Archived decisions

Contact: Andy Berncastle, ext 6921 email: [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 This report gives details of a new Park and Ride bus service to Romsey Road, starting on 7 March 2005, and an update on part of the Miracles project.

2. Existing Park and Ride Service

2.1 The present Park and Ride service started in 1998 and ran substantially unaltered until 2003, when the peak-time frequency was enhanced to coincide with the enlargement of the St Catherine's car park.

2.2 Prior to enlargement, the full 330 space capacity of the two car parks (St Catherine's and Barfield) was taken up every day on Monday to Friday. The new total capacity is some 700 spaces, and usage is now around 500 per day.

3. The Case for Serving Romsey Road

3.1 Parking spaces are generally in short supply in the Castle/Station area by 10.00 am on Monday to Friday, while spaces are available throughout the day at Chesil car park.

3.2 The various employers on Romsey Road, notably the Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Hampshire Constabulary and University College, Winchester (formerly King Alfred's College), have inadequate parking capacity for their staff on-site.

3.3 Through the Winchester Commuter Forum, they have been pressing for extension of the present Park and Ride service to include Romsey Road. The employers noted do not charge their staff enough to park on-site to encourage daily use of the Park and Ride car parks at £1.50 per day, but a joint meeting of City and County Council Members in December concluded that an experimental service should be provided.

4. The New Service

4.1 It is not possible to extend the existing service without significantly affecting many current passengers. Those boarding at Sainsbury's and at Barclay's Bank (Jewry Street) to return to the car parks would suffer a double run, up and down Romsey Road, and this was considered likely to significantly affect the attractiveness of the service.

4.2 The County Council, acting on behalf of the City Council, sent invitations on 31 January 2005 to tender for a discrete service to all local bus and coach operators.

4.3 The new service has been largely specified by the City Council. It will offer departures from St Catherine's at 0710, 0730, 0750, 0810, 0830 and 0850 hours on Monday to Friday, returning at 1610, 1630, 1650, 1710, 1730 and 1750 hours from Romsey Road. The service will terminate at the main entrance (Butterfield block) of the hospital and stop on request at the police headquarters entrance.

4.4 The service will start on 7 March and run initially until 1 July 2005, as an experiment. Publicity will be targeted at Romsey Road employees.

4.5 There is committed funding from the County Council of £25,000 from the local bus subsidy budget and £30,000 from the City Council.

4.6 The experiment will be reviewed in May 2005 to decide whether it should be extended, on the basis of passengers carried.

5. Miracles

5.1 As part of the Miracles project, ten older single-deck buses in the Stagecoach Winchester fleet have now been retro-fitted with the latest euro specification engines. The four Park and Ride vehicles have been fitted with exhaust traps, plus the 13 new buses on routes 1 and 5 will be fitted with exhaust treatment systems to further reduce emissions below the current euro ratings. New electronic bus departure information screens have been installed at Winchester rail station forecourt. Focus groups are to be held to ascertain public reaction to the Miracles project.

5.2 Locations are being finalised with a number of parish councils in the Winchester City Council area to install new parish notice boards. These boards will display primarily public transport information, along with other local community information. They will be installed during March 2005.

Recommendation

That this report be noted.

9198/AB