Under-utilised, badly sited or even failed Park & Rides
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Under-utilised, badly sited or even failed Park & Rides
Most P&R schemes are generally accepted as being a good thing and Colchester is one of the latest places to join the club with a new terminal and car park opening in April 2015 in connection with the new northern approach road and A12 (Col Utd. football ground) junction. Ones I've used elsewhere such as Oxford and Cambridge were fine and certainly made lift easier than attempting the difficult / highly restricted task of driving into the their respective centres. But nationally I am sure not every P&R scheme has been successful - wasn't there a case of a failed P&R in Preston and under-utilised ones in Dorchester/Weymouth?
Re: Under-utilised, badly sited or even failed Park & Rides
Whilst it's successful enough, I do think the A4 P&R in Brisligton, Bristol https://goo.gl/maps/gs5j1 would have been better sited a bit east at the A4/A4174 interchange,
Traffic from three directions has to funnel up the A4 along with all other Bristol bound traffic
The A4/A4174 interchange was relocated as part of the Avon Ring Road works so the P&R perhaps could have been located at this roundabout instead
Traffic from three directions has to funnel up the A4 along with all other Bristol bound traffic
The A4/A4174 interchange was relocated as part of the Avon Ring Road works so the P&R perhaps could have been located at this roundabout instead
Re: Under-utilised, badly sited or even failed Park & Rides
Sure was - Junction 31A of the M6 (link). Can't remember how long it lasted but the main issues revolved around no dedicated bus route to the City Centre, and based at a limited access junction, ie Exit N/B entry S/B only so it didn't cater for those coming from the north, whereas those coming from the south would use the Park and Ride at the Capitol Centre at the end of the M65.Jim606 wrote: But nationally I am sure not every P&R scheme has been successful - wasn't there a case of a failed P&R in Preston
Trampower Ltd want to use it and run a tram line from here via the old railway line through Deepdale and into the City Centre, however that seems to have stalled at Planning.
Edit: Judging by GSV it opened Late 2009 but was closed by 2012.
Last edited by mercer on Sun Mar 01, 2015 18:50, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Under-utilised, badly sited or even failed Park & Rides
I wonder if anyone uses Cambridge's ones now they're no longer free?
Re: Under-utilised, badly sited or even failed Park & Rides
In this thread: http://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/forum/vie ... t=CoventryI mentioned Coventry's horrible failure at Park and rides.
I'll be obnoxious and quote myself.
Ben710 wrote:Coventry had two Park and ride services. One was cut completely. The other, which had previously received investment in the form of dedicated electric buses, was cut to the point that a through bus merely calls, at a much lower frequency.
Patronage seemed to be the problem in both cases, news articles below:
Park And Ride North
Park And Ride South (Electric buses introduced)
Electric buses withdrawn. The latter article does state that some of the buses may have been sent to Leicester but that has not proved to be the case. (They now work between the railway station and the hospital).
Its a complete blow for Centro (The West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive).
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Re: Under-utilised, badly sited or even failed Park & Rides
It's not a failure this one. Truro's P&R to the west was very successful! So much so they are build a new one to the east and expanding the original one. It seems to have done really well for itself, even though you've always had to pay for it!
Harry
Re: Under-utilised, badly sited or even failed Park & Rides
I remember using P&R for Colchester when my daughter was small (she's 32 now). Is this just a change of terminal or have they restarted a previously abandoned service?
Romford tried a temporary one for Christmas once using a school near the A12. Nobody driving into the town except from a small area on the east side of Collier Row would naturally pass it and it was never repeated.
I don't know how successfuly the Milton Keynes P&R is. It looks very convenient if approaching from the M1 or Bedford but from within Bucks you would end up driving past your destination to get there.
Romford tried a temporary one for Christmas once using a school near the A12. Nobody driving into the town except from a small area on the east side of Collier Row would naturally pass it and it was never repeated.
I don't know how successfuly the Milton Keynes P&R is. It looks very convenient if approaching from the M1 or Bedford but from within Bucks you would end up driving past your destination to get there.
Re: Under-utilised, badly sited or even failed Park & Rides
The Poole P&R next to the A35, is closed all year, except for 4 or 5 Saturdays before Christmas.
It was used by staff at Poole Hospital and Council but, that stopped. Now it is a deserted space, with occasional use by gypsies.
It was used by staff at Poole Hospital and Council but, that stopped. Now it is a deserted space, with occasional use by gypsies.
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Re: Under-utilised, badly sited or even failed Park & Rides
Worcester (6 ways) was never popular and has been (or is about to be) scrapped.
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Re: Under-utilised, badly sited or even failed Park & Rides
West Lothian's "Fast Link" has never been well used. One of the car parks has for the last 6 months been home to a works compound for council house refurbishment.
Before that average vehicle occupancy was 1 car.
Before that average vehicle occupancy was 1 car.
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Re: Under-utilised, badly sited or even failed Park & Rides
Andy33gmail wrote:I wonder if anyone uses Cambridge's ones now they're no longer free?
Re: Under-utilised, badly sited or even failed Park & Rides
There is one signed at Ludlow when one drives along the by-pass on the A49.
Ludlow, a Park-and-Ride ? Surely not !
Basically, P&Rs almost never work, and have been almost impossible to make work since bus privatisation. Because bus operators can put on buses when and how they like, and are in business to make money, most of them require a subsidy, and councils can no longer afford them.
I believe the Metrolink P&Rs work better in Manchester, but only convey a tiny proportion of the traffic needed to make them economic.
Ludlow, a Park-and-Ride ? Surely not !
Basically, P&Rs almost never work, and have been almost impossible to make work since bus privatisation. Because bus operators can put on buses when and how they like, and are in business to make money, most of them require a subsidy, and councils can no longer afford them.
I believe the Metrolink P&Rs work better in Manchester, but only convey a tiny proportion of the traffic needed to make them economic.
Re: Under-utilised, badly sited or even failed Park & Rides
For its size Norwich's tally of six P&R sites seems remarkably high, but as far as I know they're all well used This may be due to the city centre being made progressively more difficult for non public transport users to drive through!
Re: Under-utilised, badly sited or even failed Park & Rides
We have used the one at Trumpington, by the M11, over the years. Was free to park but a bus fare. It used to have its own buses and was well used. Then the buses started to do intermediate stops on the way into town, then the fares rose way beyond inflation (fares per person, not like the town car parks, per car), now they charge for the parking as well.Andy33gmail wrote:I wonder if anyone uses Cambridge's ones now they're no longer free?
Despite being a major one, it starts at 7 am and is given up by 8 pm, so if you suddenly work late, or fancy a meal in the city, you're stuck. If you work where shifts are done, 6 am to 2 pm or 2 pm to 10 pm, it's useless.
Re: Under-utilised, badly sited or even failed Park & Rides
Sixways now only goes to the hospital, not into the City Centre. I'm not sure how long that will/can last.IAN wrote:Worcester (6 ways) was never popular and has been (or is about to be) scrapped.
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The other P&R, Perdiswell, closed last September.
Both have been the victim of Council cuts, but were very under-used, making them obvious targets.
Re: Under-utilised, badly sited or even failed Park & Rides
This was mainly done to penalise NHS staff who walk from Babraham Road park and ride to work at Addenbrooke's (owing to parking at Addenbrooke's itself being prohibitively expensive).Andy33gmail wrote:I wonder if anyone uses Cambridge's ones now they're no longer free?
I did read an interesting article that looked into the effects that the park and rides have, and it appears that they are well used, but that they have the effect of reducing overall public transport, with people that would have got busses from outlying villages driving to the park and ride sites to get into the centre.
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Re: Under-utilised, badly sited or even failed Park & Rides
Sixways only ever officially went to the hospital, access to the city centre was only ever by re-routed local buses.JamesA44 wrote:Sixways now only goes to the hospital, not into the City Centre. I'm not sure how long that will/can last.
Worcester mixed things up badly, the Park and Ride for the city centre was Perdiswell, which was badly sited on the A38 to the north with difficult access from the M5, no wonder it failed!
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Re: Under-utilised, badly sited or even failed Park & Rides
Which is excellent. Fewer buses == less suffering for passengers and other road users. Plus more people walking. It's win win win.c2R wrote:This was mainly done to penalise NHS staff who walk from Babraham Road park and ride to work at Addenbrooke's (owing to parking at Addenbrooke's itself being prohibitively expensive).Andy33gmail wrote:I wonder if anyone uses Cambridge's ones now they're no longer free?
I did read an interesting article that looked into the effects that the park and rides have, and it appears that they are well used, but that they have the effect of reducing overall public transport, with people that would have got busses from outlying villages driving to the park and ride sites to get into the centre.
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Re: Under-utilised, badly sited or even failed Park & Rides
Plymouth - Ivybridge Park & Rail
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Re: Under-utilised, badly sited or even failed Park & Rides
I've written about this before, but back in the 1970s we did a study into putting a park-and-ride on the M4 just where it narrows down from 3 to 2 lanes as it enters the Chiswick Flyover and passes under the Piccadilly Line Underground. There were several issues, but a key one was that many from Reading, Windsor, etc going into London used the train to do so, as being the "most practical", but if this became the "most practical", as it seemed for many it would, they would abandon the train and drive down the M4 and complete on the Underground. In other words, people were wanting to drive as far as the could before transferring to public transport (which in this case was significantly cheaper).c2R wrote:I did read an interesting article that looked into the effects that the park and rides have, and it appears that they are well used, but that they have the effect of reducing overall public transport, with people that would have got busses from outlying villages driving to the park and ride sites to get into the centre.
Other issues were that, although there was capacity on the M4 then (not now), there was little suitable ground for the car park, little capacity on the Underground itself, which was being extended to Heathrow at the time, and an anticipation that once the Underground to Heathrow was opened it would form a cheaper car park for air passengers, and a better car park for the many working at and around the airport.
An interesting close analogy I have noticed in Russia, at the major cities of Moscow and St Petersburg, is there are longstanding electric rail services to the outer suburbs, relatively infrequent, but in the completely deregulated transport world that came there a large network sprang up very rapidly of dilapidated Ford Transit-type minibuses ("Marshrutkas"), about 12 passengers, operated at very high frequencies, connecting all the towns and villages that surround the city with the outermost Metro station at the city edge, from where you can continue into the centre. The suburban trains lost a lot of usage to these.