Bristol car parks set for major fee changes
The city council says some will benefit, with others left out of pocket
Massive changes to Bristol City Council car park charges are set to be given the go-ahead.
The local authority says some drivers will gain while others will be out of pocket, including those who use 10 district car parks where fees will be imposed for the first time.
Among those who will pay less are commuters at Temple Gate and West End multi-storey car parks where a new £8 early-bird, all-day fee will be introduced to compete with private providers such as Cabot Circus, if plans are approved by the transport and connectivity committee on Thursday, September 12.
Current charges at off-street car parks which penalise motorists if they leave their vehicles before 6pm but have no choice but to pay until midnight will be made fairer so the charges are hourly up to 10pm.
Drivers using long-stay car parks, who currently pay £18 for any time over four hours, but less than a full day, would park for an hourly rate instead.
However, a report to the committee said there would be an 8.7 per cent inflationary increase along with an alignment of fees across all car parks and that while this would mean charges up to six hours would cost £16.20 as opposed to the current £18, this would be the only length of stay where costs were cheaper.
Motorists staying longer than that but less than eight hours would have to pay £21.60, while the amount for up to 12 hours is £32.40, and £37.80 for 24 hours – more than double the current cost.
The report also said evening parking would be more expensive for most people.
Under the new “linear” charges, a one-hour stay after 6pm would be just £1.50 but increasingly costly for every extra hour, up to £15 for the six hours up to midnight as opposed to the existing £4 fee.
The report said: “Officers receive complaints regarding the transparency of the existing tariff structure and the difference between the daytime and evening rates, as customers whose stay straddles the 6pm changeover time pay disproportionately more to park.
“Officers would like to simplify and improve the customer experience by reviewing the overall
structure of our parking tariffs.
“Officers would like to move to a linear tariff structure where the same hourly rate applies from 8am to 10pm, seven days a week at all on- and off-street parking locations:
“Where a maximum stay is in force between 8am and 6pm, it will be retained with no change.
“The hourly rate will be charged for each hour, or part thereof.
“Customers using long-stay car parks will be able to park for any number of hours and pay
proportionately for the time used, rather than paying the full £18 for a stay over four hours.”
The report said on-street parking would be simplified by removing the current system where drivers have to buy in multiples of 50p.
It said: “It is fair to say some customers will be better off under a linear system and some will be worse off
“Whilst most customers will pay more for evening parking under a linear system, this does reflect the length of stay and brings parity with daytime customers.
“Our prices are more expensive than the Galleries or Cabot Circus and lower than NCP, Britannia & Millennium Square.
“Due to location, it is the latter group which is a more pertinent comparison.”
The report said: “Most private operators offer an early-bird parking rate to attract long-stay users with prices starting at circa £8 per day for customers who arrive before 9am.
“Council car parks have no comparable tariff as the traditional perception is that these would encourage commuter parking.
“Our policy has been to set high parking charges to encourage customers to make more sustainable travel choices.
“However, as these cheaper tariffs are freely available from other operators (who collectively offer far more public parking spaces), it is more probable than not that customers continue to drive and simply take advantage of the cheaper rates offered by private operators.”
It said that meant most motorists drove past the council’s multi-storeys to park nearer the city centre, so the proposal was to introduce early-bird charges at Temple Gate and West End, with the prospect of creating transport hubs there for scooter parking or cycle hangars.
The report said: “As an early-bird charge would still be significantly more expensive than a bus journey, officers do not anticipate a significant reverse modal shift.”