The new Park and Ride in the east of Cardiff is proving to be extremely popular, with the numbers of people using it rising each week.
Since its launch on October 19, the weekly number of cars using the Park and Ride has more than doubled, with the latest count showing 1548 drivers taking advantage of the service from November 16 to 22.
Both commuters and shoppers are finding the Cardiff East Park and Ride invaluable and the approaching festive season, coupled with the recent opening of St David’s, has boosted figures significantly with more than 6000 vehicles using the service.
Councillor Delme Bowen, Executive member for Traffic and Transportation, said: “People are realising just how easy the new Park and Ride makes it to get in and out of the city centre and I am getting nothing but positive feedback about it.
“It’s great to see people actively seeking alternative travel solutions to get into Cardiff to help reduce congestion problems and carbon emissions. The Cardiff East Park and Ride looks to be a resounding success.”
Based just off the A48 (Eastern Avenue) the Cardiff East Park and Ride can be accessed from the Pentwyn Interchange. It has 340 car parking spaces, including 19 disabled spaces, with buses running every 15 minutes direct to Dumfries Place at the end of Queen Street (next to Sainsburys) via a dedicated bus lane.
The bus journey gives people a quick and environmentally friendly way of travelling into Cardiff city centre, with the amount of spaces to be eventually extended to 1100.
The cost of the Park and Ride for all-day parking is £2.50 per car with buses running from 7am to 8.30pm Monday to Friday (Thursdays 7am to 10.30pm), Saturdays 9am to 7pm and Sundays 9am to 5.30pm. The buses are low-floor, wheelchair accessible and able to take prams.
There is a Park and Ride bus every fifteen From Monday to Friday the service operates from 7am until 8.30pm and 10.30pm on Thursdays. On Saturdays buses run from 9am to 7pm and on Sundays from 9am until 5.30pm.
The new Park and Ride is part of Cardiff Council’s Sustainable Travel City initiative, which is partly funded by the Welsh Assembly Government, and links in with the ‘Free B’ shuttle bus, which helps in getting people between key points in the city centre, with a bus every 10 minutes.
Cardiff East Park and Ride also links up with existing Park and Ride facilities which are available to the west of the city at the new Cardiff City stadium in Leckwith.
Opening times are 7.30am to 7.30pm Monday to Saturday, except on match days.
At the weekend the regular Cardiff South and Cardiff North Park and Ride services are in operation. On Saturday these run from both County Hall and Crown Way from 9am to 6pm and on Sunday from 10am to 5.30pm (Cardiff North Park and Ride,is open on Sundays until January 3 for the Christmas period).
