§ 59. Mr. Sorensenasked the Minister of Transport what study he has made of the respective successes achieved by those local authorities which control traffic by using a parking meter system, and those which adopt other means.
§ Mr. GalbraithThe success of any system of street parking control depends upon the local traffic conditions with which it must deal. What is right for one area may be wrong for another.
Where, as in Central London, there is a great concentraton of traffic and a considerable demand for short-term parking, we are satisfied that control with parking meters is best. We have studied alternatives such as the disc sytem used in Paris and the system of waiting restrictions used successfully by one local authority in this country. They are inappropriate to the heavy pressures of London.
Each new area must be studied according to its needs. We will consider sympathetically any workable system of control which may be put to us.
Mr. G. Wilsonasked the Minister of Transport what progress has been made in his consultations with local authorities with the object of controlling the indiscriminate parking of vehicles on the highway in the interests of safety.
§ Mr. MarplesI have drawn the attention of all local authorities to the need for parking to be controlled in many new areas. One advantage of control is that it prevents the parking of vehicles in dangerous positions. A study by the Road Research Laboratory in Westminster and St. Marylebone over the last four years has shown a 21 per cent. reduction in accidents in meter zones in contrast to an increase of 22 per cent. in neighbouring unmetered areas.