Parking Consultancy
OVERVIEW
Project Centre provides a comprehensive range of on-street and off-street parking consultancy services to private and public sector clients. Our clients include airport operators, shopping mall owners, train operators and local authorities who we help by improving their parking facilities, enhancing the parking experience and increasing their commercial performance.
We provide support and advice at every stage of a parking project from the initial development of a parking policy or full parking strategy, preliminary design, stakeholder consultation, assessment of the commercial viability of the parking scheme right through to making traffic orders and the project management of the construction and delivery of the project.
Project Centre use the latest design techniques and cutting edge technology including swept path analysis and micro simulation to ensure our parking designs are of the highest standard.
We provide expert and independent advice on developing parking strategies tailored to meet our client’s needs taking into account the location and specific influencing factors such as competition and changes to customer profile. Project Centre can advise on optimising parking performance whether it is an existing operation or a new parking facility requiring a detailed business case.
TRAFFIC ORDERS AND PROFESSIONAL ADVICE
Project Centre has the largest independent traffic order team in the country which provides high quality, legally robust traffic orders for clients across the UK. We introduce accurate orders that reduce the cost of appeals and ensure parking operations can be carried out efficiently. Our fast and flexible service provides our clients with excellent value for money.
The team is at the forefront of innovation – they drafted the first traffic orders for electric car charging points and provided templates that are now used by many local authorities for the introduction of car club parking spaces.
Our traffic order team has the experience to review and check orders and advise on changes to ensure compliance. We have also assisted boroughs in complying with their duties under the Traffic Management Act 2004, making sure that all the necessary changes for effective enforcement were achieved, our expertise includes:
- Temporary and permanent TRO/TMO
- Expert advice on Order making / regulations
- Map based Orders (GIS / Parkmap)
CONTROLLED PARKING ZONES AND MATCHDAY CONTROLS
As well as having a wealth of technical expertise, Project Centre’s parking team understands the political, economic and social issues involved in on-street parking and can help at every stage of parking projects including running public consultations and making traffic orders.
We have built up considerable expertise in some of the most complex areas of on-street parking management such as event day parking schemes, managing parking pressure near hospitals, near major transport interchanges and on private estates.
Our parking team has managed consultations for parking and access arrangements around football stadiums and introduced and reviewed match day parking controls to minimise disruption for residents. We have gained DfT approval for match day parking signage and written robust traffic orders that protect residential streets from the severe parking disruption caused by major events.
WORKPLACE PARKING LEVY
We provide a complete feasibility study service to allow our local authority clients to understand the revenue potential in implementing a workplace parking levy. We are mindful of the political sensitivities around a charging regime and can design a study to suit the particular needs of a client, including the following:
- Funding gap analysis
- Desktop study
- Business engagement
- Parking surveys
- Income modelling
- Impact assessment
We are working with a number of local authorities in London and across the UK, and with our links with NSL can provide an end to end service including the design, implementation, management and enforcement of a workplace parking levy scheme.
Linked is the technical paper presented to TPM in 2018 on the London Borough of Hounslow feasibility study.
SIGNS AND LINES DESIGN/AUDIT
As well as introducing complete controlled parking zones, Project Centre’s parking teams introduce smaller ‘signing and lining’ schemes to improve safety and manage parking around specific areas with high parking demand such as near schools, hospitals, stations, sports venues and shopping centres. We make sure that all signs and road markings are enforceable and prepare new traffic orders if required. We regularly liaise with the DfT to have new signs approved where necessary.
PARKING AUDITS
A large part of our parking work involves working within or auditing processes set out in legal or industry guidelines. This includes providing traffic order services, parking operation compliance auditing, best value checks and a range of transportation related services (road safety audits, peer design reviews, technical checks and CDM amongst others).
ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING
We support local authorities in developing their Electric Vehicle Charge Point (EVCP) strategy. A key component on this work includes assessing the viability of lamp column charging as it is acknowledged authorities will want to be advised on available alternative options and what implications arise. Project Centre are also considering how authorities can consider this alternative charging mechanism to compliment residential charging networks that place emphasis on a road or group of roads rather than individual designated bays.
OFF-STREET PARKING
Project Centre provides a comprehensive off-street parking design service that uses the latest techniques to ensure that all our designs deliver our clients’ aspirations.
Housing estate parking controls – We have introduced new estate parking management systems across estates in Kensington and Chelsea; covering statutory, policy, commercial and operational issues alongside managing a range of projects to generate income into the HRA. Our consultants have an astute awareness of how changes in policy and legislation can affect businesses on a financial and operational level in addition to an aptitude to scope out and deliverer commercial opportunities.
