A lot of my work is carrying school children to various venues, museums and the like. Here are my experiences of two cities in particular – both within one and a half hour’s drive away.
I have been visiting Manchester for various reasons for well over 50 years. Dropping off anywhere has become a nightmare. Parking, even more so.
One venue is the Museum of Science and Industry. Albeit there is a drop-off bay, but this is sadly abused by some coach drivers who either remain too long after drop-off or return too early before their assigned pick-up time. On my last visit, a German registered coach stayed for over three hours despite the driver being ‘advised’ by other coach persons that he had overstayed his welcome – the limit on the sign is 10 minutes!
While it’s handy to have that layby, it being unsupervised leads to coaches double parking and the inherent problems that causes.
Then we have the matter of where to park. A lot of drivers use the Etihad Stadium. But this involves a long drive out to the east of Manchester and is not in any way suitable, having no facilities. Indeed, it is environmentally damaging too, with extra miles equating to a great deal more emissions.
Drivers tend to have their own hideaways, as it were, but it is a very unsatisfactory situation. The same goes for the theatres. Waiting restrictions and cycle lanes compound the problem. Venues, theatres, they all want customers. But where is the help for the coach driver to reach them and deliver their charges?
Had these venues no custom (or substantially less) I would argue that they would not long remain viable.
Then we have Liverpool. I have a lot of admiration for Mayor Joe Anderson. He has taken what was once a very deprived and crime-ridden city into a different realm. Good road links in and out of the city are now the norm. But one section of the equation has been largely forgotten. Unsurprisingly, it’s the coach industry.
I have been several times this year to the World Museum on William Brown Street, by the Wallasey Tunnel Entrance. On every occasion I have had to do battle either to drop-off or pick-up.
There are clearly marked coach bays with 15 minutes waiting time. But once again these are frequently abused by coach drivers overstaying the limit, or motorists hoping no-one will notice them.
The problem doesn’t end there – William Brown Street is a dead end, with a large turning circle at the top. This is usually blocked by cars – especially taxis seeking their next fair.
Numerous times I have asked them to move on, with the aggression and ill-will that engenders. To park, I have for years resorted to Dock Road – not the most salubrious location, but fine for a couple of hours. Having said that, I would not leave the coach unattended.
All this has now changed with the coach bays that were allocated disappearing to make way for a new cycle way. On my last visit, I counted just two cyclists in a stay of some three hours.
There was also some dispute because I was parked in one of the newly created Laybys. These are on the landward side – the cycle lanes being on the seaward side. An employee of a company nearby came to enquire as to why I was parked in his company’s space.
The hassle is so unnecessary, and in my view unsolvable, that dialog between interested parties makes an agreement impossible.
