Park and ride for Highway’s England’s roads: a solution to congestion?

30 November 2020

Transport Focus and Highways England have worked together to understand the potential for ‘park and ride’ to reduce congestion on England’s motorways and major ‘A’ roads by providing an alternative to driving all the way. You can download our report below.

The research, undertaken before the spring 2020 Covid-19 lockdown, gathered the views of almost 500 people. We found that park and ride has the potential to help reduce road congestion, but people need to know about it. The overwhelming reason people were not considering park and ride was due to a lack of awareness.

There were also gaps in understanding of key aspects such as ticketing and frequency of buses. Other barriers include uncertainty over journey time and negative assumptions such as the perceived hassle in comparison to driving or taking the train.

Among existing users of park and ride we spoke to in Doncaster and Oxford, satisfaction reached 98 per cent for local journeys and 86 per cent for longer distance journeys. Those who used park and ride found it made travelling easier, less stressful and offered good value for money.