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SECTION FOUR WHAT CAN BE DONE TO INCREASE DISABLED PEOPLE'S ACCESS TO RESERVED PARKING FACILITIES?

There are a number of methods available to combat the misuse of reserved parking facilities in off-street car parks. These range from low-to high-technology solutions, and from advisory methods to enforcement. This section describes some of these measures, their advantages, and some practical considerations and constraints.

ADVISORY AND AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS

SIGNAGE

Clear signage is essential for preventing 'accidental' abuse and to inform drivers that they are entering into a contractual agreement with the provider of the car park by using the bay. To make enforcement fair, the consequences of misusing a reserved parking bay must be apparent to the user. Clear information on the correct use of the Blue Badge might also help to reduce misuse by people making journeys on behalf of Blue Badge holders.

THE ISSUING OF NOTICES AND STICKERS, AND PATROLLED CAR PARKS

A sheet of paper or adhesive sticker can be secured behind the windscreen or stuck on the window of the offending vehicle. The notice refers to their inappropriate parking with a polite request not to do it again or to the consequences of this action ( e.g. a fine). This approach requires car park operators to operate a regular patrol to deter and challenge unauthorised parking in reserved bays. Notices and patrols used in combination can be effective, depending on car park design and layout.

This approach has been applied to tackle the abuse of parking facilities for disabled people in off-street car parks at airports, rail stations/interchanges, hospitals with integrated parking, supermarkets and retail parks.

Advantages:

• A relatively simple, low-key means of reducing inappropriate parking.
• The opportunity for direct, face-to-face involvement with a parking attendant, together with signs adjacent to parking bays warning of the imposition of a fine, does seem to reduce abuse.
• Offers flexibility for people who might have justified reasons for using a bay ( e.g. those with reduced mobility or travelling with small children).

Practical considerations:

• A patrolled car park is most effective when the site is integrated and where there is one single entry point to the reserved bays that are segregated from the rest of the car park.
• Regular monitoring and staff resources are required. For example a rail station that is
  well-staffed might be able to monitor reserved parking spaces on a fairly regular basis, but employees manning a station alone are less likely to carry out regular monitoring.
• Such activities might include additional personnel-related costs, such as additional training ( e.g. in conflict resolution) or sick leave/absenteeism ( e.g. as a result of job-related stress or assaults by the public).
• Stickers can only be attached to some parts of a vehicle ( i.e. not the windscreen). If using a strong adhesive, the sticker has to be water-based with instructions on how to remove it.

AUDIO ANNOUNCEMENTS

Audio announcement systems consist of discs, situated in the middle of the reserved bay, which are linked to bollards which can interface with the discs. When a car drives into the space, a sensor is triggered, and an audible announcement reminds drivers of the purpose of the space and encourages them to park elsewhere if they are not disabled.

Electronic automated announcement systems have been installed in retail parks, hospitals ( e.g. Vale of Leven, Inverclyde Royal, the Royal Alexandra) and extensively by one UK supermarket chain.

Advantages:

• Can be used without the involvement of members of staff.
• No barrier to potential customers.
• Individuals are able to decide for themselves whether they are entitled to park in a space reserved for disabled people. This is important in the context of people who have significant mobility difficulties, and might be registered as disabled, but who are not currently eligible for a Blue Badge.
• Flexibility to give any message or play any tune, and be linked to a timer.

Practical considerations:

• Batteries typically last for two years.
• Can be powered by mains electricity, when the reserved spaces are adjacent to a building.
• Shown to have limited effect on 'persistent' misusers.
• Cost of implementing the system at larger car parks could be prohibitive.

BARRIER SYSTEMS

In sites where there are limited resources available and regular monitoring by staff is not possible, barrier systems could offer the best solution, depending on the design and size of the car park. Barrier systems offer the clearest and fairest approaches to intervention, and research has shown that they are popular with both disabled and non-disabled people. Furthermore, they offer the only means of preventing all types of parking abuse and appear to be the only solution to preventing 'persistent' abuse. Two types of barrier systems are described below:

ELECTRONIC BARRIERS

These are an electronic means of preventing a vehicle from entering or leaving an area where there are reserved bays for disabled people, if it does not have the right of access.

The system has been applied in supermarket and hospital car parks to control access to segregated parking areas for Blue Badge holders.

Advantages:

• Shown to work well in conjunction with automatic number plate recognition ( ANPR) camera technology.
• Well received by disabled customers of supermarket stores where used in combination with ANPR.
• Potential for database of registered disabled people to be shared across supermarket stores (or even other supermarket chains) as the number of locations with ANPR controlled barriers increases.

Practical considerations:

• Cost-effective if cost is spread over a large number of spaces, but is disproportionate if applied over a small car park.
• Careful consideration needed on how the entry cards would be administered to disabled people. One option is for disabled people to register with the service provider for the entry card, or obtain the entry card when they visit the facility. Measures should also be put in place to allow non-registered customers, or people who have not used the facility before, to access the reserved parking.
• Susceptible to technical failure if not regularly maintained.

Remote-controlled mini-barrier system

Mini-barrier systems are installed directly onto the road surface in individual parking bays. To access the space the driver presses a button on a hand held remote control device which automatically lowers the barrier. The mini-barrier will automatically remain down until the car has left the space when the barrier will return to its upright position. When fully operational, the system can prevent all unauthorised people from accessing the space and therefore provide an effective means of tackling abuse.

Advantages:

• Physically prevents unauthorised cars from entering a bay.
• Relatively low maintenance - requires little support, equipment or supervision after it is installed.
• Battery remains charged for at least six months, end users can be trained in making repairs to the system.
• Requires no staff supervision or routine input, which precludes Health and Safety issues for staff in confronting members of the public.

Practical considerations:

• Requires physical distribution and administration of the remote control units to disabled people.
• Most practical in sites that have a 'closed' membership ( e.g. universities, leisure centres, hotels) as opposed to sites that are open to the general public ( e.g. supermarkets, hospitals, municipal car parks), because of the practical issue of issuing remote controls to all potential users.
• Chance that key fobs (which serve as the remote control units) could be misused or copied.
• For small enterprises the cost of the remote control fobs could be expensive.

OTHER APPROACHES

Automatic Number Plate Recognition ( ANPR)

Automatic Number Plate Recognition ( ANPR) is a high tech means of ensuring that parking facilities reserved for disabled people are only used by disabled people. The system is based on advanced Digital Image Processing ( DIP) technology. The system functions by detecting, on a real-time video image, the number plate of a vehicle entering a premises, and then reading the characters on this number plate. The information read is then logged and checked against a database of information. In the context of monitoring the use of parking bays reserved for disabled people this would consist of a list of people who are registered as being permitted to use the facility.

Asda supermarket has found ANPR to be effective in monitoring the use of segregated parking areas for registered disabled customers and dealing with the problem on the spot. This relies on 'live' monitoring, otherwise the action caught on camera would need to be followed up with a warning, or penalty.

Advantages:

• The technology cannot be tampered with and therefore the abuse cannot be denied.
• ANPR technology could also be applied to address the problem of stolen or traded Blue Badges or other permits. This would be done by identifying people who are entitled to use the facilities by the list of nominated car registration numbers that are specified by each badge holder. People in possession of a Blue Badge that has been stolen or illegally purchased could be identified.

Practical considerations:

• For supermarkets, the scheme requires disabled people to register their licence plate in-store in order that their number plate is recognised and a barrier to enter a space in a segregated area is lowered.
• It is only really effective where there is a single entry point, or at least very few entry points, to a car park, so that this point can be monitored by CCTV camera.
• The technology cannot monitor reserved parking spaces distributed around an area that is used for general parking. If parking facilities are to be monitored, then there is a requirement for them to be confined to a separate and segregated area.
• The use of ANPR does not provide visible evidence to passers-by that the car is appropriately parked.

Vehicle removal

This involves the physical removal of the offending vehicle if it were found not to display a valid Blue Badge.

Central Parking System Ltd, which has a contract to manage off-street car parks on behalf of Edinburgh City Council, can, and does, tow offending vehicles away to be impounded.

Advantages:

• Strong deterrent to inappropriate parking in off-street car parks.

Practical considerations:

• Companies are not permitted to make a profit from the fees that drivers pay to have their vehicle released, as this would be regarded as extortion under Scottish law.
• Not regarded by the public as a fair measure for first-time offenders.

Imposition of penalty fines

The imposition of fines could be effective in reducing inappropriate parking, but this might depend on whether the fine is enforced by a parking attendant or a traffic warden.

Municipal parking in Edinburgh and Inverness has shown that the compliance of paying fixed penalty fines is lower in Edinburgh, where parking has been decriminalised, than it is in Inverness, where parking is still dealt with by the city's traffic wardens.

Advantages:

• The chance of a £30 fine would be enough to deter most people from misusing reserved parking facilities (although it is unlikely to deter people who persistently misuse bays).

Practical considerations:

• Any parking 'offence' on private land is a civil offence, not a criminal offence, unless the provider applies for a Traffic Regulation Order ( TRO) (see section 1).
• TROs must be advertised in the local press, to provide the opportunity for objections to be raised by members of the public. This process incurs costs, in the form of legal fees and advertising fees, and takes up to 9-12 months to complete ⁶.
• When employing parking contractors to carry out the enforcement of fines, service providers should undergo a vetting process and ensure that the parking contractor has been approved by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency ( DVLA) to carry out this function.
• Administrative cost and effort involved in ensuring that fines are paid, with the Local Authority perhaps having to trace the identity of an offending motorist through the DVLA.

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