Park and ride facilities
Park and ride (P&R) facilities allow customers to park their vehicles on the edge of dense urban areas and use public transport (PT) – such as (light) rail or shuttle buses – to reach their destination in the city centre. P&R facilities are typically developed to relieve small towns from congestion. P&R facilities are often offered to users free of charge or at very low cost.
The available literature shows that behavioural responses to P&R facilities are more complex than a simple interception and shortening of car trips. In response to the introduction of P&R facilities, previous car-only users may now decide to use PT for a part of their trip into the city centre; on the other hand, previous PT-only users may now decide to use their private car for a part of the trip, i.e. to get to the P&R facilities.
Overall, the introduction of P&R facilities therefore does not necessarily result in CO2 benefits, especially if the P&R facility is connected to a road-based public transport system. For a rail-based P&R facility in The Hague, Netherlands, a CO2 benefit could be identified. The success of the scheme was attributed to the fact that the P&R facilities were relatively far outside the city centre, thereby intercepting city commuters early and replacing a large portion of their travel by the rail-based PT system.
Providing P&R facilities implies costs for land and infrastructure construction (barriers, signage, parking facilities, etc.) and for system maintenance and operation. P&R facilities may also imply costs for increasing PT service capacity.
P&R is typically successful in easing city-centre traffic congestion, thereby enhancing residents' quality of life and reducing local air pollution. P&R facilities can also be successful in increasing urban accessibility by providing new transport alternatives to commuters. If adequate parking for vulnerable groups (such as the disabled) is supplied, equity in access to public transport can be increased.
Considering system-wide effects (i.e. accounting for effects outside the city centre as well as inside), P&R facilities may increase overall car use and related impacts. For example, in Wellington, New Zealand, it was found that increasing parking capacity by 25% without any other changes resulted in increased use of the P&R facility, but that this use replaced more PT trips than car trips.
ITF (2021) Transport Climate Action Directory – Park and ride facilities
https://www.itf-oecd.org/policy/park-and-ride-facilities
ITF (2021), Reversing Car Dependency: Summary and Conclusions, ITF Roundtable Reports, No. 181, OECD Publishing, Paris.
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Meek, S., Ison, S. and Enoch, M. (2008) Role of Bus‐Based Park and Ride in the UK: A Temporal and Evaluative Review. https://doi.org/10.1080/01441640802059152
Mingardo, G. (2013) Transport and environmental effects of rail-based Park and Ride: evidence from the Netherlands. Journal of Transport Geography, Volume 30, June 2013, Pages 7-16 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2013.02.004
Parkhurst, G. (1995) Park and ride: could it increase car traffic. https://doi.org/10.1016/0967-070X(95)93242-Q
Parkhurst, G. (2000) Influence of bus-based park and ride facilities on users’ car traffic. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0967-070X(00)00006-8
Parkhurst, G. and Meek, S. (2014) The Effectiveness of Park-and-Ride as a Policy Measure for more Sustainable Mobility. Chapter 9 in Ison, S. & Mulley, C. (Eds) Parking Issues and Policies. Emerald, 185-211. http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/26149/7/Park-and-RidePolicytext.pdf
Vincent, M. 2007. Park and ride: Characteristics and demand forecasting. Land Transport NZ Research Report 328. 131 pp. https://www.nzta.govt.nz/assets/resources/research/reports/328/docs/328.pdf
Wallis, I, Ballantyne, J., Lawrence A., and Lupton, D. (2014) Economic benefits of park and ride. NZ Transport Agency research report 562. 201pp. http://www.nzta.govt.nz/assets/resources/research/reports/562/docs/562.pdf
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