A range of parking incentives are set to be introduced in Carlisle.
Carlisle City Council is planning to pilot a new ‘check in, check out’ payment option in one of their city centre car parks and extend their ‘early bird’ offer. The initiatives were approved by the council’s executive earlier this month.
Check-in, check-out:
The new scheme will be piloted in West Walls car park and will provide customers with the ability to pay for parking per minute by using a debit/credit card on arrival to ‘check-in’ and again on departure, to ‘check out’. The system will then automatically charge for the time used, per minute. The new initiative will provide more flexibility for customers who may want to stay longer in the city centre without the need to rush back when their parking ticket expires.
Extension of car parking early bird offers:
Early bird parking offers currently provide reduced parking charges for those arriving before 9.30am and parking all day in the following Carlisle City Council car parks: West Walls, Viaduct, The Sands and Swifts, Monday – Friday.
The early bird offer will be extended to 10.30am. This takes into account the change in people’s travel patterns and will allow greater flexibility for businesses to offer staggered start times for staff to support social distancing requirements.
Carlisle City Cllr Nigel Christian, Portfolio holder for Environment and Transport, said: “The parking initiatives confirm our ongoing support for local businesses and retailers and the challenging conditions the high street is facing. We want to encourage the move to cashless transactions as it increases flexibility and convenience for customers. The West Walls check in, check out scheme is a new initiative and if it proves popular may be extended to more of our car parks.”
The schemes are planned to start in September this year.
When using Carlisle City Council car parks, customers are advised to follow social distancing guidance and if possible, pay by card or contactless rather than use cash and park in alternate bays. The majority of council car parks provide contactless payment options including credit/debit card, mobile phone using MiPermit, Apple Pay and Android Pay.
The MiPermit scheme has no hidden costs and is an easy and flexible way to make a cashless payment.
There are a number of ways to use the MiPermit scheme. Customers can call or text, but the easiest way is to use the APP, simply download MIPERMIT onto your smartphone and on arrival at the car park, use your app select your stay and pay. Customers can even extend their stay if out shopping so no need to rush back.
