Commuters encouraged to 'park and ride'

Published Friday, 12 October 2012

With park and ride schemes being rolled out across Northern Ireland, UTV has visited one such site to see if motorists are catching on.

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Northern Ireland now has 30 park and ride facilities in place, including one at Jordanstown which opened just two weeks ago.

On Friday morning, while UTV were at the site, there were only 10 cars and 56 empty spaces.

"It wouldn't be unusual for a week or two to pass before people start changing their behaviour and start using the car-parking," Translink's Ciaran Rogan explained.

"But across the board ... if you look at Moira, if you look at Lisburn and you look at anywhere where we have put additional car-park space in - at a railway station in particular - they will get filled and get filled very quickly."

The park and ride schemes are part of a major initiative to ease traffic congestion, especially at peak times and the public are being urged to ditch their cars when possible and opt for trains or buses.

But it seems more work remains to be done if people are to be coaxed out of the comfort of their cars and onto public transport - even if it does mean avoiding the tailbacks.

Are you prepared to swap your car for public transport or maybe you already depend on buses and trains? Leave a comment to have your say on Northern Ireland's transport systems.

Comments

5 Comments

Pete in Belfast wrote (222 days ago):

Motorists do not pay road tax, they pay vehicle excise duty. This is a tax on owning a car depending on the amount of emissions it produces, not a tax on using the road. Road Tax was abolished in 1937, along with the ‘road fund licence’. It’s now car tax, a UK tax on tailpipe CO2 emissions above 100gm per km. It’s not now, and never has been, a fee to use roads. Roads are paid for out of general and local taxation. Motorists don’t pay for roads, we all pay for roads, regardless of whether we own a car or not.

Andy in Belfast wrote (223 days ago):

The wife & I both work in seperate areas of Belfast , one of which there is no bus service to , and it would take 2 buses to get to my place of work. We share one car and also provide a lift to a work colleague, and even the ownership costs involved in the car I drive still works out cheaper than buses (yearly) .

Anon in Bangor wrote (224 days ago):

Try getting a space in Bangor park and ride....not nearly enough spaces for the demand

Jill in Belfast wrote (224 days ago):

So if motorists choose to do this are they gonna reduce road tax/insurance premiums. After all motorists a) Pay to use the roads & b)pay a premium for "commuting to place of work" How come all these changes are to push cars off the roads and create bus lanes and cycle lanes when cyclists don't even pay taxes and bus/rail fares cost MORE than petrol.

Christine Woodrow in Belfast wrote (225 days ago):

Re your story on commuters being urged to use public transport. I live 1.7 miles from Belfast City Hall; for my daughter, her husband, her child and I to travel to Belfast City centre costs £10.80 return by bus. We can travel by car and park in the city centre for £5-£6 for 2 hours and do not have the problem of getting a pram on and off the bus (not all buses are kneeling buses and it is difficult to get a pram on and off some buses). It is also more convenient if carrying large or bulky shopping. Perhaps if the cost of public transport for such a short journey was more cost effective my family would consider to using it.