- Cowes park and ride
-
Bus 306 in the park and ride site.
The park and ride site with two buses in it.
The bus stop at the site.
The car park.
Signs for the site.Cowes park and ride is a park and ride scheme on the Isle of Wight, featuring a 85-space car park and bus stop on the outskirts of Cowes in Somerton, on a former industrial site. It is currently served by Southern Vectis buses on route 1 every 12 minutes during the day.[1] From the Park and Ride, a £2.50 return journey is available to Cowes Pontoon for the Red Jet boat to Southampton. This is one of the few return journeys Southern Vectis offer.[2]
Contents
History
The park and ride scheme for Cowes was launched in 2004 as part of a joint venture between the Isle of Wight Council, Southern Vectis and Red Funnel. It was built on a former council depot on the Somerton Industrial Estate. The scheme went ahead largely due to losing a car park in Denmark Road for development, resulting in a lack of parking around Cowes. During the first few weeks of operation, before any Southern Vectis routes stopped at the park and ride, a temporary shuttle service was put in place, subsidised by Red Funnel, with a 15 minute frequency timed around morning and evening peaks.[3]
To begin with, the scheme suffered with a huge lack in the number of people using the service, receiving no passengers in its first few days of operation.[4]
Prior to the network revision by Southern Vectis in April 2006, the park and ride was served by routes 1, 2 and 3,[3] with routes 2 and 3 running under the Route Rouge branding.[5] All services to Cowes served the site, with buses using Three Gates Road to pass between the two current alternate routings, except route 1, which ran via the current park and ride branch but along Mill Hill road as opposed to Newport Road.
After the network revision, routes 2 and 3 no longer served Cowes leaving only route 1 at an increased frequency of every 15 minutes to serve the site, taking passengers right to the entrance of the Red Jet terminal. Due to the higher frequency, buses no longer serve Three Gates Road to cross over the routings, so buses on the Round House leg do not serve the site.
When the scheme was first launched, the price of a return ticket was £1, however, in April 2008, the price increased for the first time, doubling to £2 by Southern Vectis. This was due to a rise in costs and substantial cut in payments for free travel by the Isle of Wight Council.[6] This later increased again on 2 February 2009 along with other £2 fares to £2.50 as part of Southern Vectis' annual fare review.[7]
Later in 2008, there were some instances of vandalism at the site, with one woman's car having its windows smashed after she left it in the site overnight.[8] Police are working with the Isle of Wight Council to try to improve security at the site. The council have been told that members of the public are leaving their valuables inside cars at the site, which could be targeted by thieves.[9]
The site was remodeled over the turn of 2009 and 2010. A new entrance was built directly off the roundabout, with a new bus stop and shelter, and a raised kerb. The previous entrance and exit was widened as an exit, and buses are now able to use the site without doing the large turn or being affected and forced to reverse by badly parked vehicles. The rearrangement also provides more spaces. A new bus shelter was due to be installed at the site on 24 November 2009, leading to the closure of the site to buses from 11am, with temporary bus stops on the main road outside, although this didn't happen as planned. The site was closed at a later date for a longer period, with buses using stops on the main road for around a month. The newly remodeled site was completed on 22 January 2010, at which point buses started to enter the site again.
Services
Unlike some other park and ride schemes, there is no dedicated bus route. All services are run on route 1, due to its high frequency. A daytime frequency on Monday-Saturday of every 6 minutes is currently in operation, meaning the park and ride is served every 12 minutes, by alternate buses, with the other buses serving Cowes Round House.[1] The Night bus services all run in a loop around Cowes, running via the Round House into Cowes and the park and ride site on the way back to Newport. This gives the car park a half hourly service, but in one direction only.
Route Frequency (mins) No. Description Mon-Sat Daytime Mon-Sat Evening Sunday Nightbuses 1 Newport – St. Mary's Hospital – Northwood – Four Cross, Round House/Park and ride, Cemetery Gates – Cowes (link to Southampton via Red Funnel Red Jet and Uni-link City-link to Station for trains to London). 12 30 20 30 (to Newport only) References
- ^ a b "Southern Vectis - route 1". www.islandbuses.info. http://www.islandbuses.info/r1.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
- ^ "Southern Vectis - Changes to fares". www.islandbuses.info. Archived from the original on 2008-08-03. http://web.archive.org/web/20080803060410/http://www.islandbuses.info/news/news005.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
- ^ a b "Isle of Wight County Press - "Park and Ride arrives in Cowes"". www.iwcp.co.uk. http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/park-and-ride-arrives-in-cowes-1587.aspx. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
- ^ "Isle of Wight County Press - "Commuters snub park and ride"". www.iwcp.co.uk. http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/commuters-snub-park-and-ride-466.aspx. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
- ^ "Southern Vectis Omnibus Company". 24 February 2001. Archived from the original on 24 February 2001. http://web.archive.org/web/20010224073946/www.svoc.co.uk/timet.html. Retrieved 5 August 2008.
- ^ "Isle of Wight County Press - "Costs blamed for another bus fare rise"". www.iwcp.co.uk. http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/costs-blamed-for-another-bus-fare-rise-19904.aspx. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
- ^ "Big rise in single bus fare". Isle of Wight County Press. http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/big-rise-in-single-bus-fare-24404.aspx. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
- ^ "Isle of Wight County Press - "Park-and-ride vandals strike again"". www.iwcp.co.uk. http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/parkandride-vandals-strike-again-22763.aspx. Retrieved 2008-12-26.
- ^ "Isle of Wight County Press - "More big crime falls in Cowes"". www.iwcp.co.uk. http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/more-big-crime-falls-in-cowes-23320.aspx. Retrieved 2008-12-26.
External links
- Route 1 details on the Southern Vectis website - islandbuses.info
Transport on the Isle of Wight Places Operators Other Isle of Wight ferry services • Cowes park and ride · (Hovertravel · Red Funnel · Wightlink) · Railways • Isle of Wight Steam Railway · Island Line Trains · Island Line
Categories:- Transport on the Isle of Wight
- Park and ride schemes in the United Kingdom
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
