Coventry Park & Ride- What a nightmare today!!

[GazUk]

Hello All


I today had the dis-pleasure of using the Park and Ride at the War Memorial Park in Coventry today, I have used it many a time, and the last time I used it was early last year and at the time, the service that was operated from there was pretty good. Clean (and green) punctual buses were being used and the car park seemed pretty full.

But today, wow what a different story. It seems that because of Centro/Government funding I guess being withdrawn (or something along those lines) Travel De Courcey who used to operate this Park and ride stopped operating it and was replaced by Stagecoach on their X16/X17/X17U services between Coventry and Warwick/Stratford.

And now well from what I experienced I have to say the whole Park and ride service in Coventry seems rather rubbish to say the least, I waited near enough 50 minutes for a bus to arrive to take me into the City Centre, there were 4 buses that came and went, in the opposite direction, but for a service that should have been every 15 minutes this is pretty damn poor.

I don't know if I was unlucky today, or if this is a standard sort of thing to happen on this route and service, but from what I experienced within the last few years to now seems a big major change for the worse really, and I've used other P&R services in various cities across the UK and this is the first time I have come across a P&R being included on a major bus route.

Maybe stagecoach need to take a leaf out of the De Courcey's book and have a dedicated service!

/Rant over!

 

[radamfi]

Horsham Park & Ride is included in Metrobus route 98. Groningen has a number of park and ride sites which are all served by normal routes, although admittedly park and ride is clearly intergral to the routes which enjoy dedicated busways.

 

[derbybusdepot]

Hello All


I today had the dis-pleasure of using the Park and Ride at the War Memorial Park in Coventry today, I have used it many a time, and the last time I used it was early last year and at the time, the service that was operated from there was pretty good. Clean (and green) punctual buses were being used and the car park seemed pretty full.

But today, wow what a different story. It seems that because of Centro/Government funding I guess being withdrawn (or something along those lines) Travel De Courcey who used to operate this Park and ride stopped operating it and was replaced by Stagecoach on their X16/X17/X17U services between Coventry and Warwick/Stratford.

And now well from what I experienced I have to say the whole Park and ride service in Coventry seems rather rubbish to say the least, I waited near enough 50 minutes for a bus to arrive to take me into the City Centre, there were 4 buses that came and went, in the opposite direction, but for a service that should have been every 15 minutes this is pretty damn poor.

I don't know if I was unlucky today, or if this is a standard sort of thing to happen on this route and service, but from what I experienced within the last few years to now seems a big major change for the worse really, and I've used other P&R services in various cities across the UK and this is the first time I have come across a P&R being included on a major bus route.

Maybe stagecoach need to take a leaf out of the De Courcey's book and have a dedicated service!

/Rant over!

The fatal RTA on the M6 near Coventry probably contributed to the problems.

Dedicated buses for Park and Ride can be quite costly / unnecessary especially if there are plenty of services passing the site with capacity available.

 

[carlberry]

I don't know if I was unlucky today, or if this is a standard sort of thing to happen on this route and service, but from what I experienced within the last few years to now seems a big major change for the worse really, and I've used other P&R services in various cities across the UK and this is the first time I have come across a P&R being included on a major bus route.

Maybe stagecoach need to take a leaf out of the De Courcey's book and have a dedicated service!

/Rant over!

If the council were paying the same money then Stagecoach would be providing a dedicated service, as they dont then they get what they pay for! Several cities have started doing this recently (Gloucester and Cardiff are two others that I know of recently) and the reason is always the same, it costs less.

In reality Park and Ride is just a relocated car park with a bit of an environmental benefit. If a council is short of money then cutting park and ride subsidies isnt going to leave anybody without an alternative so it's an easy cut.

 

[GazUk]

The fatal RTA on the M6 near Coventry probably contributed to the problems.

Dedicated buses for Park and Ride can be quite costly / unnecessary especially if there are plenty of services passing the site with capacity available.

Ahh i did not know of the accident on th M6, but neverless the buses that serve this P&R Run from the city centre southwards along the Kenilworth Rd Across the A45/A46 chord, the thing is about the dedicated buses is that former Operator Travel De Courcey actually had invested in Hybrid green buses soley for this route a few years back to much fanfare by the Local media.
I wonder where those buses ended up?

 

[nottinghamcity]

Nottingham makes combining general usage buses mainly to out of town employment areas, with park and ride sites, although many are tram based now. Then Nottingham generally funds transport adequately.

 

[Valandil]

Ahh i did not know of the accident on th M6, but neverless the buses that serve this P&R Run from the city centre southwards along the Kenilworth Rd Across the A45/A46 chord, the thing is about the dedicated buses is that former Operator Travel De Courcey actually had invested in Hybrid green buses soley for this route a few years back to much fanfare by the Local media.
I wonder where those buses ended up?

You can often find them on the 85 service (Rail Station - City Centre - Walsgrave Hospital).

 

[Qwerty133]

The fatal RTA on the M6 near Coventry probably contributed to the problems.

Dedicated buses for Park and Ride can be quite costly / unnecessary especially if there are plenty of services passing the site with capacity available.

Just because there are services passing the site of a park and ride, it doesn't mean that said services are at all appropriate to take over from the park and ride's dedicated service. For example in Leicester Enderby Park and Ride is passed by Arriva Midlands services 50, 50a, and Hinckley bus X44, however the route taken into the city centre by these buses is completely different, and except for the hourly X44 takes approximately double the time to reach the city centre as the dedicated buses (I think its slightly less than double on the timetables, but the 50 is hardly ever on time).

 

[RT4038]

Just because there are services passing the site of a park and ride, it doesn't mean that said services are at all appropriate to take over from the park and ride's dedicated service.).

You may well be right, but, as always, it is the financials that are ruling in Coventry. The cost of the dedicated service and car park upkeep was not being covered by the fares collected. The main users of the service will not have been Coventry (or West Midlands County) residents. Yes I know that Coventry residents would have benefited from reduced City Centre congestion, but this is not easily quantifiable in cash terms. Result: withdraw dedicated service. Yes, this will reduce the attractiveness of the P&R system, and yes it will probably result in its demise eventually. But in the short term, it will help Coventry balance its budget, which is the priority NOW!

 

[edwin_m]

Stagecoach has built a park and ride, as a commercial venture I believe, at what was formerly the turning circle of the 192 bus route in Hazel Grove. You can see it on the right from the train to Sheffield or probably on the left from the train to Buxton.