In a local community near where I live there is a perception that it
is been used an a informal Park and Ride site. The area is about 3 miles
from Leeds City Centre, has just over 1,000 free parking places and
there are over 10 buses an hour between the area and Leeds City Centre.

The concerns are that commuters into Leeds are parking their cars in
the most desireable parking places (ie those near to shops) early in the
morning only to return on an evening, thereby denying those places to
shoppers during the day. There is also concern that workers in the area
themselves are parking close to the shops when a location more distant
might be appropriate.

One propsed solution is to designate short (3 hours max) and long stay
(up to 10 hours) spaces which then need to be "policed". One policing
method is to have an attendant visit the car parks to take registration
numbers and times and then re-visit later to find out if anyone has
overstayed their welcome. Another approach is to charge a ticket fee of
10p per hour which would enable the enforecment to be carried out on
one visit and provide some revenue. The first option is seen as unfair
since the general council tax payer will be funding the scheme whilst
the second is seen to discourage visitiors and shoppers.

I have done a literature search to see if there are any case studies in
this area. Unfortunately most of the work has been on how to encourage
Park and Ride and, whilst one option is to "invert" the measure which
encourage Park and Ride, I'm sure that reduced bus frequencies, higher
fares and re-allocation of priority away from buses to cars would NOT
be welcomed. One area which is similar is on-street parking near to
railway stations which is usually controlled by residents permits, but
since there are no residents (and in anycase this costs people money!)
I'm not sure about this.

So if anyone knows of any work or case studies which is broadly in this
area (how to establish the problem, explore solutions, implement them
and monitor the outcomes) I would love to hear about it. In the end I
think any solution other than "status quo" is going to cost someone,
somewhere some money. Thanks.

Stephen D Clark                     Phone  : int (+44) 113 233 5358
Institute for Transport Studies,    FAX    : int (+44) 113 233 5334
University of Leeds,                E-mail : [log in to unmask]
LEEDS, LS2 9JT.

"There are frogs falling from the sky." Phil Parma, Magnolia.