Residents' parking permits - a complete rip off?

[Planner1 438]

Litotes

 

There are around 40 parking attendants for the whole city, which probably means that they can only put around 30 in the field on any one day. Therefore the best you will get is occasional enforcement. A residents parking scheme will have a number of attendants allocated to it each day, so enforcement will be better.

 

I've passed your comments to our Parking Services Manager and asked that the attendants give the location some attention when they are in the area.

 

People can contact Parking Services on 2736158 if they want to report any problems.

[Cyclone 10]

Can you explain the rationale for proposing a scheme that you knew would cause major problems for hundreds to thousands of people?

 

At a guess, it's to address the problems that hundreds to thousands of residents have complained about. Residents who are also no doubt tax payers and contribute to our economy.

 

Napier street you say, from Walkley. That's 3 miles from the bottom of walkley or 2 miles from the top. I'd suggest that you get on your bike and ride (to borrow the words from a famous song).

[richard 10]

I have to park in that area unless some joined up transport genius can advise me how to get to Napier Street from Walkey and back Mon-Fri around 9-5 shifts? In 20 mins.

 

You are exactly the kind of person that the public transport should be working for. I think that the inter-suburb commute is one of the hardest in the city. If you want to get from anywhere to the train station, shoot off to Doncaster (for example) and then get a bus the other side, you can do OK. Want to get from suburb X to Y then your only chance is that X & Y are on opposite sides of the city centre.

 

I expect there will be a couple of routes that do not go through the city centre, but the decent routes all go through the centre.

 

And of course the bus operators will not take a gamble on a new route. They are tryng to concentrate on the most profitable routes.

[Tomataheeed 10]

You are exactly the kind of person that the public transport should be working for. I think that the inter-suburb commute is one of the hardest in the city. If you want to get from anywhere to the train station, shoot off to Doncaster (for example) and then get a bus the other side, you can do OK. Want to get from suburb X to Y then your only chance is that X & Y are on opposite sides of the city centre.

 

I expect there will be a couple of routes that do not go through the city centre, but the decent routes all go through the centre.

 

And of course the bus operators will not take a gamble on a new route. They are tryng to concentrate on the most profitable routes.

 

I have a viable route - the 97 stops about 200 yards form hom and about 200 yards from the office, but its so expensive, and to be honest, lots of the time I've other journeys to do after work, so I'll probably still drive a fair bit. For the poor 90% odd that don't have an easy alternative, they will just be driving round Nether Edge looking for somewhere to park.

 

On a related topic, is parking a lot easier now that the students aren't here? I don't want to have a go at students, but do they all need to have cars? Surely living a few hundred yards away from where you study is close enough? And will the new student accomodation being built ease the parking problems around Hunters Bar?

[Cyclone 10]

barny100

Depart: 8:33 Walkley, Howard Road/Duncombe Street, Birkendale Service Number: 123

Provider: Yorkshire Terrier

 

Arrive: 8:43* Sheffield, Leopold Street C H 1, Sheffield Centre

Walk Depart: 8:43* Sheffield, Leopold Street C H 1, Sheffield Centre

 

Arrive: 8:45* Sheffield, Leopold Street C H 4, Sheffield Centre

Bus Depart: 8:51 Sheffield, Leopold Street C H 4, Sheffield Centre Service Number: 82

Provider: First South Yorkshire Ltd

 

Arrive: 8:56* Moore Street, Ecclesall Road, Broomhall

 

Walk Arrive: 9:03* Walk to: NAPIER STREET,SHEFFIELD

 

Not ideal, but it takes about 30 mins and 2 buses, or for 2 miles about 5 mins on a bike.

 

Of all the students I know (and I know quite a few), I only know 2 with cars, and one lives out of town at his parents.

[Gaz79 10]

barny100

Of all the students I know (and I know quite a few), I only know 2 with cars, and one lives out of town at his parents.

 

Totally off the mark here...explain then why on the 30th June on the road I live there was a mass exodus of cars co-inciding with the student leases ending, leaving less than 1 car per house in the evening...the following day when the new student leases started the whole road was chocker again..one particular house had 4 students turn up with cars..3 of the cars have not moved since.

 

The above pattern was pretty much the same on all the roads throughout the area.

[IanR 10]

On a related topic, is parking a lot easier now that the students aren't here? I don't want to have a go at students, but do they all need to have cars? Surely living a few hundred yards away from where you study is close enough? And will the new student accomodation being built ease the parking problems around Hunters Bar?

 

From http://www.shef.ac.uk/environment/transport:

 

The travel survey took place at the end of 2004 at Halls of Residences and Self-Catering flats. An impressive 24% of students responed and initial results are encouraging. 94% of students walk to their main place of study and only 7% have a car while at University.

 

One could argue that obviously the 76% who didn't respond all own cars, but I somehow doubt it (for financial reasons as much as anything).

 

Edit: fixed URL

[Gaz79 10]

From http://www.shef.ac.uk/environment/transport:

 

 

 

One could argue that obviously the 76% who didn't respond all own cars, but I somehow doubt it (for financial reasons as much as anything).

 

Edit: fixed URL

 

In other words the survey (with a small percentage response) did not include students living in private accomodation where the main problem with resident parking can be an issue.

[Mathom 10]

Napier Street?! For goodness sake that's all of five minutes' walk from either The Moor, Ecclesall Road or London Road, all of which have many different buses streaming down throughout the day.

[Cyclone 10]

Totally off the mark here...explain then why on the 30th June on the road I live there was a mass exodus of cars co-inciding with the student leases ending, leaving less than 1 car per house in the evening...the following day when the new student leases started the whole road was chocker again..one particular house had 4 students turn up with cars..3 of the cars have not moved since.

 

The above pattern was pretty much the same on all the roads throughout the area.

 

Are you saying that you know exactly the same students that I know and have better knowledge of their car status?

 

I can assure you that I do know quite a few, probably 20 or 30 students via my martial arts club, and definitely only 2 of them have cars.

 

Maybe it's because all the students get their parents to turn up and move them out of the house, that's how I always did it, not being capable of carrying a house full stuff on the train!

[barny_100 10]

At a guess, it's to address the problems that hundreds to thousands of residents have complained about. Residents who are also no doubt tax payers and contribute to our economy.

 

Napier street you say, from Walkley. That's 3 miles from the bottom of walkley or 2 miles from the top. I'd suggest that you get on your bike and ride (to borrow the words from a famous song).

 

And in the day time these residents are not parking outside their homes as they will have driven elsewhere - by the time they get back people like me have left. At the minute I'd say the street parking spaces are being used in a very efficient manner without any interference from the council.

 

As for your advice to use a bike... first off your 5 minute journey estimate is a joke! 10 minutes or so there is reasonable but back, up from Eccy Road to Walkley via Crookes for example seems to me to be a contender for a Tour de France stage! After a long day at work and especially in bad weather that is not realistic. Even the downhill stretch would be a pain in the summer with getting sweating, dirty etc. That's ignoring the going eleswhere at dinner/after work issue as well.

 

As for the buses option all you have done is prove my point - 2 services, 2 companies, going via the city centre with all the possibilities for congestion etc, expensive tickets with prices rises every year etc etc.

 

No sane person is going to downgrade the quality of transport they use - and for me nothing matches the car or even comes close. Simple as that.

 

EDIT: After seeing Mathoms posts I would say my final paragragh is the crux of the issue - why should I be forced to use buses/walk further than I have to?

[joeyannie 10]

If permits were limited to one per house, or second and third permits made vastly more expensive would this encourage students not to bring their cars to uni? or could permits only be available to 52 week/year residents with some way of refunding non-students who have moved house within a permit year? (proof of private rental/council tax payment could be used in the majority of cases)

Certainly on my street now the 3 lads have moved out of the house next door, and their girlfriends are also no longer parking permanently outside our houses, we are 6 cars down in number for the summer making parking a dream!

This would also free up their tax and insurance money to allow them to afford a better place to live- one of the common complaints on another thread being the expense of purpose built accomodation (2 birds with one stone!)

 

Of course the big problem with this is that everyone who resides in a street, be they student or not, should have an equal chance and right to get a permit so it wouldnt stop multiple-occupancy houses applying for more than one permit.