Canterbury Park and Ride is a
park and ride
A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system ( ...
system operated by
Stagecoach South East in the English historic cathedral city of
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...
. It was designed to reduce pollution in the city centre.
History
The Park and Ride scheme was launched in 1991. It was initially operated by the
East Kent Road Car Company
The East Kent Road Car Company Ltd was a bus company formed in 1916 and based in Canterbury, Kent. The company operated bus and coach services in Kent. In 1993 it was one of the first companies to be acquired by the Stagecoach Group, which e ...
using three single-deck vehicles; the company was taken over by the
Stagecoach Group in 1993. The service was then run by Stagecoach until 2008, when it was taken over by council-owned operator
Kent Top Travel. The service returned to Stagecoach operation in the summer of 2013 after the five-year contract to Kent Top Travel expired. Stagecoach proposed improvements to the Park & Ride scheme including free wi-fi, extended operating hours and the use of a new fleet of environmentally friendly buses.
Operation
Wincheap, Sturry Road and New Dover Road Park & Ride routes operate every 10 minutes while the Hospital Shuttle operates every 1
0 minutes.
The initial Stagecoach operation consisted of
ALX200 and
ALX400 buses in a silver and purple livery. Under Kent Top Travel ownership, a fleet of
Volvo B9TL/Optare Olympus and
Volvo B7RLE/Optare Esteem buses in a Lime and Silver "Love your city" branded livery. The current Stagecoach fleet consists of
Enviro 300,
Dennis Enviro 400 and
Optare Solo SR buses in a branded white livery.
Routes
The scheme currently has 4 routes with 3 running to Canterbury Bus Station in the city centre. Potential for further sites at Thanington, Cockering Farm and Harbledown were studied by the city council in 2009, but none were proceeded with.
Joy as Canterbury park and ride plan scrapped
Kent & Sussex Courier, 13 January 2009
Sturry Road Park & Ride
This route runs from Sturry Road Park & Ride terminus along the A28/Sturry Road to Canterbury Bus Station, passing the Magistrates Court, City Wall and ASDA
Asda Stores Ltd. () (often styled as ASDA) is a British supermarket chain. It is headquartered in Leeds, England. The company was founded in 1949 when the Asquith family merged their retail business with the Associated Dairies company of Yorks ...
.
Wincheap Park & Ride
This route runs from Wincheap Park & Ride terminus through the Wincheap Industrial Estate, past Pin Hill bus stop and the connection to the Chatham Main Line at Canterbury East, before ending at Canterbury Bus Station.
New Dover Road Park & Ride
This route runs from New Dover Road Park & Ride terminus along Old Dover Road to Canterbury Bus Station, passing Canterbury Health Centre and returns via Old Dover Road and Canterbury College.
References
{{reflist
External links
Canterbury City Council website, Park & Ride page
Park and ride schemes in the United Kingdom