Park and Ride System
Introduction
A park and ride system contains facilities that allow vehicle owners to have safe parking while helping them with a way of reaching their intended destination. It is true to say this system will be beneficial to both the city council and the vehicle owners. It will serve the town visitors and locals, with cheaper method when they have the need of reaching Whitby town centre. The tourists will have the chance of packing their vehicles in a car park outside Whitby, and then use a frequent bus service (hybrid and electrical) to reach Whitby town centre. The introduction of this system arose from growing rates of congestion in Whitby town during the peak holiday seasons. This has led to the limitation in the parking space following the severe shortage of parking facilities and traffic congestion. The traffic congestion is always high around the Harbour Zone. Park and ride system will act as a way of reducing the traffic within the city centre land since the vehicles owners would have a got a way of parking and riding to the town. The system will also serves in reducing the motorist’s stress arising from the congestions and the little packing space in town. The effectiveness drives this article to discussion of the main components of Park and Ride system. The picture below shows a sample of the symbol of the Park and Ride system.
Fig () Park & Ride System (Ref:oxfordshire.gov.uk)
Existing Park and Ride System
The existing park and ride system is only operational during the peak tourist times (in the open land near the West Cliff’ tennis court). Even though, many people have associated this system to offering more efficiency to the tourists, the following are some of drawbacks:
• The tourist has to go through the traffic because of the situation of the system within the urban centre. The tourists have to go through the High Stakeby, which always exhibits traffic congestion.
• There is limitation on the working of the Park and ride with the August weekends and the bank holidays being the operational days. This limits the acquisition of the users of this method since they would have to wait for these days, unless there is need for advance implementation.
• The space for the system is also always limited with only 250 parking space (with the exclusion of playing pitch)
• The system can also not apply in interception of traffic arising from Scarborough direction.
Fig () Existing Park & Ride System (Ref: www.whitbytowncouncil.gov.uk)
Existing Car Parks in Whitby
The Whitby has four categories with five minor public car parks. All the car parks are always pay and display. The following table shows all the public car parks with car parking capacity.
Major Public Car Parks Minor Public Car Parks
Car Park Available Spaces Car Park Available Spaces
West Cliff/ Swimming 647 North Terrace 63
Pool
Langbourne Rd, Upper and 416 Pavilion 68
Lower Harbours
Abbey Headland 415 Railway 50
Church Street 92 Cliff Street 37
Back St Hilda‟s Terrace 20
Table 5: Public car parks and car parking capacity (Ref: Whitby traffic & management study)
The town has 1050 spaces that is available in the surrounding areas. Some of the surrounding areas include on-street, off-street and Co-operative car park. Further, the town also avail 1050 car parking spaces for the major public car parks and 238 spaces for the minor public car parks.
The reduction on the On street parking will occur when Private Non-Residential (PNR) due to the introduction of parking or work place charges. There is also a plan to develop endeavour Wharf (Marina Back) which would serve as way of reducing the traffic jam in the town. This will serve as one of the future development, which will complement on the endeavours of reducing the parking spaces available within the town centre.
Main Reasons of Park and Ride Use
The expectations are that most of the visitors and the locals coming to the town will prefer this system because of the benefits it (the system) holds to them. The system will be more beneficial than if they were to use their private car to reach the town. The visitors also consider the cost and conveniences related to their travelling and this would lead them into considering the system. The following are some of the benefits that served as a trigger for the introduction of park and ride in the town:
• The system will serve in alleviating the rate of congestion along the roads going in into the town. This means that the system will reduce the usually occurring congestion within the streets of Whitby apart from the harbour zone.
• The reduction in the traffic congestion will ultimately act as tourist attraction to for the town which in turn will increase the revenue to the government.
• The system leads to the reduction of the motorists within the town thereby forming the basis for reduction of carbon footprints.
• The system also facilitates the occurrence of special events within the town becauses of the efficiency in intercepting the various streets.
• The reduction in the traffic will also serve as a way of reducing the damages ccurring to the buildings during the times of congestion. .
• The system also provides a much cheaper form of parking compared to those offered in the town centre.
• The system also provides parks, which will promote efficiency to the users, during parking, as they are accessible, visible and easy to locate.
• The park will provide transit service that is faster as compared to the travelling by private cars. The transit services will also be frequent allowing the users to access them at any time.
• The park and ride also offers every social amenity that the users may be in need like shelter, toilets, telephone services, security and lightning.
The system will form an integral part in achieving the objective, of the Whitby town, of reducing the congestion within the various streets of the town. the reduction of traffic within the transport sector will facilitate the rising demand of managing traffic in the Whitby town. it will act as a tool in managing the status of the town. The relevant measures associated with introducing the system include:
• Bus priority measures
• Reduction centre parking availability
• Increased town centre parking charges
• Readily available travel information
• Presentation of facilities used for cycling
• Road pricing and private non residential/workplace parking
Demand for Park and Ride
The demand for the system has arose because of the need to provide an option for the people in reducing their travelling cost through reducing both the journey times and costs.
Even though the system seems to be an attraction to most of the drivers there is still speculation on the number of the people who will be using the system within the town. the drivers have considered this system as the only way to obtain cheap and high quality services despite the unpredictable number that would actually use this method.
We conducted survey that would help in determination of the number of visitors and locals who would be using the sites. The following are our results from the survey.
Type of Visitor Would use Park and Ride Would not use Park and Ride
Day visitor 64% 32%
Short Break (up to 2 nights) 60% 40%
Table 6: Percentages of visitors using park and ride sites (Ref: www.northyorks.gov.uk)
Whitby Traffic Flow and Required Spacing
The traffic flow in the town is increasing at a rate of around 5% annually. This has helped in determining the increase rate of the number of vehicles from 2005 to 2009.
The table shows the main entry routes and the proportion of the vehicles passing, in the town.
A171 Guisborough to Whitby
Major Route (Includes A169 Pickering)
Year Month Number of vehicles Total
2008 August 10623 10623
2009 August 11047 11047
2010 August 11488 11488
2011 August 11947 11947
2012 August 12425 12425
Table 7: Number of vehicles using A171 Guisborough Road to Whitby
Major Route A171 Scarborough to Whitby
Year Month Number of vehicles Total
2008 August 6706 6706
2009 August 6974 6974
2010 August 7253 7253
2011 August 7543 7543
2012 August 7845 7845
Table 8: Number of vehicles using A171 Scarborough Road to Whitby
Major Route A174 Sandsend to Whitby
Year Month Number of Vehicles Total
2008 August 4629 4629
2009 August 4814 4814
2010 August 5007 5007
2011 August 5207 5207
2012 August 5415 5415
Table 9: Number of vehicles using A171 Scarborough Road to Whitby
121
We also went on to determine the flow difference of traffic in the years 2008 and 2012. The table shows that there has been significant increase in the traffic flows since the year 2008.
Total vehicles into Whitby in 2008 21,958
Total vehicles into Whitby in 2012 25,685
Table 10: Vehicles passing Whitby town
The survey shows that Whitby town exhibits 25,685 vehicles passing, during the peak seasons, while it offers a week attraction to 25,000 visitors and a day to 8,000. The increase in the traffic flow in the town centre has created problems for the tourists and locals who are coming into the town. This calls for the establishment for more parking spaces in order to fit the rising number of cars in the town.
Site Location
The location of the park and ride will depend on variety of factors including competing transport, safety, accessibility, economy, environment, political considerations and planning.
We selected the site for location in reference to the factors.
Environment
The establishment of Park and ride would be to help in the enhancement of environment for living. This would include
• To work toward reducing the noise pollution
• To reduce the air pollution thereby improving the quality of the local air
• To reduce the effect of climate change in the available water resources
• To reinforce the biodiversity through reducing the environmental effects on them
• To reduce the magnitude of the effects related to landscape and heritage.
• To improve on the anaesthetics of the town while improving the image to the outsiders
• To increase the participation in the physical activities such as cycling and walking thereby reinforcing the health benefits of these activities.
Safety
Safety is one of the main reasons for the introduction of Park and ride.
• To work towards reducing the occurrence of accidents
• To improve the level of security
Economy
The park and ride system also looks forward to supporting the need for sustainability in economic development while increasing the money value in the town
• To make the transport system be economically efficient.
• To increase the reliability of the transport system
• To build up on achieving positive economic impacts in the town
Accessibility
The park and ride system will help in increasing the access to the social amenities with no consideration of whether an individual possess a car or not. It would also reduce the time that the owners of the cars would have to take in accessing various facilities in town.
• To provide alternative for accessing town
• The reduce severance in traffic congestion
Integration
The park and ride committee also works toward ensuring that they have incorporated the government policy within the establishment of the system.
• To reinforce the transport activities
• To incorporate the land use policy within the transport policy
• To incorporate the other government policy within the transport policy
With the consideration of the above factors the decision is to locate the site within the two main entry routes existing within Whitby town. The sites are as shown in figure 62. The two sites met most of the requirements provided by the factors. The design of the sites will integrate the following points:
• Accessibility from any direction
• close proximity to the main approach routes
• Situated within the proximity of the Whitby town centre
• Far from the congested areas to help in improving the measures related to bush priority.
• Located to reduce the chances of obstruction from the known bus services
• Integrate the existing land usage policies
A suitable location for the park and ride in Whitby town should be approximately between 1 to 3 miles, a distance from the town centre. Each park and ride location will contain 1-3 buses with the running time being around 13 minutes. The frequency of operation will depend on the running time between the site and the town centre.
Park and Ride Locations
Fig 62: Proposed park and ride locations (Ref: Digimap)
Guisborough Road Park and Ride Location
Site Location Distance from Town Existing Total Planned
Centre Parking Spaces Parking Spaces
Guisborough Road A171 1.8 miles 0 300
Site Location Existing Proposed Existing Area in Proposed Area
Perimeter (m) Perimeter(m)
m
Guisborough Road A171 n/a 550m n/a 17000
Table 11: Parking spaces and proposed/existing area
Fig 63: Outline boundary for the proposed Guisborough Road Park & Ride site
Fig 64: Approximate route and distance for the Guisborough Road site (Ref: Digimap)
Notice: Blue line (1.8 miles)
Stainsacre Lane Park and Ride Location
Site Location Distance from Town Existing Total Planned
Centre Parking Spaces Parking Spaces
Stainsacre Lane A171 1.6 miles 0 400
Site Location Existing Proposed Existing Area in Proposed Area
Perimeter (m) Perimeter(m)
in
Stainsacre Lane A171 n/a 405 n/a 8720
Table 11: Parking spaces and proposed/existing area
Fig 63: Outline boundary for the proposed Stainsacre Lane Park & Ride site
Fig 64: Approximate route and distance for the Guisborough Road site (Ref: Digimap)
Notice: Red line (1.6 miles)
Site Layout and Facilities
The design of layout and the facilities for each of the proposed sites will integrate the need for high quality by the users. The design would include the safety and security times, which are always the need for every user. The location of the signboard (electronic) would be at around 500 metres from the site location. The signboard would contain all the information about Park and ride with the inclusion of the available parking space and the amount required pay. This will serve as the guide to the drivers who may be having the potential for using the services provided by the site.
Each site will offer (where possible):
• Enough accessibility from the main road to ensure that the users are able to intercept the traffic as faster as possible; while increasing the number of interested users;
• Small walking distance for the commutation between the car packing and the bus pack;
• Suitable links to the existing footpaths;
• Isolated bus and car circulation routes containing adequate space for the turning or the buses
• Nearest car parking, for the people with disability, to the bus park
• Accommodate the parking for the parents and children within that provided for those people with disabilities.
• A well build shelter, which will act as the waiting area, segregated for males and females. It would also offer separate waiting area for the parents and toddlers.
• All forms of security enhancements like Lighting, security cameras, security personals office, public telephone which will help in emergency or breakdown cases.
Site Design
An AUTO CAD and Digimapto were used to show the design, within the two locations, in order to trigger the required insight within the clients. East and West cliffs will form the right location for the site because they have main links from Middlesbrough, Scarborough and York. It will involve the car coming from Middlesbrough through the A171 road. The cars will have their packing right before the city centre existing in the West Cliff park and ride park.
Figure 69 shows the detailed design associate with car park layout (for Guisborough site). The design will show the various significant points that the users may be interested in.
The design involves drawing the site to scale to accommodate the bigness within the paper. The design process also incorporated the existing space dimension for the cars.
Fig 69: Detailed design drawing for Guisborough Road site (Larger detailed drawing shown in Appendix A)
Detailed design for the proposed car park layout for the Stainsacre Site is shown in figure 70:
Fig 70: Detailed design drawings for the Stainsacre Lane Site. (Larger detailed drawing shown in Appendix A)
Construction & Surfacing
The following materials were agreed upon after the meeting, for the complete construction within the sites.
Task Materials
Carriage-way construction (where Hot rolled asphalt the construction areas will involve the use o rolled asphalt.
buses will circulate) The asphalt is resistant to de-coloration and the subsequent damage.
Main access routes Dense bituminous macadam The construction of the main access routes in the site will involve the use bituminous macadam
Parking bays 150mm to 200mm, well There would be use of type 1 aggregate in the construction of the packing bays. The use of natural stone aggregate will also help in providing a high quality finishingg
compacted type 1 aggregate.
Natural stone aggregate.
Pedestrian routes/footpaths Block pavers The construction of the routes will involve the use of the block pavers
Overspill car parking area Grass, 25mm thick There would be reinforcement of grass with 25 mm of polyethylene in the car pack
polyethylene mesh
Table 14: Construction and surfacing
Overspill car parking
The investigation done on the ground (for car park) illustrate the overspilling will serve as the appropriate material for the construction. The overspill car pack always possess much benefits especially when involving car packs outside the city adjacent to the green fields. Consequently, the construction in the East and West Cliff will involve the use of overspill car parking. However, getting planning permeation from the council always holds challenge. The solution to this will involve convincing the council that the use of overspills in construction will not have effect on the ground as compared to the use of asphalt or concrete. The overspill construction will also help in absorption of almost 90% of rain water thereby helping to reduce flooding.
Fig () Example of overspill grass (Ref:www.grass-reinforcement.com)
Landscaping
The use of landscaping will prove beneficial for the construction since it promotes the beauty of the location. The type of work during the construction process will include teh following consideration:
• Landscaping serves in enhancing the site quality while alleviating the effect of the surrounding areas on its general image.
• The construction will also make use of equitable balance of between soft landscaping and dense scrub planting.
• The balance between the soft landscaping the scrub planting will occur through using a canopy arising from mature trees together with landscape screen of good quality. There would also be security fence in the surrounding.
• Elements existing in the intended landscape will be modified to suit the entire construction. Some of these elements include trees, hedges and other water bodies. This will serve in maintaining the anaesthetic of the site.
• The close proximity to the national park will also call for extra security from the animals in the park.
•
Fig () Example of Landscaping (Ref:www.garrettslandscapes.co.uk )
Bus Service
The park and ride system will make use of hybrid electric buses that will have their packing in the green environment. The hybrid electric buses consist of conventional engine and electric motor making the buses to more comfortable while also consuming less fuel compare to the normal busses. The single deck bus will work on the power provided by the battery with the diesel turbine providing periodical recharge to the batteries.
Fig 72: Hybrid system and electric bus for Whitby park and ride (Ref: www.tfl.gov.uk)
Electricity
Body Length(s) 10.3m
Maximum Capacity 57
Maximum Seated 28
Maximum Standees 29
Table 15: (Ref: www.tfl.gov.uk)
Environmental Benefits
The potential environmental benefits hybrid-electric technology can deliver are remarkable. Compared with conventional diesel buses, hybrids deliver considerable environmental benefits, including:
• 89 per cent reduction in oxides of nitrogen
• 83 per cent reduction in carbon monoxide
• 40 per cent reduction in fuel use
• 38 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide
• 30 per cent reduction in perceived sound levels (noise reduced from 78 to 74 decibels)
The buses prove to be environmental friendly because of the less production of greenhouse gas while also emitting less noise.
Apart from the environmental benefits, the busses also consist of electric drivelines, which associate with quiet acceleration. This also serves in reducing noise associated to these buses while promoting conducive travelling for the users.
Consequently, the hybrid buses will form an integral part for the achievement of the Kyoto Protocol agreement, which requires that there should be reduction of carbon emissions.
Park and Ride Bus Route
Guisborough Road
Station Square
Stainsacre Lane
Station Square
Guisborough Road
Fig 73: Bus routes
The diagram shows the route for the park and ride whereby the bus would commence from Guisborough road heading to the station square where it will pick or/and drop the passengers. The bus will then head to Stainsacre Lane to drop and pick other passengers then back to Guisborough Road. These continous route by the bus starts again at 7 am upto midnight on daily basis.
Bus Stop
Park & Ride Site No of buses No of buses Frequency ON peak Frequency OFF peak
ON peak OFF peak
Guisborough Road 3 2 Every 10 minutes Every 12 minutes
Station Square 2 1 Every 12 minutes Every 15 minutes
Park & Ride Site No of buses No of buses Frequency ON peak Frequency OFF peak
ON peak OFF peak
Station Square 3 2 Every 10 minutes Every 12 minutes
Stainsacre Lane 2 1 Every 12 minutes Every 15 minutes
Park & Ride Site No of buses No of buses Frequency ON peak Frequency OFF peak
ON peak OFF peak
Stainsacre Lane 3 2 Every 10 minutes Every 12 minutes
Station Square 2 1 Every 12 minutes Every 15 minutes
Table 16: Number of buses and frequency for each site
Park & Ride Site First and Last bus from Park & First and Last bus from Town
Ride (ON peak period) Centre (ON peak period)
Guisborough Road 07.00 – 19.50 07.10 – 20.00
Stainsacre Lane 07.00 – 19.50 07.12 – 20.02
Table 17: Bus times during the peak period
First and Last bus from Park & Ride OFF peak First and Last bus from Town Centre OFF peak
08.30 – 18.15 08.42 – 18.32
08.30 – 18.15 08.45 – 18.35
08.30 – 18.15 08.40 – 18.30
Table 18: Bus time during the off-peak period
Note – There would be extension of the services on Thursdays between 27 November and 17 December, to the evening. 9.30 pm will be the time for the last departure.
Funding
The funding for the system will come from:
• the local authority
• users’ fares
• revenue arising from the central parking
• Government funding
