WEST Vancouver's Park Royal Shopping Centre is launching a radio station that will cover just one topic: parking.
The new low-wattage broadcast, due to go live Dec. 3, will direct drivers arriving at the mall to free spaces in the facility's sprawling parking lots as part of a multifaceted attempt to clear up the maddening traffic snarls that appear around the centre during the frenzied Christmas holiday shopping period.
"We know, as we hear from our customers, how sometimes it can be frustrating parking during these peak season," said Park Royal vice-president Rick Amantea. "Like any prudent business, we want to enhance that experience."
Amantea said he believes the radio station, which will make use of real-time information relayed to a control centre from security cameras and employees on the ground, will be the first of its kind for a Canadian shopping mall.
Park Royal will also introduce seven-day-a-week valet service near its main entrances starting next month and roaming "ambassadors" who will update the control centre on traffic movement and help steer motorists to underused areas.
The mall will also pay police to direct vehicles at the busy Marine Drive-Taylor Way intersection in the lead-up to Christmas.
Amantea believes the $100,000 effort will pay off because it targets the central problem behind the seasonal snarls: Traffic doesn't get jammed simply because of volume, he said - although the mall estimates the number of vehicles arriving on site roughly doubles in December compared to an average month - rather, drivers get bogged down because they flock to the same spots.
"Everybody tries to migrate to those prime parking areas," said Amantea. "But they're the fullest." The new system is designed spread motorists to parts less travelled, he said.
Park Royal will retain the radio station and possibly other components of the new system as a long-planned major reconstruction gets underway in the spring. That project will undoubtedly impact traffic flow from time to time, he explained.
Amantea said he believes the six-figure investment in traffic management will pay dividends in terms of community good will.
"This is not just good for Park Royal; it's good for other people who are passing through our property," he said. "Anything we can do to facilitate better movement, we're happy to invest in."
