TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin New parking zone in Marigot

Daily Herald story I think I'm missing something here--where are tourists supposed to get the disc that you set the time with? Don't see how this is going to help parking for tourists at all.

Don't know how this will work for tourists, and 1 1/2 hours maximum is not long if you are going for a leisurly lunch plus shopping. As Carol stated is it not clear where one would get the disc.

The rental car companies should be able to supply them once this gets going.

OK, that is one thought that I didn't think of. Frankly, I don't think that they would want to be bothered with it.

similar deal in St. Barth for parking in downtown Gustavia...the car rental companies provide the disk and explain how to use it

St. Barths is set up a little different though, in that there isn't much outside of Gustavia. I just don't see SXM car rental guys wanting to be bothered, but I've been wrong before..

Not good if you want to take a day trip to Anguilla. We always leave the car in Marigot and hop on the ferry.

The article refers to a specific parking area, not the entire city. I'm thinking there will still be places for longer term parking. After all, the residents who live and work there still need somewhere to park all day.

All those places in the article are on street parking and most are not close to the restaurant areas.

I don't know the area well, but would it make sense for tourists to use the shuttle service described at the end of the article if they wanted to be in the area for more than 1.5 hours?

"A shuttle service rotating between downtown Galis Bay and from the Tourism Office car park on the other side will be introduced by the Collectivité at the same time as implementation of the Blue Zone."

OK, lets see if I got this right.
I'm on the honor system to set the arrival time & duration, assuming I even have a "disc".
Then I return <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Groovin.gif" alt="" /> at 1 hr 25 min and reset the disc. Well, that is certainly a nuisance.
Then I return again another 1 hr+ later to reset and guess what, the disc has been stolen. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" /> and my window probably damaged.
After all, they are worth a euro, probably more to someone without a disc.
Now, if I am a tourist and know about the rule but have no disc, why would I even trip up to Marigot?
If I am a tourist and don't know I need a disc......where did my car go??
I see another bureaucratic invocation of both Murphy's and the Law of Unintended Consequences. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/impatient.gif" alt="" />