Portsmouth park-and-ride hub should be resident car park out of hours say taxi leaders

The latest meeting into the future of parking in the city saw cab officials speak of the need to take advantage of space and land that could ease pressure on the road network.

The idea was mooted that the Tipner park-and-ride hub, which has more than 660 parking spaces, should be opened up to drivers and people with work vans out of hours.

Tony Jefferson, manager of City Wide Taxis, said: ‘With regards to the park-and-ride, a member of the public quite rightly said to me, after 7pm or 8pm, there are 600 plus parking spaces there that could be used, certainly by those in the immediate area, and whether it could alleviate workmen’s van problems.

‘It seems to me, for 12 hours a day, there is a facility here that isn’t being used.’

Mr Jefferson said a council-owned car park for residents only in Lord Street has 60 spaces – yet only 20 appear to ever be in use. He said allowing more people to use spaces would ease pressure.

Mr Jefferson said: ‘We know there are council car parks, and residential car parks that are not used and in cases are two-thirds empty.

‘If they are used more, then there would be fewer cars on the road, giving wider capacity for the public to park.’

Mr Jefferson added more echelon parking could be rolled out, already in areas like Baffins Road.

Taxi trade representative Viv Young said some streets were large enough to accommodate more spaces, like Chichester Road.

Public transport leaders also spoke of how road congestion was a problem.

First Solent general manager Dervla McKay said: ‘In the last year alone, we have had to £500,000 into the network in Portsmouth, just to keep to the current timetable. For us, the impact of congestion is massive.’