Manchester City Council is set to take direct control of 13 off-street city centre car parks, after a long-standing joint venture agreement with NCP comes to an end.
From 1 January 2021, the car parks will be operated by the council as ‘pay on arrival’ sites, where customers pay in advance, either through the PaybyPhone App, or by card at a payment machine.
The change will give the council added flexibility to improve the parking service offered to customers in the future – for example by moving to improve the provision of cycle and motorbike storage, or installing new electric vehicle charging points. It will enable decisions on future parking provision and policy for the city centre to be closely aligned with the city’s bold environmental and transport strategies, while factoring in how emerging parking technologies can be used to customers’ advantage.
The car parks which will revert to council control are as follows: –
Bloom Street
Bridge Street
Bridgewater Hall
Chepstow Street
Church Street
Faulkner Street
The Grand / Piccadilly Gardens
High Street
Hulme Street
King Street West
Market Place / Deansgate
Sheffield Street
Stone Street
Payments made via the PayByPhone app can be topped up remotely, allowing customers the flexibility to extend their parking stay as required. Those paying at the payment machines will pay by card only and will be required to enter their full vehicle registration, which will create a digital record of their parking session – meaning that there is no requirement to display a paper ticket on the vehicle’s dashboard.
All car park charges will remain unchanged for the foreseeable future. Existing season ticket holders will be contacted by current providers NCP Manchester Ltd and invited to get in touch with the Council, to arrange for seamless transfer of their season ticket.
