page_title: Park and ride bus services in the United Kingdom
section_title: Success and failure
hierarchical_section_title: Park and ride bus services in the United Kingdom / Permanent schemes / Success and failure
caption_attribution_description: English: Pear Tree park and ride car park, part of Oxford park and ride network, seen from the upper deck of an Oxford Bus Company Dennis Trident 2 bus with Alexander ALX400 body on Park and Ride route 300
context_page_description: Park and ride bus services in the United Kingdom are bus services designed to provide intermodal passenger journeys between a private mode of transport and a shared mode bus. The common model of bus based park and ride model is transfer from a private car to a public transport bus, although schemes may also be used by pedestrians and cyclists. "Park and ride" commonly refers to permanent schemes operated as part of the public transport system, for onward transport from a permanent car park to an urban centre. ‘Park and ride bus’ can also be used to describe temporary and seasonal schemes, services operated for private or specialised users, and services that do not necessarily serve an urban centre. Bus services can be permanent, seasonal, or only operate on specific days of the week, or for specific events.
  Permanent public transport based park and ride sites are predominantly constructed, administered and financially supported by one or more of the local public authorities, although partial private funding also occurs, usually in partnership.
context_section_description: While most schemes are hailed as a success, and see additions to site/spaces or increase in vehicle size over time, some encounter lower than anticipated passenger numbers and need to be withdrawn/modified. In Gloucester, a two route scheme existing in 2003 was required to be scaled back and rationalised into one through service after passenger numbers fell, putting one service in doubt. In February 2008 a scheme in Kidderminster was closed down despite objections, as it was costing £1,000 a week to operate, although it was later said the scheme had been introduced as a temporary measure while building works occurred, that was allowed to continue permanently. In 2008 Sefton Council considered rerouting the bus service of Southport's third scheme after initial passenger projections were not met, although comparison was made to the slow start but eventual success of the first site. In January 2009 the service was re-routed to attract uses from the town's main hospital and college. In November 2009, Sefton Council announced the third site would be 'mothballed' for an indefinite period of time due to poor usuage. In 2007, the long-standing Maidstone scheme was reduced from four sites to three due to a reduction in usage of a centrally located site causing a budget shortfall for the council.
  A service operated by Go North East from the MetroCentre shopping centre coach park non-stop to Newcastle upon Tyne which operated on a model of pre-booked parking was abandoned after a year in September 2008 due to lack of use, replaced by a conventional service with more intermediate stops.
  Both Park & Ride sites in Worcester were closed in September 2014 as part of the wider local authority budget cuts at the time. The Perdiswell site opened in 2001 and at its peak in 2008, 450,000 people used the site, however by 2013-14 usage fell to 274,000. The service was operated by Worcestershire County Council.
caption: Cars fill the Oxford Pear Tree site
exif: {"Image Make": "EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY", "Image Model": "KODAK DC280 ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "192", "Image YResolution": "192", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image Copyright": "KODAK DC280 ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA", "Image ExifOffset": "250", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1488", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7747", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/125", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0210", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2005:09:10 16:30:29", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2005:09:10 16:30:29", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "7", "EXIF ApertureValue": "5", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "31/10", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Average", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "63/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1760", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1168", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1292", "EXIF ExposureIndex": "100", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed"}