Parking changes at Sand Street

The one year trial of a new payment system at Sand Street car park starts on Monday 12 November 2012.  From that date, drivers will no longer be able to use paycards at Sand Street car park.

The new system registers the car’s number plate on the way in and logs the time of arrival. Before leaving the car park, drivers will need to go to a pay station located at the pedestrian entrances, key in their car registration number and pay. All the instructions will be on-screen. They can then leave the car park as normal.

There are three new ways drivers will be able to pay:

• using one of the new five or ten unit UniTickets. UniTickets allow usage to be electronically deducted until all the card's units are used. These cards are currently being distributed to various outlets (newsagents, garages, and the Sand Street parking office) this week
• using the new rechargeable Sand Street park smart card (available from the Sand Street parking office) which costs £3 and must then be loaded with credit from a debit or credit card at the pay stations
• by debit or credit card (not American Express or Diners) – the charge will be made for the hours parked plus a 20p transaction charge.

The Minister for Transport and Technical Services (TTS), Deputy Kevin Lewis, said: “People are recommended to find out more about the different methods of payment from our advertisements and leaflets and decide which method of payment suits them best.”

This trial does not affect any of the other TTS car parks and on-street parking as they will continue to use the paycard method.  There will still be disabled parking in Sand Street car park. Any qualifying person should contact the Sand Street parking office for further information.

Helping drivers

During the trial, it will be possible to park longer than three hours at Sand Street car park. However, it is still a shoppers’ car park and it is important that spaces for short stay parking are always available. The cost of parking will remain the same as it is now at one unit per hour for the first three hours, but will increase after that time. The rates have been set to dissuade commuter and long stay parking.

The Minister for TTS, Deputy Kevin Lewis said: “Although this new system is really quite simple it is a big change for the public, so we are trying to give them help and information to make it easier for them.  They may be a bit unsure what to do the first time, but the display screen guides you through the process.”

TTS will be publicising how the system will work in the run up to the start date.  On 2, 3, 9 and 10 November, from 10am – 3pm, staff will be on hand at the entrance of Sand Street Car Park to explain how the new system will work. Information is also available on the States website.  Help will also be provided for users at the pay stations for the first couple of weeks when the new system is up and running.