THE COLLAPSE OF PARKING ENFORCEMENT IN LARGE TOWNS: SOME CAUSES AND SOLUTIONS

Abstract

In most towns, parking controls are used to limit traffic demand and to keep the road network operating efficiently. But street parking regulations are not easy to enforce, and in one or two large cities such as London the system has virtually broken down: many drivers park on yellow lines, and those who park at meters often do so without paying. In central London the deterioration has occurred very rapidly, a fact which is not easy to explain in terms of recent changes in the number of traffic wardens, or any other obvious cause. In the paper, it is suggested that the relationship between enforcement effort and driver compliance is in fact potentially unstable, and that when the enforcement effort is reduced below a certain level the system can `collapse' suddenly and with little warning. The collapse occurs as follows: when compliance falls, the traffic wardens need more time on average to deal with each vehicle, because of the extra time taken to write out a parking ticket. Their rate of coverage is reduced and, as a result, non-complying drivers are less likely to be caught. Compliance falls a little further, and so on. (Author/TRRL)

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