TABLE OF CONTENTS The traffic engineer will need to know how best to provide parking, and how to control parking facilities, both on- and off-street, both in surface sites and structures. In this chapter we describe the key factors that need to be considered. We also talk briefly about the need to ensure that any off-street car park is maintained in an appropriate state.
Parking provision on the highway in Great Britain is constrained by legislation. Government rules and guidelines determine where parking can be provided, the methods of control and the design standards to be used. Separate legislation applies in Northern Ireland.
Off-street car parks are provided to meet a variety of needs and the type of need can affect the design of the car park. It is widely accepted, although one has to admit without any hard evidence, that drivers will have fewer problems using lower standard car park that they are familiar with, and so car parks used by the same parkers day after day can be designed to a lower standard than one would otherwise expect. For example, it is often argued that an office car park could be designed to a lower standard than would be considered necessary for a public car park, as most of the users will be familiar with the geometry of the car park. Also if, for example, cars are parked too close together, a work colleague can usually be found and asked to move his/her vehicle with reasonable ease.
Although off-street...
