Park and ride bus services in the United Kingdom

Park and ride bus services in the United Kingdom are bus

Bus

A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...

services designed to provide intermodal

Intermodal passenger transport

Intermodal passenger transport involves more than one mode of transport of passengers. Some modes of transportation have always been intermodal; for example, most major airports have extensive facilities for automobile parking and have good rail or bus connections to the cities nearby. Urban bus...

passenger journeys between a private mode of transport

Mode of transport

Mode of transport is a term used to distinguish substantially different ways to perform transport. The most dominant modes of transport are aviation, land transport, which includes rail, road and off-road transport, and ship transport...

and a shared mode bus. The common model of bus based park and ride

Park and ride

Park and ride facilities are car parks with connections to public transport that allow commuters and other people wishing to travel into city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system , or carpool for the rest of their trip...

model is transfer from a private car

Automobile

An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

to a public transport bus

Transit bus

A transit bus , also known as a commuter bus, city bus, or public bus, is a bus used for short-distance public transport purposes...

, although schemes may also be used by pedestrian

Pedestrian

A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In some communities, those traveling using roller skates or skateboards are also considered to be pedestrians. In modern times, the term mostly refers to someone walking on a road or footpath, but this was not the case...

s and cyclists

Bicycle

A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....

. "Park and ride" commonly refers to permanent schemes operated as part of the public transport

Public transport

Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...

system, for onward transport from a permanent car park

Parking lot

A parking lot , also known as car lot, is a cleared area that is intended for parking vehicles. Usually, the term refers to a dedicated area that has been provided with a durable or semi-durable surface....

to an urban centre

Central business district

A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...

. ‘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. Since bus deregulation

Bus deregulation

Bus deregulation in Great Britain came into force on 26 October 1986, as part of the Transport Act 1985.The 'Buses' White Paper was the basis of the Transport Act 1985, which provided for the deregulation of local bus services in the whole of the United Kingdom except for Northern Ireland and...

in 1986, the actual bus service for particular schemes is currently operated by one or more private bus operators, or stand-alone companies, with the contract to operate the bus service being put out to commercial tender. An exception is Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

, where the state concern Translink

Translink (Northern Ireland)

Translink is the brand name of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company , a public corporation in Northern Ireland which provides the public transport in the region. NI Railways, Ulsterbus and Metro are all part of Translink....

promotes and operates all public transport park and ride schemes.

Schemes are often specially marketed

Marketing

Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...

with a specific brand

Brand

The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...

separately from other standard local bus services. This is sometimes not necessarily using the name park and ride. Public transport schemes mostly operate at a net loss

Net income

Net income is the residual income of a firm after adding total revenue and gains and subtracting all expenses and losses for the reporting period. Net income can be distributed among holders of common stock as a dividend or held by the firm as an addition to retained earnings...

, with the budget

Budget

A budget is a financial plan and a list of all planned expenses and revenues. It is a plan for saving, borrowing and spending. A budget is an important concept in microeconomics, which uses a budget line to illustrate the trade-offs between two or more goods...

ary cost justified by the reduction in traffic congestion

Traffic congestion

Traffic congestion is a condition on road networks that occurs as use increases, and is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. The most common example is the physical use of roads by vehicles. When traffic demand is great enough that the interaction...

and reduced need for central parking spaces. Generally, the car parking is free, with revenue for the scheme being achieved through fare

Fare

A fare is the fee paid by a passenger allowing him or her to make use of a public transport system: rail, bus, taxi, etc. In the case of air transport, the term airfare is often used.-Uses:...

s or travel passes taken by the bus operator. Initially heavily lobbied

Lobbying

Lobbying is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying is done by various people or groups, from private-sector individuals or corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or...

for by the environmentalists

Green politics

Green politics is a political ideology that aims for the creation of an ecologically sustainable society rooted in environmentalism, social liberalism, and grassroots democracy...

, increasingly the net benefits of park and ride schemes to the environment have been questioned in studies examining the effect of schemes on overall vehicle mileages and passenger travelling behaviour.

Implementation of public transport park and ride bus services in the UK accelerated through the 1980s and 1990s, although some schemes have failed or been scaled back due to lack of use. Permanent schemes range in size from an allocated area with provision of less than 10 cars, to multiple dedicated sites catering in total for nearly 5,000 cars. Schemes predominantly serve a single town or smaller city, while rail

Rail transport

Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...

based mode, where it exists, is the predominant implementation for the larger metropolitan areas. Larger regional bus schemes exist, such as at Ferrytoll in Fife

Fife

Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

and in Northern Ireland.

History

Permanent bus based park and ride schemes are most often found in the UK in historical towns and cities where the narrow streets mean traffic congestion hits hardest and streets cannot easily be widened. An example is Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

, which operated the first scheme in the UK, initially with an experimental service operating part-time from a motel on the A34 in the 1960s, and then on a full-time basis from 1973. Large scale adoption in other towns then continued from the 1980s with increased car ownership. As of 2005 there were 92 park and ride sites across 40 locations in England

Implementation

Permanent park and ride services are predominantly intended for used by car driving commuters and their passengers, with shoppers being the next largest user, although it is also often targeted at day-trippers and tourists visiting by car. As well as car drivers, park and ride bus services may also be used by pedestrians and cyclists. Several schemes offer bicycle

Bicycle

locker

Locker

Locker may refer to:* Locker , various kinds of storage compartment or container* Footlocker , a storage box* In nautical usage, a "locker" may be a storage place that in other environments would not be referred to as a locker, such as cupboards on board ships for keeping stores, anchor lockers,...

s to allow use of the bus by cyclists. For foot passengers, although the journey may be quicker than regular bus services, the fares may also be higher.

For ease of access by car, a common arrangement for a permanent park and ride is a site or sites located on the outskirts or outer suburbs of a town or city, with the aim of providing a short onward trip by bus into the centre. Sites are usually located near to the major approach routes to the centre, usually near to motorway junctions or beside the main arterial routes. Some sites, such as the village on Ellon, Aberdeenshire

Ellon, Aberdeenshire

Ellon is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, approximately north of Aberdeen, lying on the River Ythan which has one of the few undeveloped river estuaries on the Eastern coast of Scotland. It is in the ancient region of Formartine...

, are located some distance from the central destination, but the site is located on a main arterial approach route. Larger regional sites exist, with longer journey times, such as Ferrytoll in Fife

Fife

Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...

, Scotland

Scotland

. In larger cities, space permitting, sites may also be located at transport hubs or interchange station

Interchange station

An interchange station or a transfer station is a train station for more than one railway route in a public transport system, and allows passengers to change from one route to another. Transfer may occur within the same mode, or between rail modes, or to buses...

s further inside the urban area.

As well as stand alone sites, permanent daily public transport park and ride car parks may also be operated adjacent to or as part of the car park of another facility, such as Basingstoke

Basingstoke

Basingstoke is a town in northeast Hampshire, in south central England. It lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon. It is southwest of London, northeast of Southampton, southwest of Reading and northeast of the county town, Winchester. In 2008 it had an estimated population of...

(a Leisure Park), Doncaster

Doncaster

Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...

(a cinema) and Derby

Derby

Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...

(a retail and leisure park). Some sites utilise football stadium

Soccer-specific stadium

Soccer-specific stadium is a term used mainly in the United States, Canada, Australia and South Korea coined by Lamar Hunt, to refer to a sports stadium either purpose built or fundamentally redesigned for soccer and whose primary function is to host soccer matches, as opposed to a multipurpose...

car parks, as they are not usually in use on working daytimes, as happens in Brighton

Brighton

Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...

, Reading

Reading, Berkshire

Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....

, Dorchester and Derby

Derby

; and also horse racecourses as in Leicester

Leicester

Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...

and Cheltenham

Cheltenham

Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...

, although these services may not be available on match/race days.

Most schemes do not allow for overnight parking and cater for daytime and early evening usage. Users who miss the last bus may often find their cars locked in, requiring the calling of an emergency number. Some schemes have addressed the issue of the "last bus" by using other services, such as in High Wycombe

High Wycombe

High Wycombe , commonly known as Wycombe and formally called Chepping Wycombe or Chipping Wycombe until 1946,is a large town in Buckinghamshire, England. It is west-north-west of Charing Cross in London; this figure is engraved on the Corn Market building in the centre of the town...

where tickets are valid on standard bus services passing the car park after the dedicated service has stopped running, although the site gates have to be left open. Other schemes are open late on designated late shopping nights (often a Thursday).

Many sites are operational five or more days a week. Some schemes are often supplemented using additional sites with car parks normally used for other purposes during the week that only operate as park and ride on a Saturday or Sunday. These sites include the local County Hall

County Hall

A county hall or shire hall is usual name given to a building housing a county's administration. The location of the county hall has usually denoted the county town, and as county halls have moved it has also been considered that the county town has moved, for example when Derbyshire County Council...

or Town Hall car parks, or University

University

A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

car parks. Examples include Bath, Southport

Southport

Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. During the 2001 census Southport was recorded as having a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England...

and Leicester

Leicester

Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...

.

As of 2008, permanent bus based park and ride schemes are generally implemented in small to medium sized towns and cities, with larger conurbations such as London, Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

and Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

operating rail-based schemes. Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

is the largest city with a comprehensive bus based park and ride scheme, although this is due to replaced in part with the Edinburgh tram network

Edinburgh Tram Network

Edinburgh Trams is a tramway system which has been under construction in Edinburgh, Scotland, since 2008.There have been several delays and cost over-runs in the construction of the tramway. The new tram system was originally scheduled to enter revenue service in February 2011...

. In Manchester, the local transport authority GMPTE does not believe that park and ride systems achieve the main aim of reducing car based mileage, stating that when implemented, most passengers are drawn from people who would otherwise have used existing bus services, or cycle/walk, with only 1 in 5 spaces on average being filled by people who did not previously use public transport..

Site facilities

Purpose built park and ride sites generally consist of a car park

Parking lot

and adjacent bus boarding facility within walking distance. Large sites may feature covered multi-story parking, and covered waiting areas or passenger facilities akin to a small bus station

Bus station

A bus station is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. It is larger than a bus stop, which is usually simply a place on the roadside, where buses can stop...

. Bigger car parks may feature more than one bus stop to limit the distance users have to walk. Smaller sites may feature just a bus stop

Bus stop

A bus stop is a designated place where buses stop for passengers to board or leave a bus. These are normally positioned on the highway and are distinct from off-highway facilities such as bus stations. The construction of bus stops tends to reflect the level of usage...

and cabin for an attendant. For sites used as bus termini

Bus terminus

A bus terminus is a designated place where a bus or coach starts or ends its scheduled route. The terminus is the designated place that a timetable is timed from. Termini can be located at bus stations, interchanges, bus garages or simple bus stops. Termini can both start and stop at the same...

, the site may also feature bus stand

Bus stand

A bus stand is a designated parking location where a bus or coach waits out of service between scheduled public transport services. 'Bus stand' is also often an alternative name for specific bus stops inside a bus station....

s.

The location of park and ride sites is usually predominantly sign posted

Traffic sign

Traffic signs or road signs are signs erected at the side of roads to provide information to road users. With traffic volumes increasing over the last eight decades, many countries have adopted pictorial signs or otherwise simplified and standardized their signs to facilitate international travel...

to assist car drivers, and sometimes there may exist electronic signs

Parking guidance and information

Parking guidance and information systems, or car park guidance systems, present drivers with dynamic information on parking within controlled areas. The systems combine traffic monitoring, communication, processing and variable message sign technologies to provide the service...

giving current information about parking availability.

Many sites feature a controlled perimeter, entry/exit barriers, CCTV

Closed-circuit television

Closed-circuit television is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors....

and supervision by an attendant.

Planning issues

The location of sites is often restricted due to planning issues

Planning permission

Planning permission or planning consent is the permission required in the United Kingdom in order to be allowed to build on land, or change the use of land or buildings. Within the UK the occupier of any land or building will need title to that land or building , but will also need "planning...

and land availability. The location of potential sites may conflict with the desires of other development aims

Real estate development

Real estate development, or Property Development, is a multifaceted business, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of improved land or parcels to others...

. Some local authorities introduce new schemes as part of wider developments by stipulating as part of the planning permission approval that a private developer may only proceed if they include a suitable scheme in their development proposals.

The advent of Local transport plan

Local Transport Plan

Local transport plans, divided into full local transport plans and local implementation plans for transport are an important part of transport planning in England...

s enacted by the Transport Act 2000

Transport Act 2000

The Transport Act 2000 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It provided for a number of measures regarding transport in Great Britain, most notably, the first major change in the structure of the privatised railway system established under the Railways Act 1993...

in England has allowed park and ride usage to be a material consideration in planning matters in England.

In 2005 the Campaign to Protect Rural England called for a review of park and ride development expressing concern too many sites were being built on green belt

Green Belt (UK)

In United Kingdom town planning, the green belt is a policy for controlling urban growth. The idea is for a ring of countryside where urbanisation will be resisted for the foreseeable future, maintaining an area where agriculture, forestry and outdoor leisure can be expected to prevail...

land.

In 2008, a scheme proposed by North Yorkshire County Council for a site for Whitby

Whitby

Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a combined maritime, mineral and tourist heritage, and is home to the ruins of Whitby Abbey where Caedmon, the...

on green land within the North York Moors National Park was rejected by the park planning committee on grounds of its proposed location, within the park, despite claims by the borough council that no suitable alternatives existed, and traffic was an increasing issue in the town which threatened the prospects of economic growth.

In 2008 in Truro

Truro

Truro is a city and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The city is the centre for administration, leisure and retail in Cornwall, with a population recorded in the 2001 census of 17,431. Truro urban statistical area, which includes parts of surrounding parishes, has a 2001 census...

, Cornwall, a scheme was launched aiming to be complementary and integrated with the rural environment, marketed as a "park for cars" rather than a car park, with features such as natural building materials, solar power and waste water management

Bus operators and vehicles

To comply with UK competition legislation, contracts for the bus operation aspect of schemes supported by local authority finance must be put out to commercial tender, although minimum quality conditions are often stipulated as part of the contract. Some bus operating contracts are awarded on the basis of a formal Quality Contract between authority and operator. For reasons of practicality and logistics, the winning bus operator is usually an operator already based in the local area.

Dedicated park and ride bus services are usually provided using public transport bus

Transit bus

A transit bus , also known as a commuter bus, city bus, or public bus, is a bus used for short-distance public transport purposes...

es. Depending on the passenger numbers, service may be provide with a combination of midibus

Midibus

A midibus is a classification of single-decker minibuses which generally are larger than a traditional minibus but smaller than a full-size single decker and can be anywhere between and long...

es, single-decker bus

Single-decker bus

A single-decker bus or single-decker is a bus that has a single deck for passengers. Normally the use of the term single-decker refers to a standard two-axled rigid bus, in direct contrast to the use of the term double-decker bus, which is essentially a single decked bus with an extra deck and...

es, double-decker bus

Double-decker bus

A double-decker bus is a bus that has two storeys or 'decks'. Global usage of this type of bus is more common in outer touring than in its intra-urban transportion role. Double-decker buses are also commonly found in certain parts of Europe, Asia, and former British colonies and protectorates...

es. In some schemes such as in Bath, articulated bus

Articulated bus

An articulated bus is an articulated vehicle used in public transportation. It is usually a single-deck design, and comprises two rigid sections linked by a pivoting joint...

es are used. As of 2008, the Optare Solo

Optare Solo

The Optare Solo is a low-floor midibus manufactured by Optare in Leeds, UK since 1997. The name "Solo" is a play on the low-floor status of the bus, the manufacturer believing its vehicle having an entrance that is "so low" from the floor, namely 200 mm with kneeling suspension.The innovative...

is a common type of midibus found on smaller schemes.

As with standard public transport bus services in the UK, as of 2008 the responsibility for operation of the buses for park and ride schemes is dominated by the major transport groups, either in part or full, with FirstGroup involved with 12 locations, Arriva

Arriva

Arriva plc is a multinational public transport company owned by Deutsche Bahn and headquartered in Sunderland, United Kingdom. It has bus, coach, train, tram and waterbus operations in 12 countries across Europe, employs more than 47,500 people and services over 1.5 billion passenger journeys each...

and Stagecoach Group

Stagecoach Group

Stagecoach Group plc is an international transport group operating buses, trains, trams, express coaches and ferries. The group was founded in 1980 by the current chairman, Sir Brian Souter, his sister, Ann Gloag, and her former husband Robin...

involved in 7, Go-Ahead Group

Go-Ahead Group

The Go-Ahead Group plc is a rail and bus operating company that was created following the privatisation of the UK's train and bus industries. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.-Early history:...

in 3. Despite this, operation by small groups or independent operators forms a significant aspect of UK park and ride operations, such as Courtney Coaches

Courtney Coaches

Courtney Coaches are a bus operator baseed in Bracknell, Berkshire, England. They operate a network of commercial and contracted local bus services and school buses in and around Bracknell and Maidenhead...

(Basingstoke

Basingstoke

), Filers Travel (Barnstaple

Barnstaple

Barnstaple is a town and civil parish in the local government district of North Devon in the county of Devon, England, UK. It lies west southwest of Bristol, north of Plymouth and northwest of the county town of Exeter. The old spelling Barnstable is now obsolete.It is the main town of the...

), Johnsons Excelbus (Stratford upon Avon), Cooks Coaches (Taunton

Taunton

Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset....

), Veolia Transport (Swansea

Swansea

Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...

), Konectbus

Konectbus

Konectbus is a bus operator based in Dereham in Norfolk, England. From 11 March 2010, it became a part of the Go-Ahead Group. It currently operates 27 services including three of the Norwich Park and Ride routes, Costessey, Harford and Thickthorn. They have a fleet of almost 50 buses, the majority...

(Norwich

Norwich

Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...

), Travel de Courcey

Travel De Courcey

Travel de Courcey is a bus operator based near Coventry in the West Midlands region of England. They operate routes in the Coventry and Warwickshire area. The company was founded in 1972 by Mike de Courcey and now operate 74 vehicles, including 12 executive coaches, and employ around 130 staff...

(Coventry

Coventry

Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...

), Bennets Coaches (Cheltenham

Cheltenham

) and Smith and Sons (Perth

Perth, Scotland

Perth is a town and former city and royal burgh in central Scotland. Located on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire...

). Some municipal bus companies

Municipal bus companies

A municipal bus company is an operator of bus services owned by the local government authority. This article lists all current municipal bus companies in the United Kingdom....

operate their town's service, such as Edinburgh

Edinburgh

(Lothian Buses

Lothian Buses

Lothian Buses Plc is the only municipal bus company in Scotland and the largest provider of bus services in Edinburgh, Scotland. City of Edinburgh Council own 91.01% of the company with the remainder being owned by East Lothian and Midlothian councils. As well as serving Edinburgh, Lothian Buses...

), Nottingham

Nottingham

Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...

(Nottingham City Transport

Nottingham City Transport

Nottingham City Transport is the major bus operator of the English city of Nottingham, running a comprehensive network of services in the Greater Nottingham area, with some services continuing to Southwell, Loughborough, and East Midlands Airport. There are over 80 routes across the City, giving...

), Swindon (Thamesdown Transport

Thamesdown Transport

Thamesdown Transport is a bus operator serving the town of Swindon and the surrounding area in the Borough of Swindon and county of Wiltshire. The company is owned by Thamesdown Transport Ltd and Swindon Borough Council holds almost all of the shares...

), Reading

Reading, Berkshire

(Reading Buses), although the November 2008 transfer of the Ipswich operation

Ipswich park and ride

Ipswich Park and Ride is a park and ride service operating in the town of Ipswich. The services operate from 2 purpose-built sites around the outskirts of the town. First Eastern Counties is the current operator, with Ipswich Buses operating the services until 2008....

from Ipswich Buses

Ipswich Buses

Ipswich Buses Ltd is a bus company that operates in Ipswich, Suffolk, UK and has been doing so for over 100 years. Its depot is situated in Constantine Road, near Ipswich Town's football ground...

to First Eastern Counties demonstrated that council owned bus companies are not necessarily given favourable status in the awarding of council park and ride contracts.

For large schemes, park and ride bus fleets used are usually of a higher and/or different specification to the predominant public transport bus

Transit bus

A transit bus , also known as a commuter bus, city bus, or public bus, is a bus used for short-distance public transport purposes...

fleet. Fleets are often purchased new in whole or in part for the award of a new contract, meaning low floor buses

Low-floor bus

A low-floor bus is a bus that has no steps between one or more entrances and part or all of the passenger cabin. Being low floor improves the accessibility of the bus for the public, particularly the elderly or infirm, or those with push chairs, and increasingly, those in wheelchairs.In the modern...

are increasingly common.

In the Plymouth

Plymouth

Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...

scheme, the buses are of an extremely high specification compared to regular public transport bus

Transit bus

A transit bus , also known as a commuter bus, city bus, or public bus, is a bus used for short-distance public transport purposes...

es, being equipped with high backed leather seating, television screens, and individual radio/CD sockets for each seat.

While dedicated park and ride fleets generally contain some of the newest vehicles in a bus company's fleet, in some areas this does not occur, for example, the award winning operator in Derby

Derby

, Trent Barton

Trent Barton

Trent Barton is one of the very small number of significant independent bus operators in the United Kingdom. It was formed as the result of merging Derbyshire's Trent Buses with Nottinghamshire's Barton Transport....

, defers operation of the park and ride to its Wellglade group sister company Notts and Derby, using vehicles older than that of the Trent Barton main fleet.

Success and failure

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

Gloucester

Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....

, 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

Kidderminster

Kidderminster is a town, in the Wyre Forest district of Worcestershire, England. It is located approximately seventeen miles south-west of Birmingham city centre and approximately fifteen miles north of Worcester city centre. The 2001 census recorded a population of 55,182 in the town...

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

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

Maidstone

Maidstone is the county town of Kent, England, south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town linking Maidstone to Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river was a source and route for much of the town's trade. Maidstone was the centre of the agricultural...

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

Go North East

Go North East is the largest operator of bus services in North East England, United Kingdom. Go North East operates services in the counties of Tyne and Wear, County Durham and Northumberland...

from the MetroCentre shopping centre coach

Coach (vehicle)

A coach is a large motor vehicle, a type of bus, used for conveying passengers on excursions and on longer distance express coach scheduled transport between cities - or even between countries...

park non-stop to Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River 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.

Bus service

Onward bus services from a park and ride car park are provided with dedicated bus routes, the regular local bus service, or a combination of both. In busy or frequent schemes, the central bus stop

Bus stop

s may be sited separately from those used by other regular bus services. Sites already well served by or located on the existing bus network may feature no dedicated service at all. These services may employ no specific branding, but reference to 'park and ride' may exist on rollsigns and timetables. Park and ride sites may also be used as stops on longer distance coach services, although they are generally not available for use by private coach

Coach (vehicle)

A coach is a large motor vehicle, a type of bus, used for conveying passengers on excursions and on longer distance express coach scheduled transport between cities - or even between countries...

operators.

Dedicated routes are often operated point to point, running from the site to centre, and back, using the site as a bus terminus

Bus terminus

. Occasionally, through routes will run from one park and ride site to another, through the town or city centre, or to another suitable terminus such as a leisure centre. Routes may also call at multiple park and ride sites before commencing the onward journey to the destination.

Dedicated bus services can be operated as express bus services, running non-stop calling at only the car park and the central area. These services may also operate as limited stop express services, stopping also at any important intermediate locations such as hospitals, train station

Train station

A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...

s, transport interchange

Interchange station

s, out of town shopping centres, suburban retail parks and other places that are likely to see a high number of prospective passengers. In areas where there is less overlap between regular bus services, park and ride designated services may stop at every stop like a regular service, as in York

York

York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...

, where the park and ride services are also part of the local bus network. Some express or dedicated services may extend beyond the parking site as regular services to outlying areas.

Funding and fares

The majority of permanent park and ride schemes are supported by funding from the local authority, with investment for construction of the sites if included, or support for the operation of the bus services. Park and ride schemes rarely become financially self sufficient even for just the operating costs, however most authorities cite the fact that profit is not the ultimate aim of schemes, rather the environmental benefits are what is being paid for. Some schemes where investment in a car park is not required can be funded fully commercially; the Stagecoach Group

Stagecoach Group

Cheltenham racecourse

Cheltenham Racecourse

Cheltenham Racecourse is a racecourse for horse racing events, located at Prestbury Park, in the suburban village of Prestbury on the outskirts of the English town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire...

service is an example of a fully privately funded permanent service.

Authority involvement can be singular, or is often jointly between a borough and county council, such as in Bedford, or even as a cooperation between multiple public institutions as part of a wider regional transport initiative. Public budget provision for schemes is often combined with infrastructure and vehicle investment toward high quality bus priority

Bus priority

Bus priority or transit signal priority is a name for various techniques to speed up bus public transport services at intersections with traffic signals amongst other methods. Trams and light rail vehicles can also be given priority...

schemes, such as the A638

A638 road

The A638 is a main road in England that runs between the A1 at Markham Moor in Nottinghamshire and Chain Bar Junction 26 of the M62 motorway south of Bradford in West Yorkshire....

Quality Bus Corridor for Doncaster

Doncaster

Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...

or guided busway and bus rapid transit scheme investment.

Private companies often contribute additional funding where that company ultimately benefits from the scheme, either through increased custom or a reduction in employee parking needs. In High Wycombe

High Wycombe

, the scheme is part funded by a shopping centre and a local development partner, as well as the local council as it is integrated into the newly developed Cressex business park.

A portion of the ongoing funding of the operating costs of a park and ride scheme comes from the collection of fare

Fare

A fare is the fee paid by a passenger allowing him or her to make use of a public transport system: rail, bus, taxi, etc. In the case of air transport, the term airfare is often used.-Uses:...

s from the users, although some schemes operate completely free to the user. While most fare paying schemes are operated on a free-parking, pay on the bus basis, some schemes charge for the parking, to offer a financial incentive to encourage carpool

Carpool

Carpooling , is the sharing of car journeys so that more than one person travels in a car....

ing to the car park for cars with more passengers. Examples of car based payment schemes are Norwich

Norwich park and ride

Norwich park and ride is a park and ride bus service in the city of Norwich, East Anglia. The first of the park and rides was opened in the early 1990s at Norwich International Airport in Hellesdon, while the sixth site was opened in Thickthorn in 2005...

and Canterbury

Canterbury

Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....

. In the Chester

Chester

Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...

scheme, a 2008 proposal to move from a bus based to a car park based charging system was dropped due to public opposition

Specialist schemes

As well as serving as general public transport to central areas, specialist permanent park and ride services also exist, catering for a more specific user travel need. These exist both as supplementary routes from permanent public sites, or operate from private car parks. These services may be still available to the general public, or be restricted to a specific user/customer, and may be publicly or privately funded or both.

Private user schemes marketed as park and ride include airport bus

Airport bus

An airport bus, or airport shuttle bus or airport shuttle is a bus or coach used to transport people to/from, or within airports. These vehicles will usually be equipped with larger luggage space, and incorporate special branding....

es and other shuttle bus links where they transport passengers from a car park to a destination such as a hotel

Hotel

A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...

or conference centre.

NHS Trust

NHS Trust

A National Health Service trust provides services on behalf of the National Health Service in England and NHS Wales.The trusts are not trusts in the legal sense but are in effect public sector corporations. Each trust is headed by a board consisting of executive and non-executive directors, and is...

supported routes link public park and ride sites to hospitals, such as in Nottingham

Nottingham

(Medlink), Reading

Reading, Berkshire

and Cheltenham

Cheltenham

, for the benefit of passengers and staff. In Bath, a demand responsive transport

Demand responsive transport

Demand Responsive Transport or Demand-Responsive Transit or Demand Responsive Service or Dial-a-ride or Flexible Transport Services is "an advanced, user-oriented form of public transport characterised by flexible routing and scheduling of small/medium vehicles operating in shared-ride mode...

service has been combined with a park and ride to hospital shuttle.

Another specialist service is the transport of football spectators to football matches from public park and ride sites, such as in Southampton

Southampton

Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...

. These services may only be available to those with a match ticket. A football service is privately funded by Sunderland A.F.C.

Sunderland A.F.C.

Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...

on match days from the Stadium of Light

Stadium of Light

The Stadium of Light is an all-seater football stadium in Sunderland, England. With space for 49,000 spectators, the Stadium of Light has the fifth-largest capacity of any English football stadium. The stadium primarily hosts Sunderland A.F.C. matches...

to Sunderland Enterprise Park.

Temporary schemes

Some sites only become operational during a specific season, or for specific events, and as such may receive public or private financial support, or in the case of high usage, be self-funding. These ad-hoc
services may not feature a dedicated bus fleet, but rather are provided by drawing on buses from other duties. Temporary or seasonal services often use free

Zero-fare public transport

Free public transport, also often called free public transit or zero-fare public transport, is a single or network of transport services funded in full by means other than collecting a full fare from passengers. It may be funded by national, regional or local government through taxation or by...

buses, such as Weymouth, which uses existing public pay and display

Pay and display

Pay and display machines are a subset of ticket machines used for regulating parking in urban areas or in car parks. It relies on a customer purchasing a ticket from a machine and displaying the ticket on the dashboard, or windscreen or passenger window of the vehicle...

car parks.

Seasonal services occur in the summer to cater for tourists, such as Weymouth, or the Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

period to cater for shoppers, such as Peterborough and Kingston.

Examples of services for specific events are Southampton

Southampton

(for the Boat Show) and Whitby

Whitby

(for the Whitby Regatta)

Marketing and liveries

Some high profile public authority backed schemes employ a common "park and ride" brand

Brand

The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...

identity for their park and ride scheme, and project this brand commonly across a website, printed material, and even extending to the colour of the bus in an all-over livery. In a small number of cases, the branding concept does not use the "park and ride" moniker as the primary identity, opting for a different name, such as Centre Shuttle (Basingstoke

Basingstoke

), Quicksilver Shuttle (Leicester

Leicester

Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...

), Taunton
Taunton
Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset....

Flyer and Park for Truro
Truro
Truro is a city and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The city is the centre for administration, leisure and retail in Cornwall, with a population recorded in the 2001 census of 17,431. Truro urban statistical area, which includes parts of surrounding parishes, has a 2001 census...

.

Smaller schemes may not necessarily employ specific marketing

Marketing

or dedicated all-over liveries where the passenger revenue does not justify this, such as in Stoke

Stoke-on-Trent

Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...

, Scarborough and York

York park and ride

York park and ride is a park and ride system operated by First in the English city of York. It was designed and introduced to relieve York's overcrowded city centre car parks. Many of the car park developments, bus priority measures and new vehicles have been part-funded by City of York Council...

, although the term "park and ride" is a near-universally accepted term that is still applied to these smaller schemes on timetables and/or non-overall livery route branding. This also occurs in busier schemes where other high profile branding of local bus services exist, or the park and ride bus service is of the type that only consists of just another regular stop on the local services, rather than a dedicated shuttle type service, such as in Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

and Nottingham

Nottingham

.

Schemes will often be promoted in terms of being high quality, with bus drivers undergoing customer service training

Customer service training

Customer service training refers to teaching employees the knowledge, skills, and competencies required to increase customer satisfaction.- Audience :...

, and schemes attaining the government Charter Mark

Charter Mark

The Customer Service Excellence, is an accreditation for organisations and an independent validation of achievement.-History:...

for excellence in public service quality, or the Park Mark award for implementing enhanced car park security features. Maidstone

Maidstone

was the first scheme to obtain a Charter Mark.

All-over liveries are employed in single or multiple site schemes. Liveries often emphasise the green credentials

Green politics

Green politics is a political ideology that aims for the creation of an ecologically sustainable society rooted in environmentalism, social liberalism, and grassroots democracy...

of the scheme, such as Plymouth

Plymouth

's cloud livery, or by using green as a base colour (Oxford

Oxford

, Winchester

Winchester

Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...

). Other schemes use a bold overall colour scheme to reinforce the brand with publicity material, such as the Chelmsford

Chelmsford

Chelmsford is the county town of Essex, England and the principal settlement of the borough of Chelmsford. It is located in the London commuter belt, approximately northeast of Charing Cross, London, and approximately the same distance from the once provincial Roman capital at Colchester...

(jet-black), Maidstone

Maidstone

(yellow), Canterbury

Canterbury

Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....

(Silver base with green piping and decals), and Ipswich

Ipswich

Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...

(pink), coordinated with the colours used in a website/publications. In some multiple site schemes, the all-over livery aspect is often extended to a distinct livery for each route/group of routes, such as the multi-colour coded schemes of Swansea

Swansea

, Norwich

Norwich

and Cambridge

Cambridge

The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...

.

At peak times, standard liveried buses from the operator's main fleet may also supplement the service, or as replacement cover in the event of a dedicated vehicle's failure

Breakdown (vehicle)

A vehicle breakdown is the operational failure of a motor vehicle in such a way that the underlying problem prevents the vehicle from being operated at all, or impedes the vehicle's operation so much, that it is very difficult or nearly impossible, or dangerous to operate, or else at risk of...

London

In the London borough of Westminster

Westminster

Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...

, a shuttle bus exists linking city centre car parks to the major shopping centres, which is marketed as park and ride.

Ferrytoll

As well as the Edinburgh council schemes, a regional scheme exists in Scotland in the form of a large site in south Fife

Fife

Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...

, designated the Ferrytoll park and ride. It does not have a dedicated service, but rather a large number of regional services are coordinated through the site, serving as a park and ride service south to Edinburgh, and as a terminal for inter-urban and long-distance services north to Fife, Dunfermline, Inverness, Dunfermline and St Andrews. The southern park and ride section aims to relieve the congested Forth Bridge road crossing.

England

Number of parking sites †	Location
6	Norwich Norwich park and ride Norwich park and ride is a park and ride bus service in the city of Norwich, East Anglia. The first of the park and rides was opened in the early 1990s at Norwich International Airport in Hellesdon, while the sixth site was opened in Thickthorn in 2005...
5	Cambridge Cambridge The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the... , Oxford Oxford The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through... , York York park and ride York park and ride is a park and ride system operated by First in the English city of York. It was designed and introduced to relieve York's overcrowded city centre car parks. Many of the car park developments, bus priority measures and new vehicles have been part-funded by City of York Council... , Salisbury Salisbury Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England and the only city in the county. It is the second largest settlement in the county...
4	Chester Chester Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the... , Exeter Exeter Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the... (3 services to Exeter City Centre, and 1 to Wonford Hospital)
3	Bath, Bristol Bristol Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007... , Canterbury Canterbury Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour.... , Durham Durham Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county... , Guildford Guildford Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region... , Maidstone Maidstone Maidstone is the county town of Kent, England, south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town linking Maidstone to Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river was a source and route for much of the town's trade. Maidstone was the centre of the agricultural... , Nottingham Nottingham Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group... , Plymouth Plymouth Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound... , Southport Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. During the 2001 census Southport was recorded as having a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England... , Shrewsbury Shrewsbury Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council... , Wolverhampton Wolverhampton Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
2	Cheltenham Cheltenham Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held... , Coventry Coventry park and ride Coventry Park and Ride is a park and ride system, operated by two different operators under contract to Coventry City Council and Centro, in the English city of Coventry... , Derby Derby Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407... , Doncaster Doncaster Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"... , Gloucester Gloucester Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham.... , Hull Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of... , Ipswich Ipswich park and ride Ipswich Park and Ride is a park and ride service operating in the town of Ipswich. The services operate from 2 purpose-built sites around the outskirts of the town. First Eastern Counties is the current operator, with Ipswich Buses operating the services until 2008.... , Leicester Leicester Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest... , Preston Preston park and ride Preston park and ride is a park and ride scheme in the city of Preston in Lancashire, England, operated by Rotala .- Services :... , Reading Reading, Berkshire Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London.... , Swindon Swindon Swindon is a large town within the borough of Swindon and ceremonial county of Wiltshire, in South West England. It is midway between Bristol, west and Reading, east. London is east... , Winchester Winchester Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of... , Scarborough, Taunton Taunton Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset.... , Worcester Worcester The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...
1	Basingstoke Basingstoke Basingstoke is a town in northeast Hampshire, in south central England. It lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon. It is southwest of London, northeast of Southampton, southwest of Reading and northeast of the county town, Winchester. In 2008 it had an estimated population of... , Barnstaple Barnstaple Barnstaple is a town and civil parish in the local government district of North Devon in the county of Devon, England, UK. It lies west southwest of Bristol, north of Plymouth and northwest of the county town of Exeter. The old spelling Barnstable is now obsolete.It is the main town of the... , Bedford Bedford Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town... , Brighton Brighton Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain... , Chelmsford Chelmsford Chelmsford is the county town of Essex, England and the principal settlement of the borough of Chelmsford. It is located in the London commuter belt, approximately northeast of Charing Cross, London, and approximately the same distance from the once provincial Roman capital at Colchester... , Cowes Cowes park and ride Cowes park and ride is a park and ride scheme on the Isle of Wight, featuring a 85-space car park and bus stop on the outskirts of Cowes in Somerton, on a former industrial site. It is currently served by Southern Vectis buses on route 1 every 12 minutes during the day. From the Park and Ride, a... , Dorchester, High Wycombe High Wycombe High Wycombe , commonly known as Wycombe and formally called Chepping Wycombe or Chipping Wycombe until 1946,is a large town in Buckinghamshire, England. It is west-north-west of Charing Cross in London; this figure is engraved on the Corn Market building in the centre of the town... , Horsham Horsham Horsham is a market town with a population of 55,657 on the upper reaches of the River Arun in the centre of the Weald, West Sussex, in the historic County of Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester... , Leeds Leeds Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial... , Ludlow Ludlow Ludlow is a market town in Shropshire, England close to the Welsh border and in the Welsh Marches. It lies within a bend of the River Teme, on its eastern bank, forming an area of and centred on a small hill. Atop this hill is the site of Ludlow Castle and the market place... , Sheffield Sheffield Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely... , Stoke Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area... , Stratford upon Avon, Truro Truro Truro is a city and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The city is the centre for administration, leisure and retail in Cornwall, with a population recorded in the 2001 census of 17,431. Truro urban statistical area, which includes parts of surrounding parishes, has a 2001 census...

Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

, bus based park and ride is organised on a regional basis by Translink

Translink (Northern Ireland)

. Belfast and other towns and cities are served by various sites, with bus services operated by Ulsterbus

Ulsterbus

Ulsterbus is a public transport operator in Northern Ireland and operates bus services outside Belfast. It is part of Translink , which also includes Northern Ireland Railways, Metro Belfast and Flexibus.-Services:Ulsterbus is responsible for most of the province-wide bus...

with their local bus services, and their Goldlink interurban branded services. Unlike in the rest of the UK, several site in Northern Ireland are as small as 10 spaces up to around 300, with (as of 2008) 20 sites across Northern Ireland.

Scotland

Number of parking sites †	Location
6	Edinburgh Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
3	Aberdeen Aberdeen Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of .... , Perth Perth, Scotland Perth is a town and former city and royal burgh in central Scotland. Located on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire...
2	Stirling Stirling Stirling is a city and former ancient burgh in Scotland, and is at the heart of the wider Stirling council area. The city is clustered around a large fortress and medieval old-town beside the River Forth...
1	Falkirk Falkirk Falkirk is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies in the Forth Valley, almost midway between the two most populous cities of Scotland; north-west of Edinburgh and north-east of Glasgow....

Wales

Cardiff

Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...

, the capital, currently operates 4 sites in north, south, east and west of the city. A scheme in Swansea

Swansea

, in the south west

South West Wales

South West Wales is a region of Wales. A definition consisting of the unitary authorities of Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire is used by a number of government agencies and private organisations including:*BBC...

of the country, currently operates from 3 sites. The Mid Wales town of Aberystwyth

Aberystwyth

Aberystwyth is a historic market town, administrative centre and holiday resort within Ceredigion, Wales. Often colloquially known as Aber, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Ystwyth and Rheidol....

also has its own scheme.

† - Not including sites proposed or under construction. Only including sites in use 5 days a or more a week, and not seasonal/Saturday only/event only usage

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