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.