A POPULAR park ride site has reached its 10-year anniversary in Reading, Reading Buses has announced.
Partner organisations Reading Borough Council, Wokingham Borough Council and Reading Buses marked the anniversary of its opening on August 17, 2015, by recreating a photo from that launch date.
The original photo featured Cllr John Kaiser, Executive Member for Planning and Highways at Wokingham Borough Council, Tony Pettitt, Director of Resources at Reading Buses and Cllr Mohammed Ayub, Deputy Mayor of Reading Borough, as well as driver Stephen Hughes.
On Monday, August 18, a new photo was taken with Reading Buses’ Chief Executive Officer, Robert Williams, Cllr John Ennis, Lead Councillor for Climate Strategy and Transport for Reading Borough Council, and driver Dave Hughes Jr, Stephen Hughes’ brother!
Over the course of the 10 years of operation, Reading Buses have transported more than 1.4 million people on the buses between the park & ride site and the town.
The company estimate that this could have taken as many as 20,000 cars off the road which equates to 88,000km of road space saved–enough cars off the road to go around the earth twice.
The park & ride started service in August 2015 and has seen a few changes and improvements as services in the south of the town have developed.
The current Mereoak park & ride service is numbered 600 and has extensions to Shinfield, Spencers Wood, Swallowfield and Riseley as well as the core frequent service between the town and the site. The site is further enhanced by the Hospital park & ride route 300.
The service has been operated by Reading Buses Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) powered buses since its inception, offering a low-emission alternative to the huge number of cars running in and out of the town.
The buses save 82% of greenhouse gases whilst in operation versus diesel buses.
Robert Williams said: “Park & Ride is an important part of the town’s transport infrastructure, providing a fast and cost-effective alternative to driving cars into the centre.
“Our gas buses further reduce the overall carbon footprint, piloted by our friendly team of drivers.
“There are still, however, far too many people who drive past the site and straight into Reading. We have therefore introduced a special £2.50 return fare–including all day parking–with Reading Borough Council which is incredible value.”
Cllr John Ennis, Lead Councillor for Climate Strategy and Transport, said: “Reading is a busy successful town with lots of demands on its road space.
“Park & Ride services transport thousands of people to destinations such as Green Park, Royal Berkshire Hospital and the town centre every week and take hundreds of cars off our roads.
“Mereoak Park & Ride has been providing a vital transport service for 10 years and the Council has been developing the South Reading Bus Rapid Transit scheme to make the service even faster and more attractive to visitors to the town.
“It is a great example of the Council working together with Reading Buses and Wokingham Borough Council to improve public transport in the area, and I am pleased we have been able to repeat this great partnership work with the Winnersh Park and Ride.
“A half-price promotional fare of just £2.50 for parking and a return journey is currently on offer on the Mereoak and Winnersh P&R services which is a great incentive to park up and travel quickly into town on the bus.”
