§ Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has on the number of authorities and bus companies in local authority areas which operate park and ride schemes(a) during the Christmas shopping period and (b) at other times of the year by area.
§ Mr. PortilloThe Department does not collect statistics on park and ride schemes. Some local highway authorities include information on these schemes in their annual transport policies and programmes (TPPs). In the 1990–91 TPPs submitted to the Department in July 1989 there are references to 27 park and ride schemes in 23 local authority areas in England. Of these, four relate solely to the Christmas shopping period, 10 to other periods of the year (but in two cases including Christmas), 11 to permanent arrangements.
In London, park and ride cannot readily be distinguished from commuter parking. A survey undertaken in 1987 showed that 64 of the 250 London Underground stations had their own car parks, as did 538 of the 922 stations on British Rail's Network SouthEast. In addition, British Rail has a number of "parkway" stations close to motorways.
We have no information about the number of bus companies operating park and ride schemes.