Cowes Park and Ride - History

History

The park and ride scheme for Cowes was launched in 2004 as part of a joint venture between the Isle of Wight Council, Southern Vectis and Red Funnel. It was built on a former council depot on the Somerton Industrial Estate. The scheme went ahead largely due to losing a car park in Denmark Road for development, resulting in a lack of parking around Cowes. During the first few weeks of operation, before any Southern Vectis routes stopped at the park and ride, a temporary shuttle service was put in place, subsidised by Red Funnel, with a 15 minute frequency timed around morning and evening peaks.

To begin with, the scheme suffered with a huge lack in the number of people using the service, receiving no passengers in its first few days of operation.

Prior to the network revision by Southern Vectis in April 2006, the park and ride was served by routes 1, 2 and 3, with routes 2 and 3 running under the Route Rouge branding. All services to Cowes served the site, with buses using Three Gates Road to pass between the two current alternate routings, except route 1, which ran via the current park and ride branch but along Mill Hill road as opposed to Newport Road.

After the network revision, routes 2 and 3 no longer served Cowes leaving only route 1 at an increased frequency of every 15 minutes to serve the site, taking passengers right to the entrance of the Red Jet terminal. Due to the higher frequency, buses no longer serve Three Gates Road to cross over the routings, so buses on the Round House leg do not serve the site.

When the scheme was first launched, the price of a return ticket was £1, however, in April 2008, the price increased for the first time, doubling to £2 by Southern Vectis. This was due to a rise in costs and substantial cut in payments for free travel by the Isle of Wight Council. This later increased again on 2 February 2009 along with other £2 fares to £2.50 as part of Southern Vectis' annual fare review.

Later in 2008, there were some instances of vandalism at the site, with one woman's car having its windows smashed after she left it in the site overnight. Police are working with the Isle of Wight Council to try to improve security at the site. The council have been told that members of the public are leaving their valuables inside cars at the site, which could be targeted by thieves.

The site was remodeled over the turn of 2009 and 2010. A new entrance was built directly off the roundabout, with a new bus stop and shelter, and a raised kerb. The previous entrance and exit was widened as an exit, and buses are now able to use the site without doing the large turn or being affected and forced to reverse by badly parked vehicles. The rearrangement also provides more spaces. A new bus shelter was due to be installed at the site on 24 November 2009, leading to the closure of the site to buses from 11am, with temporary bus stops on the main road outside, although this didn't happen as planned. The site was closed at a later date for a longer period, with buses using stops on the main road for around a month. The newly remodeled site was completed on 22 January 2010, at which point buses started to enter the site again.