Can Norwich's park and ride recover from pandemic?

The pandemic has much to answer for.

Among its little-noticed consequences has been its devastating impact on Norwich's park and ride facility.

Before Covid arrived, the service was booming. Millions were using it every year and it was at the heart of a long-term strategy to reduce traffic in the city and to transform Norwich's urban centre.

But as we emerge from the other side of the pandemic, its fortunes have been transformed.

Over the last three years, Covid saw some passengers stay off the buses over health fears, some found no need for the buses - as they switched to working from home or doing their shopping online - while others found that quieter roads and more parking spaces in the city meant they could simply stay in their cars.

And many of those people have not returned to the park and ride.

Passenger numbers are just 35pc of what they were before the pandemic. One of the park and ride sites, at Postwick - which served as a Covid testing centre - remains closed, its future uncertain.

The county council is currently spending £500,000 this year to subsidise park and ride services to keep them running. Opening Postwick would add £200,000 to that figure, with officials estimating only 25pc of its previous passengers would return.

So has the park and ride had its day? Is it an early 21st-century solution to circumstances that have since changed? Is there a place for it in a post-pandemic Norfolk?

NEEDED NOW MORE THAN EVER

It certainly still has its backers.

Matthew White, founder of Car-Free Norwich, said the park and ride remained a vital service for getting people out of their vehicles.

Matt White of Car-Free Norwich (Image: Matt White)

"All buses and the park and rides are so important for getting people out of their cars," he added.

To recover, though, it needed even more council support than it was already getting.

"Personally, I think councils should work together to ensure the park and ride is always cheaper than driving in the city.

"It's much safer and more pleasant, with less air and noise pollution.

"It's also necessary for the environment, we need to reduce CO2 emissions drastically, and right now."

GLORY DAYS

Norwich's first park and ride facility opened in the early 1990s, with five more opening by 2005.

With the addition of the final £3.65m Thickthorn site, the service was, at the time, the largest in the country.

Over the years, the scheme has been hailed for taking cars out of the city centre and was even given the British Parking Association Park and Ride award in 2004 and 2006/7.

RADICAL MEASURES NEEDED

To get park and ride bustling again, Mr White said the authorities needed to target the services rival - the car.

He argues that local authorities have to make changes like reducing the number of parking spaces in the city, while making public transport options more convenient.

He suggested a workplace parking levy - which would see councils charge large companies for each space they have - could be one tool to get people using public transport.

This has also been considered by the council as part of its local transport plan, along with banning certain vehicles from the centre and a congestion charge, but it has not progressed forward.

Nottingham City Council introduced a parking levy in 2011, with the cash being used to fund the city's tram system.

While proponents say the move has cut carbon emissions, it has not been a popular move with everyone, including unions, who branded it a 'money grab' from workers.

GRADUAL RECOVERY

Norfolk County Council hopes that as society moves on from the pandemic, more passengers will start to slowly head back onto the buses.

"We believe [the drop in numbers] is mostly down changes in work patterns and the availability of car parking in the city, in addition to people not feeling comfortable getting public transport due to messages given out during the pandemic about avoiding it," a spokesman said.

However, the problems on the park and ride do seem more chronic than those facing other public transport options.

Other bus services, for instance, have bounced back better, with passenger numbers now at around 75pc of their pre-pandemic levels.

County Hall and Konectbus, the company behind the Norwich service, hope to entice people back with good value offers.

A Konectbus spokesman said the company was working with the council to ensure the service was being promoted, with good value fares in place.

He said: "We’re committed to bringing passenger numbers back up – although it’s true that patterns of demand have changed, given the number of people working from home part of the week and the popularity of shopping online."

One measure launched by the company is Club Konnections, a loyalty scheme offering discounts for employees of local businesses.

Council officers have said they do not expect passenger levels at the five remaining sites to reach 50pc of pre-Covid levels until April 2023 "at the earliest".

Recently the council agreed to keep the Postwick site shut until numbers across the board are above 75pc, so it could be many years before it reopens. Despite this, a council spokesman insisted there was no plan to sell or redevelop the land.

While Konectbus and the council say they are not giving up on the service, they are clearly not expecting a rapid recovery.