The figures of a park-and-ride bus service into Reading that was severely reduced have been revealed.
The Winnersh Triangle park and ride provides shuttle bus style services between Winnersh Triangle and Reading town centre.
The service was axed in November 2021, and then reintroduced as a Saturday-only service in November 2023 before being restored last August.
Now there has been a significant rebound in the number of journeys taken, according to a report to Reading Borough Council.
The report by Chris Maddocks, the council’s strategic transport manager, stated that 11,600 trips were made in December last year.
The route is assisted by the London Road bus lane in East Reading, which went live in August.
In September, the first full month of the bus lane operational, 6,848 trips were recorded.
The journeys are provided at a discount rate of £1 if the person using the car park also uses the bus service.
The services are being provided in a partnership between Reading council and Wokingham Borough Council.
The figures were welcomed at a recent Reading council meeting.
John Ennis (Labour, Southcote), lead councillor for climate strategy and transport, said: “If you have a look at the Winnersh Triangle park and ride, it’s that we’re paying people to use public transport.
“£1 to park your car and drive, and get the bus into Reading is a steal!
“And we’re continuing to do that and finance that to encourage, not to penalise, but to encourage people, particularly from the Wokingham and Woodley area to use public transport.
“And we have the council [Wokingham Borough Council] on side, and unlike what was said on social media, they are totally on board with encouraging public transport.”
Journey times are typically just over 10 minutes to get from the park and ride site to Minster Street.
Cllr Ennis said: “The speed that goes through the route from what it previously was is really good.”
However, Mr Maddocks report admitted that bus journeys are actually slower on average since the introduction of the London Road bus lane by 36-41 seconds.
Cllr Ennis added that work continues with Wokingham Borough to speed up journeys.
He said: “We are working with our neighbours in Wokingham to put in place a number of changes on their side, because the impact of the London Road [bus lane] is not totally but predominantly impacting on the Wokinghsm side, and they are on the same page as us.
“They want to work with us to ensure that the access into Reading is successful and promotes public transport, so we’re pleased with that.”
The figures were revealed at a strategic environment, planning and transport committee meeting on Wednesday, March 12.
