Captions: Patrons waiting to be taken back to their park and ride facilities just before midnight after the ICC T20 game between West Indies and New Zealand
By Sue-Ann Wayow
TO accommodate the thousands of cricket fans attending the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup semifinal game on Wednesday, new measures are being put in place to improve the Park and Ride service.
This, after numerous complaints by patrons who had to wait for hours to get inside the Brian Lara Cricket Academy (BLCA) to see the game between West Indies and New Zealand. At the end of the game some even walked on the shoulder of the Solomon Hochoy Highway risking their lives to get back to their vehicles parked at the Petrotrin compound at Pointe-a-Pierre and South Park in Tarouba.
Following the fiasco, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley had assured that more resources will be pumped into ensuring better efficiency and admitted that better organisation was needed.
On Thursday, SportTT issued a media release with new measures for the Park and Ride system for the final game being played in Trinidad on June 26. There is now a new car park facility.
The new designated parking area is at the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) San Fernando Campus, Gopaul Drive, Tarouba, East of South Park Mall and there will also be an increased number of shuttles.
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 BLCA.
“Please note that everyone attending the match must follow the instructions of the transport coordinators and form a queue in the barricaded area to board the shuttles,” SportTT stated.
The South Park Mall Northern Car Park, north of the Offside Restaurant, remains a designated parking zone. Parking attendants will direct patrons to the available parking spots at South Park Mall.
The Petrotrin Compound entrance from the Gasparillo gate also 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.
SportTT stated, “Patrons are reminded that there are limited parking spots available at these venues, and parking is available on a first come, first served basis. Once a venue is filled, patrons will be directed to an alternate parking facility.”
Patrons can be wrecked for any indiscriminate parking outside the allocated parking zones.
Additionally, the Park and Ride service will also be available for patrons who wish to utilise 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.
The Local Organising Committee (LOC) is also promising increased security, police presence, parking stewards, signage and lighting at all the parking facilities, match venue and surrounding areas to ensure a consistent and orderly flow of traffic and patrons to and from BLCA.
Patrons are also reminded that they must present a match ticket in order to gain access to the Park and Ride shuttle.
SportTT stated that shuttles will depart for the stadium at regular intervals.
Patrons will be asked to line up in an organised fashion to allow for efficient boarding of the shuttle and to reduce departure challenges.
Fans using the service are also asked to exercise patience during the phased process to allow for an orderly departure of shuttles.
Announcements will be made before and during the match to remind patrons of the shuttle arrangements on exiting the stadium to return to their respective parking facilities.
On exiting the stadium, there will be two designated departure zones for patrons returning to their vehicles.
All persons returning to South Park and UTT will be directed to the departure zone South of the main BLCA Security Booth and all persons returning to Petrotrin will be directed to the departure area North of the BLCA Security booth.
The ICC T20 World Cup being held in the USA and Caribbean is now in the Super Eights stage with two groups. They are Group 1 – India, Australia, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and Group 2 – West Indies, England, South Africa and USA. The two in each of the groups play semifinals in Trinidad on June 26 and Guyana on June with the finals in Barbados on June 29.
