A new Park and Ride in the east of Cardiff will open on Monday (October 19) with people able to use it for free over the first five days.
Based just off the A48 (Eastern Avenue) the Cardiff East Park and Ride can be accessed from the Pentwyn Interchange. It has 300 car parking spaces, with buses running every 15 minutes direct to Dumfries Place at the end of Queen Street (adjacent to Sainsburys) via a dedicated bus lane.
The bus journey will give people a quick and environmentally friendly way of travelling into Cardiff city centre.
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.
Using the Park and Ride couldn’t be easier. People need to take a ticket on entry and give it to the bus driver so that it is validated, going both in and out of the city. Once back at Pentwyn people can pay for parking at a meter with their ticket, before using it to exit the car park.
Councillor Delme Bowen, Executive member for Traffic and Transportation, said: “This new Park and Ride is a key element in the council’s commitment to making Cardiff a Sustainable Travel City. This facility is going to make it incredibly easy for anyone travelling from the east of the city to have a simple and stress free option of getting in and out of the city centre.
“The Council is encouraging people not to use their car and finding alternative travel solutions to get into Cardiff to help reduce congestion problems and carbon emissions “This park and ride links up with our new ‘Free b’ bus service – the new free city centre shuttle service, which also stops at Dumfries Place, which runs in a circular route around the city every 10 minutes.”
Cardiff Council Leader, Rodney Berman, said: “I hope people will take advantage of using the Cardiff East Park and Ride for free next week. They will be able to see just how easy it is. With the opening of John Lewis and, next week, the new St David’s development, more and more people want to come into Cardiff city centre.
“Park and Ride will give residents, commuters and visitors a genuine option to think about the environment and take advantage of a great facility. If we can encourage more people not to bring their cars into the city centre and use park and ride then Cardiff really will reap the benefits.”
Deputy First Minister, and Minister for the Economy and Transport, Ieuan Wyn Jones, said: “I am extremely pleased to welcome this Park and Ride facility to Cardiff as it will offer an attractive alternative to those driving cars in and out of our capital each day. Commuter levels in and around Cardiff have increased significantly over the past few years so this is an exciting opportunity that will surely benefit many of the 75,000 people who make the commute on a daily basis”
“Our commitment to ensuring the success of Wales’ first sustainable travel town is evidenced in the £550,000 we have invested into this scheme, in addition to the £14m total over two years,” added Mr Jones. “We will shortly be naming three other centres in Wales that will benefit from this scheme to create truly integrated transport systems for Wales’ key urban areas.”
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, with only the County Hall car park in operation on Sunday. The opening times are 9am to 6pm on Saturday and 10am to 5.30pm on Sunday.
For more information about city park and ride services visit www.cardiffparkandride.com
