Commuters object to park and ride charge ‘rip-off’

RESIDENTS in parts of Waterford city are up in arms over plans by the city council to charge the public €5 for park and ride facilities during the three-day Tall Ships’ Race in the city in July.

One Tramore councillor has already accused the council of trying to “rip off” people who will be commuting from her home town and other towns and villages to work, shop and do other business in Waterford during the festivities between Wednesday July 6 and Friday July 8.

Under plans unveiled last month, the city will be practically traffic-free during the event, which is expected to draw in the region of 250,000 people to Waterford.

Motorists travelling into Waterford, apart from city residents, those with businesses and employees who prove they urgently require a vehicle to do their work, will have to use park and ride car parks on the outskirts of the city. From these car parks, people will be ferried into the city by a fleet of up to 80 buses, which will pick up and leave off passengers around every five minutes.

The park-and-ride buses will run between 7am and nightfall during the festival.

Waterford City Council’s director of planning and environment, Michael Walsh, said the exact charges to travel on the park-and-ride buses are still under negotiation.

But a €5 return fee, including parking, is under negotiation. A €10 family ticket is also proposed.

Fine Gael councillor Lola O’Sullivan is from Tramore, from where thousands of people commute each day to work and shop in Waterford. She has expressed shock at the council’s plans.

“I think it’s crazy. I think the council are being completely unreasonable. I appreciate the council has to cover the cost of the service but I think that is way over the top,” she said.

Ms O’Sullivan said €1 or €2 was a much fairer charge.

“Anything over that is way too much. We are asking the people of the county and city to co-operate (with the traffic restrictions) during the Tall Ships. How do we expect them to co-operate if the council is going to fleece them?”

Defending the council’s plan to charge the public to use the park-and-ride buses, Mr Walsh said that the service was costing a considerable amount both to hire enough buses to run at very frequent intervals and to provide the parking facilities. He pointed out that the service would save motorists the hassle of getting into the city during the festival.

The council believes that making the city a virtually traffic-free zone during the festival is a necessity to avoid serious traffic congestion problems.

Mr Walsh explained that the quays had to be closed to traffic for safety reasons, and putting in place detours around the city would cause too much congestion.