Liffey valley to start charging for parking

I've spent hundreds if not thousands in LV since it opened. I have been once since the charges have gone in. It is too much hassle , even though its not. Anyway the life is slowly draining out of the centre anyway. There seems to be less middle aged shoppers like there used to be and just loads of roaming teenagers instead.

No financial advantage. Very minimal time saved. Web site is a pile of junk. Will be charged if you go to cinema because it scans your reg before you get to use the voucher.

Much easier to just pay as you go upon exit. I don’t even know why people bother to pay at the machines in the centre.

Dunno why you can't just pay with cash in a machine as you leave the center, like Jervis or the square. An easy user friendly system.

I don't think it's being wedded to driving as such.

I'm not a big driver, but I have my car to make my life easier.

Firstly I've worked in the city centre for most of my adult life so carrying bags on the bus wouldn't be a big issue for me,pain in the hole yes, big issue no.

However throw in a couple of kids absolutely no way would I be bringing them shopping getting a bus, no guarantee getting on, if another pram or wheelchair on it, or having the hassle to fold down the buggy while everyone pushes past you. Then standing with young kids and bags, absolutely not! I don't think I'm alone with that.

Plus it's the time, you'd often be there and ready to be coming home in the time it takes waiting for a bus, the bus journey etc.

I do accept that it isn't going to suit everyone obviously, but there has been a big increase in the bus service serving the centre, and I still think that there is a bit of a blindspot among many people that they don't even want to consider using the bus and as such many people just haven't been bothered looking at the new services.

The S4 for example (a combination of the old 76, 18 and 17) is every 10 minutes which is a huge increase in service.

Reading this thread, you would think that accessing Liffey Valley by any transport mode apart from the private car was impossible.

I can understand getting a bus from your locality to bring you straight into town for to go shopping (although personally that would be hell on earth for me lugging shopping bags on and off a bus) - but getting 2 busses to a place which has limited retail outlets ? You’d want to have a lot of time on your hands and very low expectations of what you might buy when you get there

The financial premise on which most of these shopping centres were designed funded and built was that people would mainly arrive by car (probably with the exception of Dundrum which has many public transport options including the Luas and is bang in the middle of some of the most affluent and populous areas of Ireland.

Families especially go to such places regularly because there’s always something to buy - sports gear, shoes, outfits etc for the kids for example. It’s also a handy place to spend a few hours on a bad winters day to get the kids out of the house.

If it becomes more difficult or costly then a family won’t go- or they will go to an alternative SC -its families that spend significant amounts of money in the restaurants cafes etc as well as the clothes fashion and household outlets

Pizz then off at your peril - make it hard work for mammies and daddies and you’ll see your profits fall overnight

People also tend to exaggerate the problem - I am not saying that it is perfect but I think that wild generalisations such as you posted are a bit much.

The C Spine peak frequency has increased in the last six months with more C3 and C4 services.

The L53 in particular is there to take pressure off the C1/C2 and facilitate local traffic.

A bus network needs a combination of spine, radial, orbital and local services. The more of the latter two categories of routes means less pressure on citybound services, and more travel options for people.

Not everyone wants to be dealing with buses - especially with the sort of little hassles as outlined above by others.

Centres like this aren't just used by locals (and why would someone living near Blanch or Dundrum or town trek all the way out to LV on public transport when they have those locations nearby), but they ARE used by people coming in from further afield where public transport ISN'T readily available or is even more expensive. It would be interesting how many come to LV/Blanch from Kildare/Meath or beyond.

Plus if you have a car and need it for other trips then it's an added expense and hassle that you don't need, and far less attractive than just getting in the car you're already paying for. This is what planners and the likes of the Greens don't understand.

On LV itself, I haven't been there in years (again outside even it's more remote catchment areas) but was never a fan of it vs Blanch which is a lot easier to get around. I was never a fan of the angled spaces though as I always prefer to reverse into spots which is far safer when leaving again (just drive out with better visibility) especially in busy car parks. Sounds like the new arrangements are even worse.

I think there's more than one type of user getting to the shopping center. As this thread is about parking, then it going to be people with cars.

I use public transport to work, and the kids etc would use the buses to center etc. I personally just don't use the centers like that. My visits tend to fast and short to get a specific thing, in the least amount of time. If it busy enough that getting the bus makes more sense than taking the car, I just won't bother and go the next quiet day.

Once you force people into buying a car, its unlikely they will choose to take a bus unless its better option than the car for that journey.

I've switched to the train because it was better solution than driving. But then switched back to the car at times because the train was miserable.

I'm currently 80% train when commuting. 100% car for shopping though.

And depending on where you live an occasional trip into town could be less expensive by car than by using public transport .

Take surrounding counties like klildare- Many have to drive to train stations - so that’s 4.50 parking per day - return train ticket could be another 7-9 euro depending on how far out from Dublin you are - so 12-14 euro before you reach town. Then there’s the hassle of waiting on the train and organising getting back at the appointed time for the return journey.

As someone with a disabled parking permit, it really annoys me that if I look for a space in the disabled bays at the Penneys / TK Maxx end and can't find one the first time around, I can't just keep circling around until one becomes available. The layout and traffic flow actually forces you to go back out through the barriers and leave the center, go to the roundabout and come back in again to be able to circle around. That's how bad the layout is. I kid you not. And you better hope there is no queue at the barrier.

I think the days of paying €3 for a few hours parking are long gone.

But I agree in part, if it's not an essential stop for me, I'll probably just keep going and stop where its free.

No idea.

List of charges here...

https://www.liffeyvalley.ie/parking

Trust me, I've tried it. Unless you are willing to turn against the flow of the traffic (dangerous) you can't just loop around where the disability spaces are.

Like I said, I've done it, a couple of times now, and was forced by the direction of the traffic flow to go out and come back in again. If it was possible to simply loop around, I wouldn't have brought it up.

The parking charges don't really make any difference to the disabiity spaces that I've noticed.

The bus services have increased alright. They are fine if the bus stops at the bus zone within the centre. If you are on an N4 route the walk to the Westbound stop is down a ramp and/or steps, about 700m from the Penneys entrance anyway. Eastbound you'd nearly get your 10,000 steps in before you get down to the bridge, cross over, go down the enormous ramp and wait with bags full of shopping. 800m. The guts of a kilometre to get into the centre from the N4 corridor. Now maybe there is a connection somewhere that will take you from N4 into the centre, but I couldn't find it!

I did both journeys (E and W) the other day from town as I was meeting friends in the Hudson Rooms for grub and drinks, so no driving. It was a right pain in the backside, and there is always a skinny wind up there.

Bus service is unrealiable, L53 is not frequent enough and if you have a load of bags you won't find space for them

Every 10-15 mins. If you want people to get out of their cars you need to overload the system and be reliable

Once upon a time you could, but not since they re-did the car park.

Yes, I am sure. So sure that next time I'm down there I'll get it on dashcam.

Was there for the first time in a long while yesterday. Plenty of parking on the M&S side. Centre itself was very busy. School holidays of course but some here were making out it was a ghost town even on weekends

Free parking because of a cinema visit too

I am fully aware of the routings that they all take. If someone missed an L53 they’re not going to wait 30 mins for the next one, they’d far more likely take the next C1/C2.

I’d seriously question whether the demand for the L53 is more than half-hourly or max every 20 mins. There has to be a balance between delivering a reasonable service and putting buses in to carry thin air.