Park and Ride: an Adelaide case study

Abstract

Park and Ride (P&R) schemes have many potential benefits, yet there is evidence that they can lead to an overall increase in private car use as a result of traffic redistribution, additional trip generation, and abstraction of users from the public transport system. This paper reports on research into the recently established Adelaide Entertainment Centre P&R facility situated on the fringe of Adelaide’s CBD. The research was conducted a few months after the opening of the P&R facility to capture the travel behaviour changes facilitated by the scheme. The results show little evidence of additional trip generation and a moderate level of car interception: 29.8% of users had previously driven into the CBD but now use a car-mass transit combination. What is disturbing though is the number of people who have shifted away from using public transport for their entire journey to using a car-mass transit combination: 82.3% of respondents who previously used mass transit for their entire journey now travel part of the way by car. The results of a single study need to be treated with caution; however, they do highlight the importance of carefully considering the location of P&R stations and the implications of the changes they enable. This research also highlights the need for more independent research into Australian P&R schemes in order to more clearly understand the specific dynamics of these facilities, and whether this compares with international findings