The changes to the parking controls have been made principally to improve the flow of traffic in the City, particularly for buses, taxis and emergency service vehicles; to provide more opportunities for those servicing the City and loading or unloading goods from the street to do so legally; and to provide longer periods for visitors to the City to park legally.

The effects of the changes include many aspects such as:-

· A single controlled parking zone will cover the whole of the City, operating between 7am and 7pm from Monday to Friday and between 7am and 11am on Saturday. All single yellow lines in the City will operate at these times, with no extended periods. This change will make it easier for motorists to ensure they are parking legally. Double yellow lines will continue to prohibit waiting in their location at any time.

· When waiting is prohibited (during the controlled period on single yellow lines and at all times on double yellow lines), waiting solely in order to load or unload will be permitted for up to 40 minutes (except in locations where loading and unloading is also prohibited as generally indicated by signs or road markings;).

· The maximum stay period in pay and display parking bays will be increased to four hours.

· The standard parking charge in pay and display parking bays of £1 per 15 minutes will only be payable between 8am and 7pm from Monday to Friday, and a flat charge of £2 will be payable for any period of parking between 8am and 11am on Saturday.

· Coach parking bays will operate at all times and the maximum stay period in these bays will be increased to four hours.

· The standard parking charge in coach parking bays of £6 per hour will only be payable between 8am and 7pm from Monday to Friday and between 8am and 11am on Saturday.

· The maximum stay period in disabled parking bays will be increased from 3 to 4 hours for Blue badge Holders. Red Badge holders can stay for as long as they like. The disabled bays adjacent to Barts Hospital retain a six hour limit for all badge holders.

A two-week grace period is operating before the new infringements will be enforced. The City Planning Officer has recently publicised the change through methods including a press release, details on the website, an article in CityView, information in the Director of Environmental Services’ weekly traffic bulletin, letters to automobile associations such as the AA and RAC and to season car park ticketholders and disabled badge holders, notes posted on pay and display ticket machines, and informative notes being left this past week on vehicles that had parked on single yellow lines.

Contact Tia Cox, 020 7332 3865, or Bronwyn Allen of the Planning & Transportation Department, 020 7332 1208