Customers give ringing endorsement to park and ride services

27 July 2018

Users of Leeds' Elland Road and Temple Green park and ride facilities have given them a ringing endorsement.

Comments made by the 800 customers who took part in a recent satisfaction survey include:

  • Cheap, fast travel. Much better alternative than sitting through traffic then paying through the roof for parking.
  • Think it's an excellent facility and so convenient much cheaper and just as convenient as taking a car into Leeds.
  • Always on time, always clean, drivers friendly, not expensive, what's not to like?
  • Cheaper than parking less pollution and congestion in city

Over 97% of the customers surveyed said would recommend park and ride to others and there were scores of 4.7 to 4.9 out of 5 for the bus services themselves as well as the friendliness/helpfulness of staff and drivers, the waiting area, the parking facilities and the ticket machines.

 

Positive impact

Ninety-four per-cent of users say park and ride has had a positive impact on their commute to work. More than 65% of Leeds park and ride users previously travelled to and from work by car, which means that the 800-space Elland Road and 1,000-spcae Temple Green are now removing 8,000 car journeys from city centre roads every week.

Users cited cheapness, simplicity, efficiency, their positive experience with drives and staff and speed of journeys among their reasons for switching to park and ride. Almost 90% also think park and ride has had a positive impact on pollution/congestion and the environment.

Leeds park and ride's positive impact on the city environment was enhanced recently with the introduction of eight new, ultra-low emission vehicles. As well as deliver significant fuel and C02 improvements along the Elland Road and Temple Green park and ride routes, the new buses are more comfortable featuring leather seats, free Wi-Fi, USB points and audio-visual screens which will.

Cllr Kim Groves, Chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Committee said: "Over one and a half million passenger journeys have now been made on the Elland Road and Temple Green park and ride services and I am delighted that their customers continue to rate them so highly and are willing to recommend them to others.

"Replacing 8,000 car journeys a week on our busy city roads with journeys on ultra-low emission park and ride buses is having a significant impact on reducing the economic costs of congestion as well as an environmental impact."

Cllr Richard Lewis, Leeds City Council's Executive Member for Regeneration, Transport and Planning said: "The impact of park and ride services in Leeds is a great success story for the city. The response in terms of how much they are being used and the positive views of the people who use them are the ideal endorsement for our plans as part of Connecting Leeds to expand not only the Elland Road service but also to introduce further park and rides at Stourton and in the north of the city so even more people can use it to get in and out of the city centre.

"Reducing the numbers of cars accessing the city centre each day is a key element of our commitment to improving air quality in Leeds, and together with the low-emissions buses which operate the services park and ride has a pivotal role to play in that clean air strategy."

Martin Hirst, Commercial Director at First Leeds, said: "We're proud to be operating the Park & Ride services in Leeds, as we help to save customers the hassle and cost of parking in Leeds City Centre with just a short bus trip into Leeds from just £2.70 per day. It's not just locals who are taking advantage of the service, people are travelling from Huddersfield, Bradford, Halifax and Manchester and so it's pleasing that customers are happy with the service being provided. It's also great to hear that our customers are very satisfied with the service they receive from our drivers and Park & Ride site staff.

"Due to the popularity of the park & ride service, we increased the size of the Elland Road car park and we also opened a new passenger facility. Both park and ride sites are served by new Hybrid Electric ultra-low emission buses, resulting in over 6,000 fewer car journeys on Leeds city centre streets each week."

 

Just £2.70 per day

Park and ride buses run into Leeds city Centre every 10-15 minutes, with a journey only taking 10 minutes for Elland Road and 15 minutes for Temple Green and fares are as little as £2.70 per day.

Find out more about park and ride in Leeds. Follow @iparkandride on Twitter.

Temple Green Park and Ride was developed through investment from the Combined Authority's West Yorkshire-plus Transport Fund, and the Leeds City Region Growth Deal - a £1 billion package of Government investment through the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to accelerate growth and create jobs across Leeds City Region.

Leeds City Council and the Combined Authority are also exploring the development of a new, £23 million, 1,200-space park and ride scheme in Stourton and a £5 million expansion at Elland Road that would see the capacity increased to 1,000 spaces.

More about Combined Authority projects to boost jobs, growth and transport in the City Region