Where to park? A behavioural comparison of bus Park and Ride and city centre car park usage in Bath, UK

• Unique comparative study of Park and Ride and city centre car park users.
• Quantitative survey of 1285 motorists with trip origin/destination data analysed.
• Most P&R users report city-centre car park use at their preferred alternatives.
• Large minorities of both traveller groups report PT/walking/cycling as their preferred alternatives.
• Transport strategy should focus on improving integration of local PT and parking.

Integrating car parking facilities with public transport in Park and Ride (P&R) facilities has the potential to shorten car trips, contributing to more sustainable mobility. There is an ongoing debate about the actual effects of P&R on the transport system at the subregional level. A key issue is the relative attractiveness of city centre car parks (CCCP), P&R and public transport. The paper presents the findings of a comparative empirical case-study based on a field survey of CCCP and P&R users conducted in the city of Bath, UK. Spatial and statistical analyses are applied. Radial distance to parking, availability of P&R sites in the direction of travel, gender, age, income and party-size are found to be important factors in a binary logistic regression model, explaining the revealed-preference of parking type. Stated analysis of foregone parking alternatives suggests more use of public transport and walking/cycling would likely occur without first-best parking alternatives. The policy implications and possible planning alternatives to P&R at the urban fringes for achieving greater sustainability goals are also discussed.