Talbot Road car park gets £100k upgrade, including ANPR and new payment technology for easier parking.
HUB Parking Technology will install the new system. It includes ANPR and payment terminals. They already run the Central Multi-Storey system. That system reads license plates and lifts barriers.
Drivers will enter license plates at a pay machine. After payment, the exit barrier will recognize the payment. The current Talbot Road system ends May 31. It uses those chip coins.
The council says the old system has no maintenance and everything is at its end of life. Extending the HUB system was chosen. The council says that’s the most cost effective choice, and it helps parking enforcement, too.
Talbot Road car park has 610 spaces. There are 284 staff permits and 59 agency permits. Holiday Inn guests use this car park often. So do customers of Mr Basrai’s and The Gym Group, who get discounted parking.
The car park was built in the 1930s. Demolition was planned originally, but the council decided to refurbish it. It reopened in 2013 after improvements. More car parks are expected downtown, and one idea involves the former Syndicate nightclub site.