Ok then well that’s that. The new parking set up looks to be designed to cram in a few more spaces with the expense of making everyone stop and reverse back into each space. Looks to me like the jams will be 10 times worse come Xmas. Now we know why.
The Square due to change their fees on 10th September. €1 for the first 3 hours.
https://www.thesquare.ie/customerparking/
And it’s entirely coincidental that the biggest beneficiaries of free work parking are public and civil servants.
Weird decision to bring this in now given the economic situation. A last grasp money grab before suburban shopping centres go the way of the dodo?
It is, it’s one of the best metro systems on the planet, I’ve lived there… even the older lines have been upgraded, signalling, trains refurbed or replaced, it’s excellent…it’s ongoing also…
trams, buses, RER, metro, funicular..and it’s superb.
Shopping centres practically know what you had for breakfast. the analytics would put google to shame.
I remember discussing a unit for a franchise I had a few years back. they could give me more accurate projected trading figure than I could do myself and back it up with comparatives. the figures did not stack up.
Cameras and counters on all doors, same on approach roads. ANPR has been operating for many years.
They don't hold any personal data. You literally are a dot on the screen and they know how many dots come in and go out, how long those dots stay and whether those dots are male/female/children.
I’m wondering about the timing myself- they obviously have large debts to pay off given the recent work - parking and associated costs for consumers can make or break a shopping centre - they’d want to be careful- people will hear”Liffey valley charges for parking” and they’ll just go elsewhere or online
car parking for employees does not incur BIK
https://www.revenue.ie/en/employing-people/benefit-in-kind-for-employers/other-benefits/use-of-facilities-sports-recreational-childcare-and-carparks/car-parking.aspx
There definitely was an issue with parked cars being broken into at Liffey Valley at one time.
I don't know how they dealt with it, but its not true to say it was never an issue.
I agree with most of what you say but tbh I have very little sympathy for staff.
Having free parking to your workplace is an absolute privilege. (Did they not bring in BIK a few years ago on employers that provide parking....doubt any of them pay that)
I'd imagine most staff are relatively local and could easily walk, take the bus etc but take their car for the convenience of it.
The 30 min shoppers are very few and far between. They won't be missed.
i wonder do the centre owners have any means to determine how long the average visit is? for people arriving by car, it'd need number plate recognition technology so not something you'd do on a whim.
There’s an extremely simply and logical solution to prevent people abusing free parking. If you spend over X amount in any shop in the center then you get some ticket to redeem a free parking ticket as you exit.
The timing and optics couldn’t have come at a worse time also with massive inflation all over the place and trying to mask it as something other than blatant money grabbing is pathetic…just be honest at least and say they want the extra money to increase the profits of whatever fund happens to own the center. It’s an insult to people intelligence to say otherwise.
Hardly ever go there so doesn’t affect me, still get annoyed reading their carefully crafted bs pr statements outlining why they have to add the charges.
Its a complete kick in the teeth to people that actually work there and are expected to cough up the fees too, majority of them probably on or near minimium wage.
I suspect people will be surprised.
There is a huge local workforce that are about 5min walk away - they currently take their cars.
I'm in the retail game. I love reasonably priced parking. I used to be involved in a retail store when Liffey valley first opened. I was always an advocator of a parking system that would free up the prime spaces. And that was a charge based system and a nominal fee option for staff to park in spaces away from the doors. But the excuses there by the empty vessel brigade was "cars will be broken into" if parked away from the doors. Funny, customers using those spaces never had an issue but did have to walk much further to get into the centre
Maybe another option for LV would have been to actually take a big chunk of it and convert it to an official paid park and ride.
Tallaght Cross underground carpark is not an official park and ride, but it is very close to the Luas stops at the Square and the Hospital, and charges €5 for all day parking and gets lots of use, not only from those using the Luas, but from those using the surrounding medical centres. That area seems to have become a kind of medical quarter as part of TUH has buildings there now, as well as the Beacon, GPs at Tallaght Cross, Affidea, etc.
Paris is nowhere near state of the art.
London is heading toward state of the art.
I think the issue is more having to pay for the first hour.
Alot of people would just run in and out, go to the shop they need maybe grab a coffee to go and leave.
Anyone working locally might pop over for lunch etc
However when you add these extras onto your trip it may not be worth it.
I think any cafes/restaurants needing lunch hour business will suffer at least at the start.
However as I said previously people will shrug and get on with it, though they might plan their trips better.
I reckon your logic is well placed but flawed:
I drive to most destinations, I have no use for pedestrian crossings along the majority (90%+) of routes I take.
Why am I paying for a pedestrian crossings I don't use?
None that I have seen.
They actually piss me off taking up disability bays all the time, because they are close to the doors.
the total area of liffey valley shopping centre seems to be 20Ha; so very close to half seems dedicated to storage of cars. and that figure does not include the surrounding roads required to get those cars in and out. it's kinda nuts.
The planners should re-zone it back to agricultural if they ever try to sell any of it
There was always a plan to charge for parking. Barrier systems and parking machines were in situ when it opened in 1998 and if I remember, you got 3 hours of free parking and paid for additional hours.
They did have issues with level of people coming in and the parking system was suspended.
But this then meant a huge number of staff took their cars and suddenly all the closest spaces were filled. For a while they tried to get staff park at the end of the car parks, but that didn't work.
In the last couple of years the car parks are near full by 10am, yet the centre is empty - people parking and commuting.
People abuse free parking. It was proven in Watford a few years ago when all the retailers insisted on free parking being offered during November & December. Their turnover DROPPED over 30% in the 1st 2 weeks as all the parking was suddenly taken up by office workers and they very very quickly reversed the decision.
A few mouthpieces get heard because they shout loudest - (empty vessels make the most noise). In reality, paid parking, once its reasonable, is of benefit to the shops.
Aren't the Deliveroo and Just Eat guys on bikes around there?
So, no more dropping by to use the ATMs outside, or the post office on the bottom level. Or ordering a takeaway from one of the Square's many restaurants for collection either then. Might as well save the petrol and pay for delivery. ⛽
Oh, I'd say the just-eat and deliveroo drivers won't be pleased about that system either.
Seriously it's like they're actively trying to discourage people from visiting the centres.
There's very little environmental reason to get rid of cars on our roads provided they'll all be fully electric soon and the electricity generated to run them comes from zero emissions renewable energy.
But really this is the Dublin County West forum. Not a place to discuss the pros and cons of owning a car.
Unless you live in a nice leafy Dublin suburb then the car is an essential part of your life due to our public transport being decades behind.
But then you have the housing crisis forcing younger generations out of those suburbs.
The result is even more reliance on cars. Everybody knows this. But it's a great opportunity to use "da environment" to hit motorists with costs that we'll have to pay.
If they really care for the environment they should just ban cars altogether. But they won't because their centre would have no footfall.
The square in tallaght is going to start charging for parking as well.
Many people here may be shocked to learn that their are other ways of getting your shopping home other than the car. Why do we limit trolleys to those that have the shortest journeys (to the car park).
They won’t be charging EVERYONE for parking, just those who drive.
Google maps says it's 900m / 11 minute walk from Vue cinema to the bus stop on the other side of the N4. Not something I'd be doing this weekend. (880m / 10 mins to the stop on the LV side).
If you stay on the bus it goes to town.
A lot of times Transport for Ireland's app doesn't show cancelled buses soon enough for you to take alternatives at other stops, because Bus Connects sometimes go the other way. Nice when the buses show up, but you can't rely on them and have to pad out your times.
The whole point of shopping centres on the outskirts of the city is it's convenient to drive to them. They're designed for cars.
Waiting for then struggling onto a crowded bus with a load of shopping bags at Christmas is my idea of hell.
Actually shopping centres in December are my idea of hell anyway - I avoid all shopping centres in December unless its absolutey unavoidable or can't be delivered or bought online. Doing it without my car? Not a chance.
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