The central area of Bath has been deemed a card controlled parking zone. Residents living within the area are able to apply for an annual residents parking permit which allow them to park in two or more streets close to their residence, although it does not guarantee a space. Members of the public are able to purchase parking cards from local shops at £1 each, which if correctly displayed allow parking in for half an hour or one hour in the controlled parking zone.
The difference with the scheme operated in Bath and a conventional pay & display parking scheme is that no pay & display machines are required. This would have a significant cost saving for the University, saving on machine purchase and maintenance, as well as the collection of monies. Senate House and other University outlets could sell half day or one day parking cards, which would need to be displayed in exactly the same manner as a conventional pay & display ticket. The scheme would work well for the 95% or so of precinct car park users who are University staff. From an enforcement perspective it would be just as easy to regulate the scheme with one day parking cards as with pay & display tickets.
The chief merits of the scheme are a potential cost saving to the University of £150k over 4 years compared to a conventional pay & display set-up, although this assumes only a very modest income at weekend and in the evening. Also there would be far more flexibility in deciding which car parks should be operate under the pay & display regime and which the reserved. This would mean that all car parks could potentially be pay & display or a mixture of the two, as the scheme would be independent of pay & display machines.
The difficulties with the scheme mainly stem from the problem of making parking tickets available for non-University staff wishing to use the car parks. This would not be a concern for the vast majority of users during the working day, who would familiar with the scheme, but for occasional visitors or the general public outside of University working hours it would be problematic. Would local shops be prepared to sell University pay & display permits, for example? There is also the issue of money handling and processing, as staff and visitors would need to purchase their pay & display cards whether in the form of a machine or an individual. This debate hinges on the size of revenue that a pay & display machine can make outside of normal University hours. If it is likely to only be a small revenue stream, then the pay & display card scheme would be very attractive.
It is difficult to gauge the likely level of use by the general public during these times. Bristol City Council pay & display meters only operate from 0800-1800 from Monday to Saturday, therefore the University can only expect the general public to use University car parks on Saturdays. Central car parks in Berkeley Square, Canynge Hall and the Victoria rooms might be well used on a Saturday, but it is difficult to see the general public paying to use other University car parks when Woodland Road and Priory Road provide ample free parking and the Trenchard Street car park only charges £1 for all day parking on a Saturday.
In 2000/2001 the introduction of a controlled parking zone encompassing the whole of Clifton and Cotham will significantly change the situation (see map below). Although details have not been finalised it is likely that the new scheme would operate along very similar lines to the existing scheme currently operating in the city centre. It is probable that all streets surrounding the University would have pay & display machines installed. This would make University car parks an attractive option to the general public on a Saturday. It is worth noting that under the new scheme, the University might be able to purchase a certain number of business and residential permits for staff and students in streets surrounding the University.
After weighing up the merits of the two schemes, the Working Group deemed that a pay & display scheme with machines would work out the most cost effective option in the long run.
