Parking fees in Kirkcaldy are being slashed to attract more people to the town centre.
In a scheme being piloted for six months, half price season tickets are being offered for long stay car parks, allowing frequent visitors to the town to park for as little as £1 a day.
Bill Harvey, Business Improvement District manager at Kirkcaldy 4 All, said the message to the public was “use it, or lose it.”
He said: “We hope the public and especially the town centre workers will take advantage of the offer.
“If this trial isn’t supported, then we won’t have a case to go back to the council and implement it full time.”
Short stay parking between one and two hours has been reduced by 50p to £1.
Meanwhile, long stay charges have been reduced from £2.50 to £2 for two to four hours and from £3.60 to £3 for periods of more than four hours.
The cost of a quarterly season ticket has been reduced from £120 to £60. This works out at £1 a day, based on a five day working week.
Fife Council estimates the six month trial will result in lost income of between £25,000 and £30,000.
However, it is hoped that will be mitigated by increased footfall.
Mr Harvey added: “Business rates in Kirkcaldy have been historically high and in the current economic climate it has proven difficult for existing business owners to entice new customers.
“Having high parking costs in the mix certainly hasn’t helped.
“Kirkcaldy is a great town, with a great history, and we want people to use their town centre.”
The pilot was approved by Kirkcaldy Area Committee last month.
Committee chair Neil Crooks said: “The impact of the closure of the Tesco store has given us a solid case to make these changes. We’ll be looking closely at this trial, which will hopefully encourage more people to pay less and stay longer.”
Mr Crooks said parking was one of the issues included in the Time for Action masterplan created by town centre thinktank Kirkcaldy’s Ambitions.
He added: “There will be great interest in whether this trial will contribute towards regenerating the town centre. I hope people get behind it and take advantage of these new parking options.”
In addition to the reduced rates, the lower two levels of the Esplanade car park will be open from 6.30am to 10pm on week days for leisure centre customers.