MORE shuttles to and from the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba and an additional parking area were the main changes made by the Local Organising Committee’s (LOC) for its park-and-ride service for the ICC T20 World Cup semi-final on June 26.
The service was heavily criticised by patrons who attended the West Indies vs New Zealand match on June 12. There were complaints over the long wait for shuttles at the end of the match, with some fans resorting to walking along the Solomon Hochoy Highway to get back to their vehicles.
UTT’s San Fernando Campus at Gopaul Drive, Tarouba was added as a new parking area for ticket-holding patrons, in addition to South Park Mall northern carpark, San Fernando and inside Paria Fuel Trading Company (formerly Petrotrin) Gasparillo gate.
In a statement on June 20, the LOC said it has been been “working diligently” to improve the systems for the park-and-ride service to ensure the smooth transport of patrons attending the semi-final.
“Persons parking at UTT will be ushered to the South Park Mall loading area, where they will then board shuttles to be transported to the Brian Lara Cricket Academy. Everyone attending the match must follow the instructions of the transport co-ordinators and form a queue in the barricaded area to board the shuttles. Parking attendants will direct patrons to the available parking spots at South Park Mall.
“The Gasparillo gate remains a designated parking zone, with more than 1,200 parking spots available for patrons, who will be asked to join the barricaded line to board the buses.”
The statement confirmed that there are limited parking spots available at these venues, and parking is available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Once a venue is filled, patrons will be directed to an alternate parking facility.
A wrecker will be in effect for “indiscriminate parking” outside of the prescribed parking zones.
The park-and-ride service is also available for patrons who wish to use the water taxi to travel from Port of Spain to San Fernando. Those patrons will be able to park at Government Parkade in Port of Spain, access the water taxi and will be shuttled to and from the San Fernando Water Taxi Terminal to BLCA.
There will be an increase in security personnel and an enhanced police presence at the parking facilities, match venue and surrounding areas to ensure a consistent and orderly flow of traffic to and from BLCA. The number of parking stewards will also be increased to facilitate this process and will be easily identifiable.
Lighting in parking areas will be improved to enhance the safety and security of fans attending the matches.
Additional signage will also be installed to identify parking areas, entry points to the stadium and access points for shuttles to and from the venue.
Patrons must present a match ticket in order to gain access to the shuttle.
Shuttles will depart for the stadium at regular intervals. Fans using the service are also asked to exercise patience during this phased process to allow for an orderly dep
