Policy instruments (3) - Transport Policy and Planning in Great Britain - page 226

of the road and at intervals on the kerb respectively. Details are contained on signs
affixed to adjacent buildings, lamp-posts or poles.
Areas such as town centres which have a consistent regime of on-street parking
restrictions applied throughout may be designated as a Controlled Parking Zone
(CPZ). Entry points to the zone are marked with a special sign which indicates the
periods in which restrictions apply. This enables a large number of time-plate signs
within individual streets to be dispensed with.
More stringent restrictions apply on designated priority (red) routes in London
and Birmingham which have a strategic function as traffic and/or bus routes. These
prohibit stopping of any kind (other than by buses) either throughout the route or
except in designated bays where parking and loading restrictions apply. No-stopping
conditions also apply on signed 'clearways' imposed for capacity and/or safety reasons
on selected major roads in both urban and rural areas.
Special arrangements are made for the needs of disabled people through operation
of a Blue Badge scheme in England and Wales, administered through local authorities.
Badges are issued to eligible individuals (not vehicles) and hence may be used by people
travelling as drivers or passengers. Authorities making parking orders are required to
include exemptions for badge-holders enabling them to park without time limit or
charge in bays which have these restrictions and on yellow lines at times when loading
and unloading is permitted.
In town centres and around other major attractors where demand for on-street
parking exceeds supply, the available space is typically rationed according to the
following priorities, working outwards from the area of maximum demand:
• bus stops, other loading and unloading, disabled persons' parking and areas for
motorcycles and for bicycle stands
• short-stay parking (with limits of 1-4 hours) supplemented by charging
• short-stay parking, time-limited only
• unlimited time period, though possibly with a restriction before, say, 0930 to
prevent use by all-day commuter parking.
Payment is generally by the cash purchase of time-marked tickets in machines
at intervals along streets which are then displayed in the parked vehicle ('pay and
display'). In Central London kerbside meters alongside individually marked bays have
been retained as these provide more readily for the enforcement of very short time-
limited periods.
The introduction of controlled zones in town centres results in the displacement
of many parked vehicles, especially commuter parking, into adjacent areas. To protect
the amenity of these areas, to safeguard the on-street parking requirements of their
residents and to encourage the use of park-and-ride and other modes by people
travelling to the town centre, successive zones have normally been introduced working
outwards from it. These typically incorporate permit schemes for residents which
enable them to park in designated bays (sometimes shared with time-limited visitor
parking). The number of permits issued may be rationed per dwelling and/or by charge.
The issuing of a permit does not entitle the holder to a particular, or indeed any, space.
In densely populated inner areas with little if any off-street parking the competition
for the available space can have a restraining effect on both car ownership and use -
people will be reluctant to use their cars for short trips if they 'lose' their parking space