Park and Ride?

Shlippery

Hey, does anyone know anything about the Park and Ride now? Is it free? All I heard was that it was operating but haven't heard from anyone who's used it..how often do the buses go? I arrived in college today round for an evening lecture and musta spent half an hour looking for parkin round the gym/corrib village!! Didn't see one park and ride bus pass me once!! Has anyone here used it? Is there a timetable??? (Apologies for the question overload, but agh..parking in nuig is the most frustrating thing about college..)

LadyMayBelle

I collected my car from corrib village at 15:45 and there were lots of spaces..and I saw the bus..think it runs every fifteen minutes

Black_Knight

NUIG Student Mailer wrote:

BUS SERVICE AND PARKING PERMIT CHARGES



Background

In September 2009 the University opened its new 500-place car park at Dangan. With the financial constraints under which the University operates, it was not possible to fund a bus service to and from the main campus. Partly as a result, the car park had on average around 400 unused spaces every day of the semester.

The University has, through the Partnership process, been discussing the introduction of charges for parking permits for more than two years. Student representatives and representatives of some groups of staff indicate that they would reluctantly accept charges. However, agreement could not be reached on whether charges should be the same for both staff and students or at a lower rate for students.

Charges and the use of the Dangan car park

In the circumstances, the University has decided to introduce on a pilot basis a system of charges for the remainder of the period to 31 August 2010, under which staff will pay EUR35 and students EUR32. Given the result of surveys observing the number of cars with University parking permits on roads around the campus, it is expected that if proper use is made of the Dangan car park all those seeking a parking space will be able to find one, with enormous benefits for the entire University community. Use of the Dangan car park will be monitored to gather information on the extent of usage and the split between staff and student permits; it is accepted that if the number of spaces remains inadequate, staff will press for the segregation of spaces in what is currently a shared area, and that if that happens students will press in turn for permanently reduced charges if the evidence shows that they have unequal access to spaces. Only through a pilot scheme will we be able to assess the situation adequately.

Bus service

To ensure the immediate benefits of improving access to the unused spaces, a free bus service will be introduced from Monday 11 January, and operate Monday to Friday until 28 May.

· The first bus will leave from the Dangan car park at 08.15, with the last bus of the morning service leaving at 11.05 and buses expected to operate every 10-15 minutes.

· There will be a limited lunch time service, with one bus leaving the Orbsen Building terminus at 13.05 and one bus returning from the Dangan car park at 13.55.

· For the evening service, the first bus will leave the Orbsen Building terminus at 16.15 and the last bus at 19.05, with buses expected to operate every 10-15 minutes.

* There will be a late night shuttle service, commencing from the Orbsen Building terminus at 22.20 and making three journeys to the Dangan car park.

Implementation

Arrangements for the collection of charges will be put in place over the next few months, and existing permits will cease to be valid after a particular date, of which advance notice will be given. Other changes to the parking system, agreed in whole or part through the Partnership process, will be introduced during the period of the pilot programme.

It is impossible to predict the effect of this change on the parking patterns of staff and students. There may be a significant immediate increase in use of the Dangan car park, creating pressures on the bus service at particular times until users adapt by staggering their arrivals. There may be a slow increase in use of the Dangan car park, leading to no perceptible change on the main campus. Please be patient while you, your colleagues, and others in the wider University community learn to adapt to a radically different parking situation.

Keith Warnock (VP for Capital Projects/An Leas-Uachtarán um Thionscadail Chaipitiúla)

8 January 2010/8 Eanáir 2010

Dar ya goo

Shlippery

Ah cheers, musta missed that email.
Much appreciated bud!