The Bristol Park & Ride is a park & ride system operated by Bristol City Council in Bristol, South West England.
History In 2006, the system was already established and was receiving increased funding from Bristol City Council.
Until 2011, the park & ride routes were operated by First Bristol and Wessex Bus.Seven Centros for Wessex Connect Bus & Coach Professional 3 August 2007Fleet of B9TLs join Rotala Wessex Bus & Coach Professional 26 October 2007 On 5 September 2011, route 904 was taken over by CT Plus using ex First London, London Central and London General Mercedes-Benz Citaro O530Gs with route 903 passing from Wessex to First.Bristol has got buses Boris Johnson didn't want Bristol Post 6 September 2011Moves to ease problems on park and ride Bristol Post 30 September 2011
On 2 April 2012, CT Plus took over the operation of route 902.CT Plus starts Route 902 from 2 April 2012 CT Plus In April 2014, route 505 was extended to Long Ashton to become a park & ride route.Scrutiny Commission minutes Bristol City Council 23 October 2014
In September 2014, Wessex Bus commenced operating a new service, the 901 between Portway and Clifton; this service ceased in September 2016.
In September 2018, the Long Ashton service was replaced by Metrobus route m2, operated by First.
In April 2023, the Brislington (A4) and Portway Park and Ride operations (on opposite sides of the city) were combined into one route, number 9. Operations were transferred to Stagecoach, using mainly Enviro 400 MMCs.
Services The system consists of five routes:
9: Portway P&R to Brislington P&R via City Centre and Temple Meads, operated by Stagecoach West 505: Long Ashton to Bristol Zoo and Southmead Hospital, operated by Stagecoach West metrobus m2: Long Ashton to central Bristol, operated by First West of England metrobus m3: Lyde Green to central Bristol via UWE's Frenchay campus, operated by First West of England Y1: Chipping Sodbury and Yate to Bristol, operated by First West of England
Benefits The council consider that this facility has reduced city centre congestion.More buses for Christmas shopping BBC News 18 December 2006
The m2 and m3 services operate a 'buy before you board' system through use of ticket machines at bus stops. This is designed to reduce boarding times.
References