Extension of free bus travel via Park & Ride welcomed by Oxford Bus Company

Oxford Bus Company welcomes the news that free bus travel via the Park & Ride network in Oxford has been extended until the end of March.

The initiative was introduced at the end of October as part of a series of major improvements following the introduction of the temporary congestion charge.

Park & Ride bus travel was free for an initial three-month trial period, but the success of the scheme has enabled it to be extended by Oxfordshire County Council.

Between the introduction of free bus travel on 29th October and 3rd January, 119,172 more journeys were made from Park & Rides on Oxford Bus Company services, compared to the previous year.

This represents a 44.6 per cent growth and equates to an additional 10,833 people using the Park & Ride each week. The site with the largest growth has been Redbridge, with 63 per cent growth recorded.

Luke Marion, Managing Director of Oxford Bus Company, said: “We’re delighted that the popular free Park & Ride scheme made possible by the congestion charge will be continuing for a further two months.

“The scheme is making a hugely positive real-world impact, with more than 10,000 additional journeys taking place each week on our services from the Park & Ride car parks, when compared to the same period last year.

“Intercepting these journeys at the Park & Ride sites is directly supporting the congestion charge scheme in reducing traffic on Oxford’s roads, leading to faster journey times for bus passengers.

“What’s more, we haven’t seen any issues with people switching from using local buses to Park & Ride services as a result of the offer, as ridership on local buses is also showing encouraging growth, following the introduction of the council’s congestion charge scheme, and our corresponding service improvements.

“Now that we have data on the real-world traffic conditions being seen under the congestion charge, we’ll be making some further changes to our timetables to improve reliability from 22nd February, and details of these will be announced soon.”

Extensive network improvements were also implemented on 9th November as part of the Oxfordshire Bus Enhanced Partnership in which Oxfordshire County Council and bus operators work together to improve bus productivity in the city.

The introduction of the temporary congestion charge means there are now more services for Blackbird Leys, Cowley, Headington, Barton, Marston, Abingdon and Kidlington than before the congestion charge, while direct links between Littlemore, Rose Hill, Iffley Road and the railway station have been restored on services 3 and 3A. Passengers are also benefitting from better orbital links around East Oxford thanks to improvements made to services 100, 500 and 700.

To claim a free return ticket on the Park & Ride network, customers with a valid parking ticket for any of the five sites located around the ring road must show their parking ticket to their bus driver.

Oxford Park & Ride sites are located at Redbridge, Seacourt, Thornhill, Pear Tree and Oxford Parkway. Parking is just £2.50 for up to 16 hours.