Summary

Parking controls are applied to on and off street parking (multistorey, ground level and underground), although the style of control will vary with the type of parking space. The ability to apply controls will also depend on local legislation. Controls can be applied to bicycle and motorcycle parking, coach parking and lorry parking as well as car parking.

Parking controls are introduced to reduce the negative impacts of excess demand for parking, of the problems for pedestrians caused by drivers parking on pavements, and to allocate scarce space according to priority needs. As such parking controls may contribute to reducing congestion, noise and pollution and severance caused by traffic searching for parking places. Further to this, they can also contribute to demand management, although this can be difficult where there are large volumes of through traffic. It may be necessary to control parking on footways which can obstruct and place pedestrians in danger by forcing them onto carriageways. 

Parking controls can take a number of forms, including control by duration, cost, time of day, supply, permitted users (e.g. residents), location of spaces, permits and parking bans. Parking charges are considered separately from the other controls considered here. The application of controls to existing private spaces can be very difficult for local authorities, as they generally do not have any jurisdiction over parking that is not for public use. Private non-residential parking is most easily controlled through the planning process and is considered in more detail under Parking Standards for New Developments.

Demand responses to parking controls are incremental over time, with a mixture of positive and negative contributions to achieving key policy objectives. There are supply impacts in terms of volume and location of parking spaces, as well as types of spaces.