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This chapter provides an overview of parking policy. The chapter takes as its start point that parking is first and foremost a land-use issue. It looks at the conflicts and synergies between parking policy for the purposes of traffic management and parking policy to support various key land-uses and policy objectives.

This chapter discusses the main practice-oriented viewpoints on what is meant by parking policy and what it aims to achieve. It then provides a state-of-art review of the evidence base on residential, retail and workplace parking as the three key parking destinations before drawing together these findings.

The reviews reveal that there has been an overemphasis on the importance of the impact of parking pricing to trip frequency, destination and walk times in the literature. Much greater emphasis should be given to establishing the extent to which parking restraint supports the economy, the environment and social equity. Only then will we be able to develop a consistent policy framing within which good parking management policy can play out and make a long-term difference to travel patterns and the quality of life in our cities.

If parking policy is to work well as part of an overall package of demand restraint, it needs to be applied in conjunction with land-use planning. In transport terms, this means connecting parking policy to non-car accessibility. If the overarching land-use and transport accessibility policies are right, then there is a greater possibility for other parking management policies to be effectively applied and integrated in broader transport strategies.

This chapter suggests that without a clear understanding of the broader objectives that parking policy supports it will not be possible to design effective parking management approaches.

This chapter explains how and why local parking policies are developed, the sometimes conflicting relationship between parking, revenue raising and economic development and the circumstances in which it may be appropriate to use parking policy as a demand management tool.

This chapter offers a review of prior research and literature on the topic parking management and further explores the impacts and difficulties of parking management. Moreover, empirical data in this chapter comes from the authors’ own survey study of southern, eastern and southeastern European cities about their parking problems and policies.

The findings of this chapter show that there is a need to consider what parking solutions cities may choose and what solutions might work for them. It is difficult to say that very different solutions will suit cities of different sizes, but rather that the level of implementation of the solutions must be related to the scale of the problem in each city, and its citizens’ demands. In addition, each city must work within its particular legislative context, which is why certain solutions might not work in some cities.

Parking policy and parking management are key to urban mobility and to managing its negative effects. 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; but this is a balancing act, which is why it is important to learn from the experience of other places, as we have shown in this chapter. Parking demand and the response of different cities to it are very important when considering the rise of car use in Europe and other parts of the world. Future solutions for parking problems are detailed at the end of this chapter.

This chapter offers a comprehensive overview of prior research in parking management and connects this overview to findings of the authors own survey in south, eastern and southeastern European cities. Very few studies have made similar connections and provided in-depth insights into parking management in European cities. Moreover, the research provides useful information for planners and professionals dealing with parking issues and what solutions might work in their city.

This chapter defines and describes the different types of carfree and low-car development found in the United Kingdom and continental Europe, analysing the benefits and problems they bring and their implications for parking policy.

The chapter draws on the literature on UK and European carfree developments, including primary research conducted by the author into the potential for carfree development in the United Kingdom. It is also informed by a series of observational visits to some of the principal carfree developments around Europe.

The UK concepts of car-free and low-car housing are limited in scope, defined by the absence or reduced level of parking. The European concept of carfree development is broader, bringing greater benefits to the immediate residents. All have led to lower traffic generation. European carfree developments bring other benefits to their residents such as more socialisation between neighbours and earlier independence for children. The potential demand for car-free and low-car housing is greatest in the inner areas of larger cities. These are also the places which offer the most suitable development locations. The most common problems encountered relate to parking and/or management of vehicular access. To avoid overspill problems, parking needs to be controlled on the streets surrounding carfree or low-car developments.

The benefits of carfree development are greatest in urban areas where road capacity and/or parking are under the greatest pressure. Thus carfree development is a useful tool for cities undergoing urban intensification.

The chapter is the first to analyse carfree and low-car development from a parking perspective and to demonstrate their implications for parking policy.

The purpose of this chapter is to synthesise the issues and debates raised in the book as a whole.

This chapter reviews the content of the book, drawing together the threads to provide conclusions on parking issues and policies around the world.

The chapter reveals the way in which parking is fundamentally a land-use issue and the importance of parking to different travel demands. As cars spend most of their time parked at home, the issue of residential parking is important and determines the shape and nature of our cities. Planning for parking has a key role to play in determining the outcome of how walkable the built environment becomes. The synthesis of the chapters of the book reveals how the type of parking is intrinsically linked to the activity undertaken and the type of destination, whether the trip is for commuting or for retail or leisure.

The chapter identifies strategies such as car-free developments, park and ride and workplace parking levies used to provide solutions and the way in which the number of stakeholders involved influences the ease with which the complex interplay of issues in parking can be resolved.

Understanding that parking is primarily a land-use policy, dependent on the home location and destination of the trip, has implications for the development of parking policy within the package of measures making up travel demand management strategies. The chapter shows how parking for a stationary vehicle can influence the flow of moving vehicles and the built environment.

This chapter draws on the chapters of this book which offer a multidimensional investigation into parking issues and parking policy, providing a wealth of case study material providing evidence to underpin the design of effective parking management approaches.

The purpose of this study is to measure the supply and demand for parking in London to determine whether there is sufficient provision for night-time residential needs and to determine whether policies designed at controlling car ownership by restricting residential parking are effective.

The history of parking controls and early studies of parking in Central London are reviewed to put into context recent surveys of parking supply undertaken by MVA. Data from the National Travel Survey, the English Housing Survey and various travel demand surveys by Transport for London have been analysed to determine the overnight demand for parking and the supply both off-street and on-street.

The study shows that there appears to be saturation in inner London for controlled on-street parking (which is the majority of available parking) and high utilisation for off-street parking. In outer London, there is more spare capacity. The evidence suggests that restricting residential parking space does not limit the growth in car ownership especially in outer London where the car is an essential part of modern living.

Restrictive policies on parking supply in new developments leads to unsightly and dangerous parking on streets not designed for parking or illegal parking on footways. Policy makers must appreciate that car ownership will continue to rise and that parking spaces must be provided, if necessary, underground.

The study uses several different sources of data to investigate the under-researched area of parking availability which is of considerable importance to transport planners and policy makers.

This paper attempts to assess the parking reliability with taking into account drivers' travel choice behaviors under various traffic conditions. Apart from the well-known travel-time reliability, a parking reliability is newly defined as the probability that the drivers' average searching time for parking is less than a given threshold. This is particularly important under conditions of shortage of parking spaces in urban areas. A Monte Carlo simulation approach, which incorporates a combined trip distribution and assignment model with explicit elastic demand function, is proposed to estimate the two reliability measures of road network (i.e. travel-time and parking reliabilities). A numerical example is used to illustrate the applications of the reliability measures and the proposed approach.