Liffey Valley Shopping Centre's new paid parking system came into effect this morning, following a €30m transformation of the car park.
Customers now have to pay to park at Liffey Valley for the first time in its 24 year history. The new ticketless and cashless system costs €2.50 for the first three hours of parking and an extra €2.50 is added for every hour after that, before capping at €12.50 for the day.
A designated staff car park with 550 spaces charges employees a flat fee of €2.50 per day. However, the public will also have access to the staff car park, which has made employees anxious about capacity issues.
Read more: Liffey Valley staff stage protest over introduction of paid parking
We drove to Liffey Valley this morning to test out their new system, and here's how it went:
Entering the car park
There is still a significant amount of construction ongoing in and around the car parks, so part of the road was blocked off when we were driving in. The car park is colour coded, and there are monitors in place to tell you how many free spaces there are in each area.
When you drive up to the entrance barrier, a camera scans your car registration number and records the time. The barrier is then lifted, allowing you to enter.
Leaving the car park
There are three different ways to pay for your parking before you leave the car park.
- Pay via the Park Easy website
- Pay at one of the pay stations located throughout the centre
- Pay directly at the exit barrier
We chose to pay directly at the exit barrier. Our car registration number was scanned and the system checked how long we were in the car park for. As we were parked for under 3 hours, we had to pay €2.50 which was done by tapping your card at the machine next to the barrier.
The barrier then lifts up and you can exit the car park. A staff member was located at all the exit barriers to help customers navigate the new system.
Many Liffey Valley employees have slammed the introduction of paid parking and held protests today and yesterday over the issue. Workers gathered outside the shopping centre chanting "no way, we won't pay" and received support from cars driving by.
Read more: Liffey Valley Shopping Centre launches pumpkin patch and Halloween experience
One employee told Dublin Live that she is "very upset" about how staff are being treated. She said: "It's going to be €2.50 per day which works out at around €600, €650 a year if you're full time. That's a huge chunk of your wages.
"It's another expense on top of the bills and energy increases."
In a statement released yesterday, a spokeswoman for Liffey Valley said the shopping centre "appreciates that a change to a practice that has existed for 24 years is difficult for all our stakeholders and especially for staff" and added that they "acknowledge the important contribution retailer staff have and continue to make to the overall success of the Centre".
“Notwithstanding this situation, we understand that traveling to work by car may still be the only option for some and we are keen to work with all stakeholders to ensure people understand their options and to assist them in selecting the most appropriate option that is relevant to their situation.
“In this regard, we are providing designated parking facilities for staff at a substantially discounted rate of €2.50 per trip.”
The statement added that €30m has been invested to "enhance parking and public transport facilities at Liffey Valley" and said that the new BusConnects interchange and "new and improved lighting, walkways, and cycle lanes as well as secure cycle parking" will provide staff and customers more options to travel to the shopping centre.
READ NEXT:
Free music festival taking place at Smithfield Square in November
We tried The Nightmare Realm and the petrifying actors deserve Oscars
We tried the Dublin Ghostbus Tour and it was full of spooky surprises
Tayto Park's fang-tastic Halloween treasure hunt set to return
Sign up to the Dublin Live Newsletter to get all the latest Dublin news straight to your inbox
