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Executive Member – Councillor Nigel Murphy
Welcome to our 4
th
Annual Parking Report. I am pleased to be able to report so many
changes and improvements to the delivery of Parking Services in Manchester during
2011/12.
Changes were needed to the City Centre hours of
operation, as the number of motorists visiting the city
centre - and the times at which they arrive - has changed
considerably over the past few years.
We listened to comments raised by Manchester’s
residents and businesses in response to our initial
proposals, and made several amendments. The new
system will help us to ensure that City Centre traffic
keeps moving, but also help to minimise congestion
whilst still encouraging people to visit the City Centre during the evening and at
weekends.
A major amendment was the change to the operational hours of the City Centre
Controlled Parking Zone. This included altering the hours of operation to 8am-8pm
Monday to Sunday, in relation to the pay and display bays and single yellow lines. We
also made it possible for motorists to park in all on-street pay and display bays across
the city centre for at least two hours.
These changes allow motorists who pay for two hours parking to be able to park
anywhere in the city centre at 6pm and stay there until 8am the following day. This
means they don’t need to return to their cars to move them, and cause congestion by
driving around to find another parking spot.
As part of the changes, motorists may also extend their stay by ‘feeding’ the parking
meter, up to the maximum period, if their visit to the city centre goes on longer than
expected.
These changes have resulted in a positive effect, allowing motorists to easily find a
parking space and thereby reducing congestion.
We have also introduced an innovative payment solution, which enables motorists to
pay for their on-street parking via a mobile phone, using the new Paybyphone system.
Drivers no longer need to worry about having the right change and they also have the
convenience of remotely topping up their parking to the maximum stay allowed. This
has realised savings in our cash collection process and has been a real success in the
City Centre with over 15,000 registered users.