8.6 Park and Ride
| We will introduce Park & Ride operations to reduce congestion on the busiest corridors. |
The success of a Park & Ride operation is dependent upon a number of factors; the location, size and security of the site as well as the frequency, cost and length of the bus journey. Lancashire has established two successful Park & Ride sites to relieve congestion on routes into Preston from south of the River Ribble. Patronage is monitored and, as it increases, the conditions of service can be amended to optimise the number of passenger journeys and the revenue received.
Existing Park & Ride sites
Park & Ride usage is continuing to grow for both long and short stay at existing sites. The average level of occupancy between Monday to Friday before 9:30am during 2005 was observed to be 80% at Portway and 45% at Walton-le-dale with the majority of occupants being long stay. A reasonable level of space turnover does occur at each site with the remaining spaces with Portway having the greater level of turnover.The number of spaces that are available at these sites are 390 at Portway and 810 at Walton-le-dale. The average daily usage of each site during 2005 is just below 800 for Portway and 900 for Walton-le-dale and during the Christmas period these figures increased to 950 and 1250. At weekends both sites are also popular with a greater demand for short stay, the average Saturday usage during 2005 is 665 at Portway and 950 at Walton-le-dale.
A summary of the total annual usage of Park and Ride is as follows.
Table 8.6 Annual Usage
|
Annual number of one-way trips intercepted by Park & Ride |
|||
|
Day |
Year |
||
|
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
|
|
Weekday total |
361,000 |
418,000 |
432,000 |
|
Saturday |
71,000 |
81,000 |
79,000 |
|
Total |
432,000 |
499,000 |
511,000 |
Figure 8.6
8.6.1 These Park & Ride sites have proved successful in reducing the number of car journeys into the City Centre. Lancashire's Park
& Ride strategy builds upon our knowledge from these existing sites. We aim to develop further sites in Preston, a site in
Rossendale to support cross border journeys into Greater Manchester and in the longer term bring forward Park & Ride for Lancaster.
Sites are being investigated to determine their impact on the network with all associated costs. This includes full cost to
provide the site and revenue costs to operate the Park & Ride and its impact on the network; traffic reduction, journey time
reductions, improvements to congestion and air quality levels.
8.6.2 Further information on the proposed Park & Ride sites that are proposed within this LTP2 period are highlighted in individual district sections. We will also support in principle proposals for Park & Ride serving neighbouring authorities.