To think Free Parking is the answer to revive our town centres?

[Jumell]

I’ve been thinking a bit about this lately.

Whenever I thought about going to the city centre where I used to live, to shop/browse etc - the main thing that would stop me going was the thought of paying for parking - I’d just think - ‘nah’ - and not bother going in.

i think that if the Govt took the initiative to scrap all charges from car parking companies - NCP/Councils etc etc in town centres / high streets - it would massively revive these shopping centres that we all knew and loved?

More reliable and frequent public transport covering a wider variety of routes would help. But town centres are forever changed - more about socialising and community events rather than as much shopping.

I don't know about no parking charges but absolutely believe pay on exit carparks would entice more people.

At my local hospital, they changed the pay on exit to pay upfront and it has made going to the hospital so much more expensive! I always over pay now to avoid a ticket as I never know how long I'll be. I imagine a lot of people feel the same about shopping.

They are trialing this at my town over Xmas. Local fb page is already up in arms from people who've paid in advance for work etc.
Stupid thing is parking charges have gone up yet the amount of shops has vastly decreased.
Then you throw in an app. I don't have enough space on my phone for all my stuff never mind an downloading an app just so I can park for a couple of hours.

Not forgetting the grubbiness , lack of bins, adult toileting, hen/stag dos, street drinking, ppl smoking weed, shoplifters, in the city centers I'm not sure it's parking charges putting ppl off

Think we've probably gone beyond the point where that might help. It's true that some people who would otherwise go into a town centre are put off by parking concerns, albeit as much getting a space as cost. But I don't think it's as simple as make parking free, they'll come back and the declines will reverse.

Agree with this. Between slow walkers, loud buskers and shops having half instore compared to online, I don’t really do shopping in person anymore. Too much hassle. And the bus costs more than parking!

No-one pays for resurfacing anyway they closed off half the car park took six months to install chargers for electric cars and left the fucking potholes plus they put the cost up it's like I'm paying to damage my car at this point

All these are very good points. I would add that it's so easy for make a small mistake and it ends up being costly.
Each parking system can be so different, the apps don't work, internet connections are poor. It's easy for human error to step in. A small mistake typing in the number plate for example. Easily done, especially if stressed and rushing.

There is one carpark in town that is notorious for the many ways you can inadvertently and innocently make a mistake and so those businesses are really suffering.

The best parking systems read your number plate on the way in and charge accordingly when you leave. You can pay by card or cash. At least with these people aren't penalised for a simple human error.

Good question - volunteers or it could come out of taxes ?

You want to pay more tax? If not, what services don't you want?

I wouldn't fancy the chances of volunteers being able to maintain a multi story car park.

Towns near me have free or quite cheap first hour or two, more for longer stays. Paying on exit for the time you've used is definitely preferable to an up front fee but the apps are generally making it more flexible.
And free or reasonable evening tariffs.

In many places better public transport from the suburbs or rural areas is more what's needed.

Ours is pretty cheap anyway. It being free wouldn't make me go more often or stay longer. They trialled having a certain number of bays that were free for 30 minutes a few years ago. All that happened was that there were insane queues for those bays - even though 30 minutes only costs 20p.

The way to attract people to town centres is for there to be shops, restaurants and other businesses that sell products or services that people want and can afford.

I can easily walk to my town centre, but rarely bother because so many of the shops I used to visit have closed. The ones that remain have a poor selection of overpriced, poor quality goods. There are lots of empty units and a ridiculous number of coffee shops, convenience stores and phone-unlocking shops.

My point is that whilst people might be put off by parking charges, first and foremost town centres have to be a place people want to visit. Free parking and removal of pedestrianised streets to make town centres more car-friendly is pointless if there is not a good variety of shops offering choice and value for money.

[Edit - and vape shops. Must be at least half a dozen within five minutes.]

£1.60 an hour here!

Not that you need an hour - we basically have a primark, Pandora, marks and 600 charity shops. If you can get past the drug users.

Agree.

And while it's possible that some of the businesses and facilities that used to be in town centres have gone/got worse because of the lack of free parking, that doesn't mean free parking will bring them back. Don't think it's that simple.

Parking charges are not really about the upkeep of the car park, but more about managing demand and controlling where people park. If you made parking a free for all in popular city and town centres, with already constrained space ..... well I'll leave you to work out what would happen.

Town Centre shopping is, and always has been, hell on earth. You need to get over this delusion that everyone loves town centres.

I've purposely avoided shopping in my town centre since the merciful advent of the internet, and wild horses couldn't drag me back.

My local small town has free parking. Always has done.

It gets quite a few shoppers but the range of shops is not what it was.

To go to a big proper shopping centre you need to drive 40 mins away and pay for parking. That's still thriving and has a lot of shops.

Maybe reduce business rates so that it’s affordable for independents to have retail businesses in town , so making the item a characterful place to spend time and money.

They are introducing fees here next year because the council is broke and can't afford to maintain the car parks! Also they want us to use public transport which isn't often possible due to rubbish rural buses and steep hills

Yabu.
It is mind-numbingly obvious that parking fees are one of the least draconian ways to keep city centre traffic levels managable. Have you not got any consciousness of issues around air quality/polution and making cities be a pleasant and safe place for pedestrians?

It's vitally important that everyone who feasibly can get into the center by public transport or by bike etc should do so, with only those who really can't do this (of which obviously there will be some) doing it by car. By far the easiest way to administer this is with parking charges that make people think twice about driving in, and considering alternatives. Without car parking charges you'd need to use some other system like voucher rationing!

What there should be is similar charges for people who avoid the centre by driving to an out-of-town mall or ordering online, to level the playing field and ensure that consumers are paying the cost of the environmental impact of their decisions.

This. Making parking free will just make parking impossible.

Personally I don’t think I’m entitled to park for free just because I drive a car.

No, not where I live. Council is reducing the number of parking bays deliberately in order to create more “street space” for cafes and restaurants to spread onto. If you want to park, you park at the supermarket, but driving in general is strongly discouraged.

Most of the high street is boarded up so even free parking isn't going to help .
Towns will become cafe culture with apartments and pedestrian spaces

"street space" ? Filling up the pavement or walkway with crappy little tables and chairs .

I would definitely browse and spend more locally if I wasn't always on a 20 minute time limit. Sometimes I drive straight through town and a couple of miles to a precinct where parking is free - so petrol is not being saved here! The shops are a bit dull though, the usual big chain suspects and no independents.
I suspect these big shop chains have quite a bit of lobbying power when it comes to expensive town centre parking to shunt people their way instead of boosting local independent shop economy.

It's pretty expensive to park in our town as it is, but the council are taking away the few free parking spaces, available, in the NY and have introduced carparking fees until 10pm , so v unlikely to happen where I live