Avoid weekend afternoons in the run-up to Christmas, warns Semperit
3pm is peak pressure point in Dublin’s car parks
Motorists visiting Dublin City Centre for Christmas shopping this year are advised to avoid Saturday and Sunday afternoons in particular. A survey by tyre company Semperit Ireland of Christmas shopping parking availability in the capital last year revealed that spaces were hardest to come by between 3pm and 5pm on Saturday or Sunday afternoons. By contrast, shoppers parking between 9am and 10am in the morning will have little trouble finding parking right up to Christmas Eve, be it on weekdays or weekends.
The survey of over 1,000 spaces in the weeks before Christmas showed the later shoppers leave it, the harder they will find it to park. Availability of parking spaces falls by around 20% per week in the run-up to the big day as the number of shoppers who drive into the city increases the closer we get to Christmas day.
Car parks in the city are typically full on weekend afternoons, even several weeks before Christmas. Lunchtime between 1pm and 2pm is another pressure point, even on weekdays, and especially in the week before Christmas Day.
“There’s a dread attached to Christmas shopping for many people, and parking is no small part of it,” comments Paddy Murphy of Semperit Ireland. “As our study suggests, there are ways of minimising the stress, by avoiding the peak periods in the City Centre. Shop early is the advice – both early in the month and early in the day.”
The Semperit Car Park Survey was carried out in the run up to Christmas 2008, through a daily analysis of Dublin City Council’s parking website which shows in “real time” the number of spaces available at the main carparks in Dublin.