Car parking and stewarding.

[clippedgull]

Yes. If the travel works better for league games, why not use the same systems for cup games and charge the levy? Makes perfect sense to me.

The levy is not being charged due to getting fans used to it being abolished altogether within a couple of seasons. That's my assumption.

 

[Creaky]

I also fall into this category being from Eastbourne although I don't tend to think of myself as a 'long-distance' supporter. Your suggestion would hit my family hard as for one, my brother who travels with us often finishes work late on a Saturday and the park and ride or train would be too late. Secondly my kids would miss all the evening matches (and at the amex we've had loads) as I don't fancy hanging around the train station with little ones having school in the morning. The need for a certain amount of parking was stipulated in the planning permission. Quite honestly, bearing in mind that it's a small percentage of people actually using the parking, the Albion should be able to provide a good level of service. That's something that has been slipping in recent matches.

Admittedly it is a relatively small number of people using the local parking BUT the traffic caused by that small number has an effect on the length of time it takes the large number of people using buses to get into and from the ground.

From the racecourse and Mill Road I have never had to wait for a bus getting to the ground - it has always been a matter of parking the car and hopping straight onto the bus - I've never used Mithras House so I don't know what that's like.

The real delay is after the match and most of that is caused by the local congestion - it takes longer for buses to make the round trip from the P&R than it would do without this traffic.

As for families - there seem to be many who do use the P&R although understandably not as many for an evening match during the week. I'm not sure that using the P&R increases the length of journey in any case - by the sound of it the opposite is the case.

A certain amount of parking, especially for the disabled, was stipulated in the planning permission granted but this has been increased in comparison to the first season and personally I don't think this has been for the better.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

So if the all the car parking spaces were full and PB has checked the figures which tell him it wasn't WTF is going on ?

 

[Goldstone1976]

So if the all the car parking spaces were full and PB has checked the figures which tell him it wasn't WTF is going on ?

I read on this thread someone saying it was POTG. If so, that could easily mess up his numbers, either through him not having all the POTG figures to hand yet, or because he's never going to receive them all.

 

[ewe2]

I have been a uni season ticket holder,from day one,last night was a shambles.I have always commented on the huge numbers of stewards .f possible i would half their number,and pay and train the best more.Car after car was ushered into car park 1,when there was no room.Mr Barber is doing a great job,but not last night in car park 1.

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

Admittedly it is a relatively small number of people using the local parking BUT the traffic caused by that small number has an effect on the length of time it takes the large number of people using buses to get into and from the ground.

From the racecourse and Mill Road I have never had to wait for a bus getting to the ground - it has always been a matter of parking the car and hopping straight onto the bus - I've never used Mithras House so I don't know what that's like.

The real delay is after the match and most of that is caused by the local congestion - it takes longer for buses to make the round trip from the P&R than it would do without this traffic.

As for families - there seem to be many who do use the P&R although understandably not as many for an evening match during the week. I'm not sure that using the P&R increases the length of journey in any case - by the sound of it the opposite is the case.

A certain amount of parking, especially for the disabled, was stipulated in the planning permission granted but this has been increased in comparison to the first season and personally I don't think this has been for the better.

I don't think the east is well served by the park and ride services. It seems like a waste of time to drive past the stadium and then have to double back. Pretty annoying after as well going off in the wrong direction.

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

So if the all the car parking spaces were full and PB has checked the figures which tell him it wasn't WTF is going on ?

If that is true then an investigation needs to rule out any rogue stewards operating a scam and pocketting some of the parking cash Surely not.

 

[Beach Hut]

If that is true then an investigation needs to rule out any rogue stewards operating a scam and pocketting some of the parking cash Surely not.

Very much this Barber says not sold out, the stewards say over sold - suspect there is a scam going on here.

 

[Withdean and I]

I don't think the east is well served by the park and ride services. It seems like a waste of time to drive past the stadium and then have to double back. Pretty annoying after as well going off in the wrong direction.

Absolutely!!! Please can we have a park and ride near Lewes. Would help a lot of people.

 

[The Oldman]

Absolutely!!! Please can we have a park and ride near Lewes. Would help a lot of people.

But where? You find the site and tell the club.

 

[trueblue]

I would fall into your 'long distance' category and have always used the P&R, bus or coach. I don't understand why it is harder for someone travelling from a distance to use the P&R compared to those who live closer.

Nor do I. But I think the thinking behind it is that people assume that if they park on site, they will be away quicker and therefore home earlier. That's pretty much untrue of any football ground car park but a hard habit to get fans to break. I left the ground after the final whistle and was at Mithras House about fifteen minutes later i.e. clear of vast majority of the traffic and able to continue my journey home. Short or long journey, that's far more efficient than sitting in the car park (I've used the uni car park in the evening before and found it very good, but was surprised to beat that usual journey time by about ten minutes).

 

[Prince Monolulu]

A certain amount of parking, especially for the disabled, was stipulated in the planning permission granted but this has been increased in comparison to the first season and personally I don't think this has been for the better.

Sorry, I do not quite get your point here. Could you elaborate please?

Thanks

 

[SIMMO SAYS]

A last word from me on last night.
After having a couple of pints post match in the Norththree of us walked back home (mile and a half) in the rain after being confronted by a thronging mass of people at the bus stop - Falmer Station.
Several buses FLEW past us empty?

I then got RUN over by two separate cyclists just after the Stanmer Park entrance--neither of whom had any lights on.

I'm still traumatised

My son & his mate haven't stopped laughing since

 

[Withdean and I]

But where? You find the site and tell the club.

Norman Bakers house? ))

 

[happypig]

But where? You find the site and tell the club.

County Hall. Not used when matches are on and there has to be over 200 spaces.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

I would fall into your 'long distance' category and have always used the P&R, bus or coach. I don't understand why it is harder for someone travelling from a distance to use the P&R compared to those who live closer.

I accept that sometimes, especially Mill Road, the P&R sites are inadequate - sorting this problem should have a higher priority in my opinion than the problem of parking adjacent to the stadium.

Reduce the amount of local parking and the bus access, whether P&R, coaches or local buses, would be far more efficient shortening the waiting time after the match.

It would have helped the situation if the Racecourse P&R was in use last night although the club couldn't have known the trains were up the creek.

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

Interesting thread.

The Transport manager at The Amex is called Steve Reeves.

His email address is Steve.reeves@bhafc.co.uk and it is to him, IMO all correspondence should be sent, perhaps copying in Paul Barber. Good luck in getting a decent reply.

I have had correspondence him regarding transport issues at The Amex before, but unfortunately he sees no problems, there are, according to him no issues with transport, and in his opinion all the stewards are doing a great job. I wonder how many times he or any of his team have tried the various methods of transport to/from the stadium?

Obviously the thousands of people who leave early every game don't agree with him.

There are some excellent stewards - the young lady at the mill road P&R site is excellent at getting the busses full, but some of them are frankly useless. Why when arriving at the ground are there often 8 or more stewards (not an exaggeration, I counted them at the Doncaster game) stranding together chatting. No wonder the club employs 1,200 match day staff, most of them don't actually do anything.

I take on board PBs comments about the weather and the trains last night, but to be honest last night was shocking. (Last year I was at Green Bay, watching American football. It was snowing, there is no train station, yet a crowd of 70,000 was cleared in less time than it takes to clear the Amex)

Last night we booked the Uni car park, thinking as since it was only two quid dearer than P&R ( for two people) it was worth the small extra cost to ensure we got there on time, and had a fairly quick exit. It took us over 3/4 of an hour to get from the lights at the hikers rest to the lady at the entrance to the uni who was, on her own, checking every single name on a rain sodden piece of paper to make sure that you had booked. What was the point in sending out car park passes if each name had to be checked off a list in the pouring rain?

She (under instructions of course, not her fault) was single handed causing a huge traffic jam, and meant loads if people probably missed the KO. I also got the impression that the car park had been massively oversold. Finding somewhere to actually park was a joke, there was NO stewarding, they just stood around under their umbrellas chatting.

Don't get me started on how long it took to get out.

Once again, groups of stewards at the exits, standing around, doing sweet FA, when it desperately needed people actually stewarding, and directing the traffic.

I love the Amex, but there are some very simple things that could make the transport issues so much better. At no cost to the club, and if it stops people leaving early, surely that's a good thing.

I wonder whether the club would meet a delegation of people who use various methods of transport... P&R, local busses, trains, Uni parking, coaches, Bennett's field, bridge car park etc to discuss how things could be improved.

At the moment the club are burying their heads in the sand, and it could possibly start to put those who buy on a match by match basis off,maybe even affect ST sales.

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

County Hall. Not used when matches are on and there has to be over 200 spaces.

I know the club looked at this when the stadium first opened as I had a few email exchanges with Richard Hebbard. There were a few issues. First of all, on a Saturday the car park is part of the Lewes Parking scheme (£1 for the day) so the club couldn't get people to park there for free. Second, there is not enough space at CH to turn the buses around so they would have to go all the way into Lewes and back. This leads to the third problem - the time to get to and from the stadium is too long so P&R would not be effective as buses couldn't make enough runs quickly enough. Finally, even out on the main road, this is quite narrow so only really space to park up one bus at a time (opposite Pelham Arms) and that is a bus stop already heavily used by B&H buses as well as the other bus services in the town.

 

[SIMMO SAYS]

Interesting thread.

The Transport manager at The Amex is called Steve Reeves.

His email address is Steve.reeves@bhafc.co.uk and it is to him, IMO all correspondence should be sent, perhaps copying in Paul Barber. Good luck in getting a decent reply.

I have had correspondence him regarding transport issues at The Amex before, but unfortunately he sees no problems, there are, according to him no issues with transport, and in his opinion all the stewards are doing a great job. I wonder how many times he or any of his team have tried the various methods of transport to/from the stadium?

Obviously the thousands of people who leave early every game don't agree with him.

There are some excellent stewards - the young lady at the mill road P&R site is excellent at getting the busses full, but some of them are frankly useless. Why when arriving at the ground are there often 8 or more stewards (not an exaggeration, I counted them at the Doncaster game) stranding together chatting. No wonder the club employs 1,200 match day staff, most of them don't actually do anything.

I take on board PBs comments about the weather and the trains last night, but to be honest last night was shocking. (Last year I was at Green Bay, watching American football. It was snowing, there is no train station, yet a crowd of 70,000 was cleared in less time than it takes to clear the Amex)

Last night we booked the Uni car park, thinking as since it was only two quid dearer than P&R ( for two people) it was worth the small extra cost to ensure we got there on time, and had a fairly quick exit. It took us over 3/4 of an hour to get from the lights at the hikers rest to the lady at the entrance to the uni who was, on her own, checking every single name on a rain sodden piece of paper to make sure that you had booked. What was the point in sending out car park passes if each name had to be checked off a list in the pouring rain?

She (under instructions of course, not her fault) was single handed causing a huge traffic jam, and meant loads if people probably missed the KO. I also got the impression that the car park had been massively oversold. Finding somewhere to actually park was a joke, there was NO stewarding, they just stood around under their umbrellas chatting.

Don't get me started on how long it took to get out.

Once again, groups of stewards at the exits, standing around, doing sweet FA, when it desperately needed people actually stewarding, and directing the traffic.

I love the Amex, but there are some very simple things that could make the transport issues so much better. At no cost to the club, and if it stops people leaving early, surely that's a good thing.

I wonder whether the club would meet a delegation of people who use various methods of transport... P&R, local busses, trains, Uni parking, coaches, Bennett's field, bridge car park etc to discuss how things could be improved.

At the moment the club are burying their heads in the sand, and it could possibly start to put those who buy on a match by match basis off,maybe even affect ST sales.

The majority of stewards are there for the few quid they get on cold/wet/windy days/nights.
They are not interested in football/car parking/coaches/buses/trains or anything else you care to mention.
My son & I know a fella who is a lovely bloke in his normal job - but when he puts on his florescent jacket he becomes a DULLARD --just spouting RULES n REGULATIONS

 

[sully]

We got to the uni car parks at about 7.30 (having queued down Coldean Lane and in for almost an hour). There was nobody checking tickets and we parked in car park 1. From some other posts, it sounds like car park 1 was full before this, which is odd.

Nobody directed us anywhere apart from two stewards at the entrance to car park 2 shaking their heads when I went to turn in.

Having parked, none of the stewards knew what the best route to the ground was, which I'd have thought would be the least they should be able to help with!