A REVIEW OF THE CONTROLLED PARKING ZONE IN SUTTON TOWN CENTER

On 4 July 1994, the London Borough of Sutton acquired the status of a special parking area, under the terms of the Road Traffic Act, 1991, a nd took over enforcement of its on-street restrictions. This coincided with the implementation of wholesale changes to the Sutton town centr e controlled parking zone, the culmination of over two years' work com prising surveys, consultations, detailed design and the preparation of the Traffic Order. The new scheme has replaced the old parking meters with modern ticket vending machines, and contains a number of innovat ive features, such as the first ever application in the UK of 'decreme nting card' technology to on-street parking controls. In this paper, t he authors, who have overseen much of the work on behalf of the author ity, relate their experiences.