Summer Park & Ride scheme set to move forward

A Park & Ride scheme for Brighton & Hove looks set to become a reality this summer.

Councillors will discuss options for launching the new scheme at next week’s Cabinet meeting on Thursday 23 January.

Members will be presented with a report recommending the use of existing car parks in the city to deliver it.

Discussions have been taking place with landowners, large car park operators and other stakeholders and we hope to announce where the new scheme will operate from soon.

We’ve also submitted a request to the Department for Transport to use funding from our Bus Service Improvement Plan to help us develop the technology necessary for the Park & Ride to operate.

Funding from Transport for the South East has been secured to cover the cost of a business case for a purpose-built scheme in the future that will work alongside the new flexible model approach being recommended.  

Read the report being presented to Cabinet.

Summer scheme

If approved, the new Park & Ride would use existing car park space for motorists to park, who will then take existing bus services into the city centre and out again.

This approach has been used by several other local authorities, including Oxford and Portsmouth, to support the case for a purpose-built scheme.

It would also include developing technology to help with things like ticketing, payments, journey planning, information and signage.

Once established, we’d be able to use the model to expand to other locations around the city.

Moving along

Councillor Trevor Muten, Cabinet member for Transport, Parking and Public Realm, said: “If approved, this will be a great scheme. After decades of discussion, 2025 will be the year we deliver Park & Ride for the city.

“Using existing car park space, we intend to create a Park & Ride in time for summer. Once in place, we’ll be able to monitor, learn from and make improvements to the scheme, before rolling it out to other parts of the city where needed.

“This initiative will operate alongside our efforts to make parking simpler and fairer, our expansion in electric vehicle charging – and our improvements to the city’s walking and cycling infrastructure.

“It all adds up to a comprehensive, city-wide strategy to give our residents and visitors more options to travel sustainably.”