New payment systems coming to car parks in Newcastle

It means that people who need to travel by car into the city centre will find it easier to pay and ensure they only pay for the length of time they stay.

As part of the changes the popular pay on exit system, already in place at Eldon Square and Eldon Garden car parks for those paying by card, will be rolled out across 10 other car parks. These have been chosen based on their levels of use and proximity to shops and the RVI hospital.

This will give people the option to pay by card when they leave the car parks, meaning they won’t have to search for the correct change, won’t have to rush back to the car park before their time runs out and won’t end up over-paying if they stay for less time than expected.

Pay by phone will still be available and those who wish to continue to pay using coins will be able to do so but there will be no need to display their ticket in their windscreen. Instead, those paying by coin will need to enter their registration number into the payment machines.

Christine Herriot, director of operations and regulatory services at Newcastle City Council, said: “We encourage people to use alternative ways of traveling into the city centre where possible to help lower levels of pollution and reduce carbon emissions.

“However, on the occasions when people do need to use the car it is important that they have convenient ways to pay when using our car parks.

“The changes we are making will not only give people more options when paying for parking but will also ensure people don’t pay for longer than they need or risk getting a ticket by returning to their car late.

“Any surplus income from parking charges helps to fund important council services that residents rely upon.”

The 12 car parks that will have new payment systems introduced are Eldon Square, Eldon Gardens, Grainger Town, Manors, Quayside, Dean Street, Claremont Road, Leazes Park Road, Terrace Place South, Morden Street, Saville Place and Ellison Place.

These will all have fewer payment machines, which will all be located near to the entrances due to there no longer being a need to go back to the vehicle to display a ticket. New signage will be installed next to the payment machines giving people instructions on how to pay and the changes are due to be in place in all of the car parks by the end of the year.

From July 1, Blue Badge holders will be required to pay parking charges in council-run car parks but will either have one hour’s grace period added to the expiry of their parking session (for coin or PayByPhone transactions) or one hour deducted from the total amount when checking out if paying by card, in order to ensure they have the additional time needed to return to their vehicles without having to pay extra.