THE government has announced plans to “make the Island a little less about the car” and “manage down” driving in the town centre – by making it “less convenient” and more expensive to park.
Speaking following the release of a report on sustainable transport policy, Infrastructure Minister Tom Binet said it would be “naïve to believe that everyone will be able to give up their car” but that it was necessary to “find ways of ensuring that remaining ones are able to park without having to visit or pass through the centre of town”.
Commuter parking, Deputy Binet explained to the JEP yesterday after he had tried to find a parking space, could be moved to the ring road and the outskirts of town to reduce the dominance of vehicles in the centre of St Helier.
And parking in these outskirt areas would be incentivised through differences in pricing.
New figures in the government report, entitled “Sustainable Transport Policy: Next Steps”, also reveal that there are 4.7 million passenger journeys a year across the bus network and currently 2,247 electric vehicles in Jersey, as the Island attempts to slash its carbon emissions to “net zero” by 2050.
Setting out its sustainable transport priorities for the next three years, the government has also committed to the publication of a new road safety strategy in 2024, making it easier to cycle and walk in town, and creating more accessible, safer, covered waiting areas for bus users.
Writing in the report, Deputy Binet said: “Suitably combined, these measures should help make our island a little less about the car and more about an increased choice of transport – travelling sustainably and enjoying a less noisy, less congested, less frustrating network; one which supports communities, the local economy and a healthier population.”
However, there is currently no funding earmarked for implementing the so-called ‘priorities’ – and Deputy Binet described them as “more longer term” and “concepts at this moment in time”.
On parking, the report states: “We will be using the provision, pricing and restrictions on parking to manage down demand for travel by car.
“It will become more expensive and less convenient for commuters to drive into town and park,” the report continues, while becoming easier for vulnerable, disabled and blue-badge holders to park.
It further says: “To support increasing short-stay parking availability within the town centre, we will review charges and charging time periods for parking in public car parks. It is understood that a percentage of this revenue will support road safety and sustainable transport initiatives.
“This will help to rebuild communities that have been severed due to congested roads and we hope will encourage more people to walk, wheel or ride bicycles around town without having to worry about high numbers of cars on the road.”
Deputy Binet explained: “By changing parking, we can try to put the right cars in the right place at the right time – rather than a flat parking policy pricing system.
“For example, lesser-used car parks at the edges of the town centre, such as Pier Road, which is often a bit under-used, could be made cheaper to encourage more to park there and then walk into town. We want those car parks to be used, but these are all concepts at this moment in time.”
He added that time limits would also be changed for parking on Broad Street to make those spaces more specific and accessible to people who need them, such as elderly Islanders, adding: “We’ve got to accept that the car exists and we’re not going to get the whole Island onto bikes, but we’re trying to get some more clearance in the centre of town to develop the public realm.”
On whether the priorities had funding, Deputy Binet said: “We’re trying to get some proper budgets together, and we are looking to the Climate Emergency Fund as a possibility, but this is all ongoing.”
He said that there would be “various consultations” with Islanders before changes were made – and the report commits to supporting “where possible” the newly formed Parish of St Helier Roads Committee’s Parking Working Group.
More detailed plans for changes to parking in St Helier will “form the basis of another report, hopefully, in the not-too-distant future”, he said.
He also reiterated that work was under way “to ensure that evidence-based decisions can be taken to facilitate the use of e-scooters; a task that will also involve the development and adoption of appropriate legislation”.
“Hopefully, they can soon become a safe and accessible means of transport,” he added.
