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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think this park and ride rule is bonkers?

78 replies

Mephisneon · 25/04/2023 17:51

I was working in a city recently so used the park and ride. Its the first time I'd parked in it. I got a parking ticket as I walked off site. I didn't realise this was a rule of using the site. I actually bought a ticket and realised with the traffic and wait for a bus I'd be better walking.

I am a bit baffled though as surely the park and ride is there to stop people parking in the city centre, easing traffic and pollution. So I'm not sure how parking and walking did achieve these things.
Also there's loads about active travel from councils so I would think that they'd be up for people walking or cycling from park and ride.

I also find it a bit weird they have somone watching the cc tv to check this!

Anyway I'm prepared to accept it's fair enough if I'm missing something with this. But it just seems bizzar.

OP posts:
GettingThereCharleyBear · 25/04/2023 17:52

You pay on the bus though don’t you? So you effectively didn’t pay?

Bumcake · 25/04/2023 17:55

She says she bought a ticket?

I agree with OP, the rule seems nutty.

greyhairnomore · 25/04/2023 17:56

GettingThereCharleyBear · 25/04/2023 17:52

You pay on the bus though don’t you? So you effectively didn’t pay?

You normally pay parking and bus separately. I do when I use our local one anyway

modgepodge · 25/04/2023 17:57

GettingThereCharleyBear · 25/04/2023 17:52

You pay on the bus though don’t you? So you effectively didn’t pay?

I think this varies between sites/companies. Some you pay for parking and the bus is free, some you pay for the bus and the parking is free, some you pay for both separately.

makes no sense to me OP 🤷‍♀️ fair enough if it was one where parking is free when you buy a bus ticket but if you paid for parking I can’t see what you did wrong. Very odd!

Xrays · 25/04/2023 17:57

If you’d purchased a ticket for the bus and didn’t use it then that rule is insane.

LynetteScavo · 25/04/2023 17:58

Hmm...you were able to park though, and in some cities that's nearly impossible, then if you do find a space it's ££££.

BrioNotBiro · 25/04/2023 17:58

What town was it, OP?

FlounderingFruitcake · 25/04/2023 17:58

I guess they want to discourage use by people visiting whatever is nearby because it’s designed for people traveling into the city. But fining you because they can’t run a decent bus service is ridiculous. Wtf is the point having a park and ride when the ‘ride’ takes longer than walking, these things are supposed to be convenient! Can you challenge it?

DustyLee123 · 25/04/2023 17:59

My DD got caught out with this too, as the bus was late and she had to be somewhere. So make sure the buses are on time then !

MereDintofPandiculation · 25/04/2023 18:05

I think she means she got a parking ticket, ie fine, because she walked off the site, instead of staying and using the bus. I imagine the rule is in place to stop locals using it, it's provided for people going into the city centre, not as a handy car park for the local shops.

That's the only sense I could make of either the post or the rule!

Laiste · 25/04/2023 18:07

I actually bought a ticket and realised with the traffic and wait for a bus I'd be better walking.

OP bought a ticket.
Surely once you've parked your car properly and bought a ticket what you do next is up to you?! How on earth can they insist you get on a bus?

tourdefrance · 25/04/2023 18:12

I’d love to know where this was. Our city got rid of park and ride after downgrading it bit by bit and then saying not enough people used it.

OhmygodDont · 25/04/2023 18:12

I think most park and rides are stupid. The fact you have to pay to inconvenience yourself for something the council want you to do for eco credibility is laughable alone.

It always takes longer than just driving, half the times it’s late, often the parking place isn’t convenient either plus the fee’s.

I don’t even drive and think it’s silly just from what I’ve heard complaints wise about them.

Laiste · 25/04/2023 18:12

I mean - the idea is to stop parking in the city centre. They charge to park, and OP paid.

If they're really so insistent that the bus is used to get to the centre rather than legs or anything else, then they should make the ticket available only on the bus.

ZenNudist · 25/04/2023 18:15

It depends if you were meant to pay for the bus as well ?

Wazzawoowooz · 25/04/2023 18:17

Our park and ride charge per person for the bus. So it's £4 for my family. Or £4 to park in the centre for the afternoon.

PollyPeptide · 25/04/2023 18:18

I like using park and rides in strange cities. It's always a headache if you don't know the best place to park. And it's cheaper than parking all day. It die6s take longer than driving because the buses always take a circuitous route, but you get to see the city. And the bus drivers are usually really helpful giving you directions and advice.

QuillBill · 25/04/2023 18:19

ZenNudist · 25/04/2023 18:15

It depends if you were meant to pay for the bus as well ?

Does it?

So as she did pay for the bus what does that mean?

FionaFrisby · 25/04/2023 18:27

Nottingham have started to do this with their park and ride tram sites. You have to purchase a ticket for the tram, and apparently they watch the cctv to make sure you get on the tram. It's caught quite a few people out, particularly at The Forest which was an ordinary free car park for years before they did this.

OddsocksinmyDocs · 25/04/2023 18:31

Laiste · 25/04/2023 18:12

I mean - the idea is to stop parking in the city centre. They charge to park, and OP paid.

If they're really so insistent that the bus is used to get to the centre rather than legs or anything else, then they should make the ticket available only on the bus.

You'd get people potentially parking there and going elsewhere though. If people pay for parking, they're less likely to do that.

SecretVictoria · 25/04/2023 18:35

It’s mad. My friend used the one in Cambridge one Christmas to do her shopping; bus driver told her off for having too many bags when she got on to get back to the car park 🙄

Bumcake · 25/04/2023 18:37

SecretVictoria · 25/04/2023 18:35

It’s mad. My friend used the one in Cambridge one Christmas to do her shopping; bus driver told her off for having too many bags when she got on to get back to the car park 🙄

You can’t win can you? Hope she told him to get bent.

OzziePopPop · 25/04/2023 18:39

Is it a safety thing? Our local one, Bristol, Long Ashton, isn’t at all set up for walkers from memory. It could be quite dangerous to all out in traffic?

More likely bus income though, if that’s paid separately!

dig135 · 25/04/2023 18:48

I recently parked at the park and ride in Cambridge. It took an hour and a half for the bus to go the two or three miles back to the car park thanks to horrendous roadworks.

I sat on the bus like a mug but would have been furious to have been fined if I walked.

Judd · 25/04/2023 18:54

FionaFrisby · 25/04/2023 18:27

Nottingham have started to do this with their park and ride tram sites. You have to purchase a ticket for the tram, and apparently they watch the cctv to make sure you get on the tram. It's caught quite a few people out, particularly at The Forest which was an ordinary free car park for years before they did this.

But how do they match up people not getting on the tram with the right car issue a fine?

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