried out. Effective communication involves broad participation of those with an interest in parking in the change process; a monitoring process, so that people know what the effects of parking changes are, as those changes are introduced; management of complaints, as part of communication; and the use of new forms of communication (e.g. special meetings between politicians and key stakeholders). The public’s acceptance of parking policy changes will in general depend on whether a number of factors are in place, as follows

• That they know and understand the measures.
• That they perceive that there will be a benefit, in terms of the solution of a problem – and that parking fees and other regulations are related to the scale of this problem.
• That there are alternatives to parking (in the controlled area), such as park and ride, or better public transport services.
• That the revenue will be allocated fairly and transparently (people know where it has gone).
• That the parking regulations will be enforced consistently and fairly, and that fines will not be excessive (and, ideally, that the fines are related to the seriousness of the offence – for example, overstaying on a parking meter would be a lesser offence than parking illegally in a bus lane).

Recommendations

As car ownership grows, so demand for parking will grow, and most towns and cities will have to deal with many environmental, social and economic impacts. It is possible to develop a car parking policy that will manage the negative impacts of urban car use whilst also supporting business and the economy.

The following recommendations can be drawn based on numerous studies around the world:

• That the role for parking as a means of restraining car use should be recognised in transport policy documents and actions and needs to be included in a comprehensive manner.
• That there is a need for national maximum parking standards (expressed as guidance) for new development.
• These national guidelines should be translated to regional maximum standards.
• Legislation is needed to set a framework for parking charges and fines, and to put liability for any fine with the owner of the car.
• Legislation should provide local authorities with the powers to enforce parking regulations if they wish, and to keep the revenue so generated, and to follow up those who do not pay fines, and to contract out the parking enforcement operation.
• As demand for parking increases there will be an increasing need to introduce paid parking. Thus, managing demand on a long run.
• Parking tariffs should be higher for on-street than off-street, to encourage people to use the latter.
• Park and ride has a role to play in maintaining the accessibility of central areas of larger towns and cities, but it will work best where there is a shortage of central area parking.
• All changes to parking must be communicated well in advance.
• A positive approach towards working with the public may increase compliance with parking regulations.
• Periodic evaluation of the project is essential, to have an idea for future improvement.

Further Information

Further and more detailed information can be found on the homepage of the Sustainable Urban Transport Project. The Sustainable Urban Transport Project aims to help developing world cities achieve their sustainable transport goals, through the dissemination of information about international experience, policy advice, training and capacity building.

References

Tom Rye 2010, Parking Management: A Contribution Towards Liveable Cities,