|
Reports & Responses | Become a Golden Supporter |
October 2003
Strategic Park and Ride for the West Midlands
Birmingham Friends of the Earth welcomes the opportunity to respond to the WMLGA consultation on a Park and Ride Strategy for the West Midlands.
Introduction
We have serious concerns about the
general concept of Park and Ride. It has been applied previously to increase
the catchment areas of railway stations notably in the WMPTE area, and although
we acknowledge the success of this measure in increasing the attractiveness
of the local rail network in the 1970's, we do not think further park and ride
expansion is appropriate for the 21st century, nor do we believe it contributes
significantly to more sustainable transport provision or offers any wider significant
environmental benefits.
Another role for Park and Ride has been to increase the accessibility of towns and cities, which have been unable to accommodate increased traffic. It has been successful in increasing the accessibility of such centres to car users and removing the localised effects of inner urban air pollution and redistributing it to other areas. However beyond this it has achieved little or nothing in terms of solving wider transport related environmental problems. We would like to emphasise that Park and Ride actually caters for increased car use by increasing car park provision in areas where it can be built e.g. on the periphery of a town or conurbation, and enabling people to continue by public transport to a destination where car park expansion may be limited. We do not think that a measure which facilitates increased use of the car and encourages even more journeys as Park and Ride does, has any place in a sustainable transport policy.
What does the strategy seek
to achieve?
We would first like to question
the rationale of expanding Park and Ride capacity. What does this strategy seek
to achieve in wider terms for transport policy and its impact on the environment
and the economy? Is it to reduce traffic congestion in certain areas or is it
to make towns and cities more accessible by car without resorting to building
more town centre car parks?
Environmental impacts of
Park and Ride
The consultation seems to start with
the assumption that expanding Park and Ride is a key element in any policy for
sustainable transport. However when the pros and cons are weighed up, it actually
produces a negative environmental impact and may ultimately diminish the choice
and quality of other transport modes such as walking, cycling and non Park and
Ride public transport services. Our concerns are as follows:
1. We question the efficacy of Park and Ride in reducing overall traffic levels - it simply redistributes traffic to other parts of the conurbation particularly to roads feeding into a park and ride site. In the UK, there is little or no evidence to show that it actually reduces congestion; on the contrary it actually generates more traffic. Edge of town Park and Ride sites may be successful in reducing traffic levels in inner urban areas and town centres by intercepting car journeys at the periphery of a town, but these journeys are just redistributed to other areas. Furthermore, studies have shown that 35% of the car journeys are not intercepted, but have transferred from public transport or have been newly generated. [1]
2. Overall, vehicle miles and atmospheric pollution are increased. People who may once have walked, cycled or bussed to the nearest station or used public transport for the whole of their journey are tempted to drive to the Park and Ride site instead. This is borne out by surveys which show that in one case 40% of park and riders would have switched away from public transport in order to drive to the Park and Ride site [3]. Others may prefer to use the facilities of a more distant town with Park and Ride rather than use their closest facilities. Research has shown that for three bus-based park and ride sites in Coventry Cambridge and Norwich, overall vehicle miles have increased. For instance in Cambridge, vehicle miles increased by 0.64 miles per car once additional bus mileage was taken into account from the additional Park and Ride bus services. [1]. The increased vehicle miles and increase in overall atmospheric pollution show that Park and Ride schemes have a net environmental cost.
3. Park and ride may undermine existing public transport services or may threaten the prospects for service improvements and the introduction of new routes. Most bus based Park and Ride schemes operate with financial support from local authorities, in some cases up to £1.00 per car parking space per day. These funds would be better spent on improving normal bus services which benefit a wider section of the population, rather than introducing measures which benefit only car drivers. In the context of the West Midlands, a proposed Park and Ride facility at Longbridge may tempt people to Park and Ride when previously they would have used public transport for all of their journey eg from Bromsgrove or Barnt Green. This is obviously a very undesirable side effect which risks undermining the viability of certain train and bus services already serving these places. It would also damage the prospects of improving the network of bus routes serving or passing near local rail stations. Train and bus operators will not be too happy to see their passengers driving from Worcester to the Longbridge Park and Ride site when travelling to Birmingham rather than taking the train or bus all the way, and they may cut their services in response.
4. Park and Ride with free car parking is a subsidy to car drivers. It makes car use more attractive by removing the cost and stress of parking in town and city centres. Usually, park and ride users only pay for the public transport element of the park and ride package and do not contribute towards the capital cost of providing the parking spaces or the continuing maintenance. Furthermore, with bus based Park and Ride schemes, in most cases the cost of providing the bus service is subsidised by the Local Authority. Thus the benefits are not fully met by the users and this makes any journey using Park and Ride artificially cheap encouraging people to continue to use their cars where a viable public transport option might be available. We would like to see car parking charges applied to all Park and Ride sites. The revenue could then be used to improve station facilities such as cycle parking disabled access, and to fund feeder bus services.
5. Park and Ride schemes increase the social exclusion of those without access to a car. Normal bus services used by such people will suffer financially and may be cut back or withdrawn, as those with access to a car desert these services for the Park and Ride alternative. [2]
6. Large areas of land devoted to car parking is an inefficient use of land which could be put to another more productive use. Large car parks on the edge of towns and cities become an eyesore, and are totally unacceptable if they eat into greenfield sites.
7. Park and Ride facilities should be regarded as car parking provision rather than public transport provision. In effect it is nothing more than the redistribution of car parking provision from town or city centres to peripheral areas. IF park and ride really is needed, then the number of spaces created should be matched with the removal of spaces from the destination city or town centre, so that the overall supply of car parking is not increased. However, such a move would be politically unpopular and probably difficult to achieve in practice.
Alternatives to Park and
Ride
We note that Manchester City Council
in its TPP bid for 1997/1998 rejected the need for large scale Park and Ride
expansion noting that the majority of its population live within 10 minutes
walk of a bus stop[3]. Its main objective was therefore to attract more people
onto the buses so that they would not need to use their car for even part of
the journey.
A similar strategy should be adopted for the West Midlands conurbation, which has public transport networks of comparable density. This could also be adopted in other larger towns within the wider West Midlands region. In the more rural areas of the region, we would like to see the creation of a more extensive and frequent bus network than exists at present which would make Park and Ride unnecessary. Park and Ride facilities could be provided in such sparsely populated areas as an interim measure, until a frequent and comprehensive network of bus services has been established. The Park and Ride facility would then be rendered obsolete by a combination of more extensive bus networks, together with rural walking and cycling routes linking bus stops and railway stations with other facilities.
Conclusion
It would appear that a Park and Ride
strategy aimed at expanding provision is being pursued because it is regarded
as politically popular and is easily achievable within the current policy framework.
It is often portrayed as an essential element in any sustainable transport policy
and as being environmentally beneficial. However the evidence suggests otherwise
and we would urge you to question these assumptions. We feel that the emphasis
should be placed on other measures, such as reducing the need to travel by ensuring
the viability of local facilities and improving all public transport cycling
and walking routes in urban and rural areas alike. This would make Park and
Ride unnecessary even in rural areas.
Martin Stride
References