It might not have been embraced by everyone, but one group of people are not complaining about the renovated City Hall car park — the motorists who have no problem finding an empty spot.

The Royal Gazette visited the 200-bay lot at 10am on Friday and found that only 80 cars were making use of it.

But while many spots were vacant, several motorists said the new three-hour maximum rule had made it easier to get in and out of town, although some did point to difficulties with the new pay process.

The car park hit the headlines shortly before reopening on August 22 because of its new rates, including an $81 fee for anyone staying longer than four hours, designed to encourage short stays.

Deidre Mundy, who was paying for her time spent in the lot, said: “It makes sense for the parking here to be short-term. I’ve only come into town to do a couple of errands and I’m glad that I was able to find a parking spot. Being able to come here, park and get in and out is a bit more convenient than it was in the past.

“It does go to show that people were parking here all day without paying.

“I did have some difficulty using a bill to pay. It rejected my bill so I had to go back to my car and get coins.

“I don’t know if other people have had that issue. Besides that, the first time I had an issue figuring out which yellow button to press on the machine. That was a bit daunting. I think if you get into the habit of using it often then you’ll get it.”

Jade Minors said people were going to have to get used to the system.

“I don’t mind the new parking situation because I don’t come into town every day,” he said.

“I just come in maybe once or twice a month really so to find a place to park for just a few dollars is very convenient.

“It makes sense because people who come to town to do business and people that are working all day are taking up spaces and now when I want to come to town for an hour I have the convenience of driving my car and finding a space.

“It’s going to take a little time to get used to the system. This is my second time parking since it’s been set up and I’m feeling a little more comfortable with it.”

Gilbert Lewis said: “Parking is easy here; there are a lot of spaces. It makes sense that it is a short-term parking lot: three hours is enough. It was a good idea because at the end of the day you’ll always be able to find a spot because someone is always moving.”

City employee Fred Richardson, who has been monitoring the parking lot and offering parkers assistance, said: “Some people have been finding it difficult to park because they have chosen not to really pay attention to signage.

“They don’t know how to scan a bar code, they don’t know how to put in a dollar bill, they’ll try to put the exit ticket into the bill collector — it’s just simple things that they’re not really looking at because of their haste or their rush.

“A lot of times they are finding difficulty in what they’re doing.

“They are starting to get the hang of it. A lot of people are coming in as repeat parkers but you still have thousands of people on the island who still haven’t been in the parking lot. So it’s going to take some time to have everybody on board and understand it.”