Park & Ride really works - if the details are right

There seems to be something of a resurgence in Park and Ride (P+R) services this summer, with several local authorities either upgrading their offer or adding in new services to manage holiday traffic.

In Warwickshire, the Park and Ride bus service now runs seven days a week to ensure that everyone - from dog owners and couples to families and tourist groups - can make the most of this easy and relaxing journey into Stratford-upon-Avon town centre, says the council.

City of York Council is looking to improve five of its P+R sites. The project is fully funded by the UK Government’s Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP). York was allocated over £17m to improve the city’s bus network and £4m of this has been allocated to improving the Park & Ride sites. 

And in Brighton and Hove, a summer park and ride scheme has been in operation, linking existing car parks and bus services as part of the project.

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The Portsmouth team will be at Quality Bus in September showcasing their P+R and other bus improvements – final few tickets remaining 

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Bus operations expert Andrew Gibbons of Leicester City Council, says: "Park and Ride deserves more detailed national attention in my view. Particularly those places with existing operations and previous heavy investment."

Andrew is on a mission to try all the P+R’s in the UK. "According to Wikipedia," he says, "there are around 130 sites in 50 locations. I’m gradually working my way around them - 14 down so far. Helps that they are virtually all in pleasant places to visit."

Based on his visits so far, he says, there seems to be a clear split emerging:

• Local Transport Authority-led bus partnerships that look at the whole package including the site, bus, priority, bus operations and commercial issues. The focus here is on getting a quality product that’s an alternative to council-provided parking. Services are frequent, quick, non-stop, reliable, good value and simple, and these P+Rs are well used.
  
  
• Local Transport Authority sites that have retained rudimentary management but leave the bus side, including fares, to a local operator to deliver in whatever form it chooses. In this case, site maintenance budgets can be cut, kiosks closed, and the provision of real time information and bus shelters is poor.
  
  Sites are often tacked onto an existing stopping service, standard group fares may be charged above city centre parking costs. Other issues include poor priority, service unreliability and offers thar complicated to understand and use.
  
  These are now very poorly used, unsurprisingly. Unfortunately, there seems to be a move towards the latter over time and little appetite to correct this in some areas, despite BSIP funding.

One to watch – Andrew will circulate a complete summary of his findings when he’s got round all 50 locations. He also has a key query relating to various parking apps and journey planners. None of the ones he has used seem to automatically show P&R as an option.  Users need to know in advance that a P+R exists and input this option into the query. Otherwise, everything defaults to parking options in the city centre. Any thoughts out there on this one? If so, get back to Andrew on his Linked In page.

P+R resurgence in Portsmouth

One local authority that is firmly in Andrew’s first category is Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth Park and Ride (P+R) has repositioned its place in the market to better meet the needs of users & the city, whilst at the same time being a critical tool to deal with air quality and congestion (see all photos).

Says Paul Walker, Head of Passenger Transport, Portsmouth City Council: "A well-evidenced, innovative campaign has seen increased awareness, usage and income on its journey to making P&R the preferred choice for drivers visiting the city. The campaign aimed to reposition the service as the go-to option with an easy bus ride into the city. 

"Working as a team with First Solent, the awareness campaign and the refreshed approach has led to increased passenger growth - 16% increase in passengers in 12 months to March 25 - with 88,000 passengers - including an 8-year high in December 2024."

Moving beyond the usual local authority approach, the Portsmouth team developed a targeted marketing strategy to highlight the convenience, affordability and environmental benefits of using P&R to access a variety of destinations. 

The P&R site has been rebranded with improved information and signage as well as bright pink buses telling the user what they need to know - including where it goes and how much it costs!  

By focusing on both attracting new users and retaining existing ones the campaign focusses upon convenience, affordability, consumer experience and retention and includes:

• Rebranding and Marketing - making P&R easy to navigate & understand how it works;

• Digital Marketing - social media, online ads & email newsletters to reach a broad audience;

• Community Engagement - with local businesses, tourist attractions & event organisers;

• Enhanced User Journey - new ticketing options - though apps & flexipasses, internal branding with ideas for days out at key attractions;

• Better Information - improved website, on-board next-stop visual and audio announcements & Real Time Information alongside bright pink bus stop flags and shelters so users know where to catch the bus;

• Improved Customer Service – the team has established a responsive customer helpdesk & new bespoke uniforms for drivers.

The campaign has achieved remarkable results, demonstrating the effectiveness of the team's strategies:

• Campaign reach: reached over 100,000 individuals through digital and traditional media channels - greater awareness of the service leading to growth in customer numbers. Social media significantly contributed to this reach, with high engagement rates from posts promoting discounts, events, and service updates. 

• Financial savings: deficit to the council cut by a quarter in 6 months;

• Migration to digital tickets: monthly average 10%+ increase in app tickets sold since Sept 2024.

• Punctuality @  93.6% & lost mileage @ 0.27%

• Positive customer feedback – customers welcoming the new "pay the driver" with cash and card option for those who may not have a smartphone. 

• Passengers are saying: "wonderful service. Bus drivers were very helpful with my mother's wheelchair. So nice to let someone else negotiate the traffic. "

• Environmental benefits: using Park and Ride reduces traffic-related pollution and improves air quality; 

• One team: drivers have direct access to Council Officers and Operator Commercial team on Programme Board.

Getting it right

As P+R innovates across the UK, it is clearly a useful sustainable option for cities - if done right. Trevor Muten, Brighton & Hove cabinet member for transport, parking and public realm, previously said of the city's P+R improvements: "This initiative will operate alongside our efforts to make parking simpler and fairer, our expansion in electric vehicle charging, and our improvements to the city's walking and cycling infrastructure.

"It all adds up to a comprehensive, city-wide strategy to give our residents and visitors more options to travel sustainably." Brighton & Hove also said it would look to introduce further locations around the city following the opening of the first site.