WMT introduce parking charges at more stations

[ForTheLoveOf]

I assume you have the detailed costings for this?

Quite simply put, if you want to have your private property stored whilst you are elsewhere then you should pay for it. The same as a hospital, the same as a town centre, the same as an airport.

Don’t like it? Get a bike.

Fundamentally I agree. But the thing is that the car parks at stations are being misused and mismanaged by TOCs. It's an area the government has totally failed to regulate, and frankly an oversight at best and a deliberate but bad decision at worst.

Station parking should be used to attract road users to a station and to encourage them to leave their car for the journey. But instead it is used as a cash cow by TOCs as noted e.g. above in the case of Cheddington. It's simply ridiculous that we are putting people off taking a more environmentally sustainable mode of transport by charging far in excess of the cost of provision, for the parking needed for many people to use the train.

As to costings, it doesn't take an expert to work out that charges of £10+ a day per space, as are charged by some operators, lead to a substantial profit. Car parks don't cost much to run - you need a bit of electricity if you have lights, and attendants or CCTV to police the charges. Most TOCs don't ever bother to resurface their car parks or anything like that, leading to some truly shocking road surfaces in some cases.

 

[Starmill]

Personally I would like to see improved bus and cycling provision for people to access local railway stations rather than more car parking.

This has proven very, very difficult in thks country, where often people won't be persuaded to cycle on the roads regardless of the quality of the cycle storage facilities, and where bus companies cannot even be obliged to divert their route onto a station forecourt even if there's a suitable route and money is spent on a bus turning circle.

I also have the radical opinion that we shouldn't build stations in places where local transport by bus or active modes is either totally or nearly impossible (Worcestershire Parkway, East Midlands Parkway, etc).

 

[Ianno87]

I also have the radical opinion that we shouldn't build stations in places where local transport by bus or active modes is either totally or nearly impossible (Worcestershire Parkway, East Midlands Parkway, etc).

I disagree with this. Take the hinterland of villages within a 20 mile radius of Cambridge. Many people choose to live there for affordability reasons. But lots of small villages, tok far for most to cycle but too small to sustain decent bus links (without heft subsidy). Without railhead car parks like Cambridge North, Whittlesford Parkway, etc. these passengers would be lost to rail entirely.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

I disagree with this. Take the hinterland of villages within a 20 mile radius of Cambridge. Many people choose to live there for affordability reasons. But lots of small villages, tok far for most to cycle but too small to sustain decent bus links (without heft subsidy). Without railhead car parks like Cambridge North, Whittlesford Parkway, etc. these passengers would be lost to rail entirely.

Indeed. I think, for the time being, it's a question of the lesser of two evils, and I think that providing affordable parking facilities to encourage people to drive as far as the station, rather than as far as their destination, is the least worst solution, given that many people simply won't even consider other modes of transport to the station.

If you want to offset or reduce some of the environmental disbenefits of people driving to stations, you could set parking charges that vary depending on the type of vehicle (electric, hybrid, conventional) or by their CO2 output, as well as providing the most conveniently located spaces with charging points. There are many options.

 

[jimm]

Personally I would like to see improved bus and cycling provision for people to access local railway stations rather than more car parking.

This has proven very, very difficult in thks country, where often people won't be persuaded to cycle on the roads regardless of the quality of the cycle storage facilities, and where bus companies cannot even be obliged to divert their route onto a station forecourt even if there's a suitable route and money is spent on a bus turning circle.

I also have the radical opinion that we shouldn't build stations in places where local transport by bus or active modes is either totally or nearly impossible (Worcestershire Parkway, East Midlands Parkway, etc).

In what way is local transport by bus going to be impossible at Worcestershire Parkway?

As soon as it opens, First Worcestershire route X50/51 between Worcester, Pershore and Evesham will start serving the station, using the shiny new bus stop just outside the entrance, providing a link between the staton and Whittington and through the south-east part of the city, along with a couple of villages to the east along the road to Pershore.

 

[Mordac]

I assume you have the detailed costings for this?

Quite simply put, if you want to have your private property stored whilst you are elsewhere then you should pay for it. The same as a hospital, the same as a town centre, the same as an airport.

Don’t like it? Get a bike.

I don't have to pay to use the car park at Tesco. That's because Tesco understands that the availability of parking is important to drive customers to spend money in the supermarket.

 

[Raul_Duke]

I don't have to pay to use the car park at Tesco. That's because Tesco understands that the availability of parking is important to drive customers to spend money in the supermarket.

You don’t pay directly, but it will be factored in to the price of the goods you buy, so everyone pays for your parking, whether they’ve driven or come by bus or walked.

The Tesco near me is next to a football ground. Do you think many people go shopping at Tesco on a Saturday here when town are at home?

 

[Mordac]

You don’t pay directly, but it will be factored in to the price of the goods you buy, so everyone pays for your parking, whether they’ve driven or come by bus or walked.

Sure. And Tesco clearly think that's a sound business decision.

Other supermarkets are available, by the way.

The Tesco near me is next to a football ground. Do you think many people go shopping at Tesco on a Saturday here when town are at home?

Most supermarket car parks have signage to the effect that you're only supposed to use the car park if you're shopping there. Now, obviously this may not be easy to enforce, but if anything, it'd be easier to do so at a rail station where you could make a reduced or free parking rate conditional on possession of a ticket.

 

[Starmill]

I disagree with this. Take the hinterland of villages within a 20 mile radius of Cambridge. Many people choose to live there for affordability reasons. But lots of small villages, tok far for most to cycle but too small to sustain decent bus links (without heft subsidy). Without railhead car parks like Cambridge North, Whittlesford Parkway, etc. these passengers would be lost to rail entirely.

I don't agree with your idea that there isn't enough money to subsidise buses on a useful schedule to the villages in question, or that the people who live there are entitled to have their parking subsidised by rail users who don't drive to the station.

However, if there are going to be these stations then obviously it stands to reason that the parking at them is going to be rather expensive. Another reason that car parking is pricey is because it's often built on valuable land. People often complain at the high prices of car parking at Milton Keynes Central, for example, but that's not a huge surprise given the relatively high value of land right in front of the station.

 

[Kite159]

Most supermarket car parks have signage to the effect that you're only supposed to use the car park if you're shopping there. Now, obviously this may not be easy to enforce, but if anything, it'd be easier to do so at a rail station where you could make a reduced or free parking rate conditional on possession of a ticket.

Reminds me of Salisbury station 10+ years ago, the parking carried a £2 premium where you would present a tear-off slip to the ticket office and get the £2 refunded if you were a genuine rail user rather than someone using the car-park who worked elsewhere in the city.

The local Asda (and Iceland) car-park charges for parking, but you get the money back when you spend over £5 in store. I believe the car-park next to the local leisure centre used to do something similar (price of parking was the regular council car park price plus £2, with the £2 being refunded by the leisure centre for genuine users) to limit use by non-leisure centre goers (I have no idea if such a practise still happens)