NOTE: Another blog I had placed on my personal blog on Monday 1st October 2007. I've decided to post this under the P&R Questions and Answers for the moment although it does have some personal stuff in it. What is important is the questions I asked and the answers I have got so far.
Checked out the local exhibition of the proposed Portway Park and Ride Expansion project today at the local Library and a Council Officer was on hand to answer some of my questions. And I have my doubts with this expansion. Leave it as it is for the moment because at least it is being used even though it has failed to reach expectations so far according to the Council. After all I don't want people who are using the service to lose out because "the Council got it wrong" and they do from time to time. Like any business if you are making a profit and demand has increased beyond your capacity you expand, make further profit and continue growing. But what if you are a business that has failed to reach expectations, want to expand and research carried out isn't solid. What happens then? You work on your weakness and solve it, get into profit, increase demand and try again. But what if this is a local Council project with grants being thrown at it and then the money runs out, what do you do then? Park and Rides have to be able to sustain themselves, support themselves and dare I say it make a profit to survive and re-invest. Bristol City Council have already admitted "that the present site is not used to capacity" and "the Portway Park and Ride has fallen below our expectations and has been slow but there has been an 8% increase in usage in the past year". Now this is for 320 car parking places. There is some local usage with several additional bus stops on route to the city centre and a walk on facility to the site. Of course rush hour or work travel to and from the site means it is busy in the morning and early evening when people leave work for home, but of the rest of the in between time buses run empty or have very few passengers. The Council want to add a further 500 car parking spaces "to coincide with the opening of Cabot Circus and be ready for other future projects". However the traffic flow continues the same in both directions throughout the day, to and from Avonmouth Industrial Estate which is heavily used due to no public transport availability and of course being docks, warehousing, industrial and other business in the area.
The Portway Park & Ride leaflet says "demand will increase as the Cabot Circus development and other city centre projects attract more journeys". As with anything new once the curiosity to Cabot Circus dies down people will revert back to habit. This Park and Ride was open before Broadmead was demolished, the city has other attractions to encourage people to make use of, there are big festivals that are family orientated such as the Festival of The Sea, The Real Food and Organic Festival are examples. Which begs the question why aren't people using the Portway Park and Ride to get to them? When I asked the Council Officer what proof did they have that the Park and Ride would have increased usage due to Cabot Circus the same old answer was churned out "Our research shows...." But what research? Who did the research? Was it a Bristol firm or another company from another part of the Country? What knowledge do they have of Bristol? Who did they ask? Were they Bristolians for example? Where did these people who were surveyed come from? What was asked? Did they approach the local residents who live by the site? (I know I've not been part of their findings). I also asked what was the catchment area for the Portway Park and Ride? The answer "Local people of course and people from across the bridge in Wales" (Well I have family who live near Cardiff and friends in surrounding areas, I wonder if they were surveyed for research purposes?).
We have great choice and access to the Cribbs Causeway complex. Shopping, Entertainment and free car parking. There is easy access from the Motorway for the Cribbs area. We could shop in Cardiff even Gloucester, it is independent choice, then again we may decide to stay local and support our local village high street of shops. It is us as an individual who decides where we want to shop and not be told where to shop even by the City Council. Then there is social and consumer change, more people are doing online shopping and large business has taken this on board to diversify and make up for the loses of 'on street shopping', but what else does the future hold there? With technology continually on the move more and more people are taking the option of 'working from home' and only popping into the office when they need to, again expansion there. And entertainment. Entertaining from home is getting more popular with technology on hand, take-a-ways, home cooking and the local off licence. We are all becoming rather insular with our habits. So has all that been taken into account with the research? The world is continually changing fast and what was predicted two years ago would have been old hat within six months of research being done. Research has to be more up to date.
The "be ready for future projects" and "other city centre projects attract more journeys" quotes in the leaflet are in fact talking about the development of Castle Park (the buildings bit) and the Bristol Arena (which I wish the organisations would make a decision on). How do I know this? It's because I asked the question and wanted clarification of these phrases. And with that in mind I was told "We may be looking at extending the opening hours of the Park and Ride". What extension would this be? Not midnight and gone surely if the Bristol Arena audience is included? And Christmas shopping hours extensions all year round instead? Are local people in particular aware of this? No. Because it is not mentioned in the leaflet. It is hidden under phrases such as "be ready for future projects" and "other city centre projects attract more journeys".
So what if the Portway Park and Ride expansion went ahead? Say if the research they were given was incorrect, the Government grants run out, the Park and Ride again falls below expectation and there is no money in the kitty to keep it running what then? Does it go bust and the site is closed leaving people that use the service high and dry? Do they try and get someone else to take it over? Do they go cap in hand to the Council and ask the city (that's all Bristolians many of which won't be using the service for obvious reasons, for example live no where near the area) for a hand out to keep it running with it unlikely to sustain itself because it expanded beyond the demand of the service. And is it fair on the Park and Rides that are self supporting? How long would that continue? And you know the people who lose out? It's the people who are currently using the service. Why should they suffer? They didn't do the market research, were unlikely to be included in the current research that Bristol City Council have used so far in the leaflet, and were not responsible for the purse strings either.
And what about Public Transport being available to all? I know of people who use these shopping buggies because they have to. Door to door due to restricted mobility and disability. Now I did question this and what facility was available to people who use such equipment to aid them with as much independence as they possibly can get. And I should clarify I know one or two people who would use the Park and Ride if they could get their shopping buggies on board. Don't they have as much right to get to Cabot Circus on the Park & Ride as the next person? Anyway the answer was "In fact none of our buses can cater for that type of facility, I think it would be a health and safety issue." the Council Officer said. So if that is a health and safety issue doesn't overcrowding and standing in the aisles of a bus come under the same 'health and safety' rule? If that is the case should all passengers be sat down before the bus sets off? Otherwise as it is couldn't it be seen as an accident waiting to happen.
Ok. I don't use the Portway Park and Ride because it doesn't take me to where I want to go, but I do use the local train service on the Severn Beach line from time to time and it is a superb service. However I do know people who use the Park and Ride and don't want to see them lose out on a facility that they use because the "Council got it wrong". Leave the Park and Ride as it is work on it's weakness but also remember people are not sheep. "You can take a horse to water but you can't make it drink" is the old adage. Don't expand. Wait at least six months after Cabot Circus has opened then do a re-assessment and see what demand is like then. After all it can always go back to the Planning Committee eighteen months down the line if research is proved and it doesn't take that long to get the work done on the additional extension.
There are many questions that need to be asked and clarified answers given about this project. Read the leaflet again. What do you want to know about the project and what happens after the grants run out how will the project support itself? As with any Council across the Country they should be held accountable to it's citizens. If a person has a genuine concern for their own local community then I do encourage people to ask questions and get answers in plain English, not be fobbed off with jargonise. After that if it still has problems well it's not my fault as I have made my thoughts known and asked the questions that I hope are relevant to the development and my local community.
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