Park and ride

Park and ride (or incentive parking) facilities are parking lots with public transport connections that allow commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system (rapid transit, light rail, or commuter rail), or carpool for the remainder of the journey. The vehicle is left in the car park during the day and retrieved when the owner returns. Park and rides are generally located in the suburbs of metropolitan areas or on the outer edges of large cities. A park and ride that only offers parking for meeting a carpool and not connections to public transport may be called a park and pool.

Park and ride is abbreviated as "P+R" on road signs in the UK, and is often styled as "Park & Ride" in marketing.

In Sweden, a tax has been introduced on the benefit of free or cheap parking paid by an employer, if workers would otherwise have to pay. The tax has reduced the number of workers driving into the inner city, and increased the usage of park and ride areas, especially in . The introduction of a in Stockholm has further increased the usage of park and ride.

In Prague, park and ride car parks are established near some metro and railway stations (about 17 parks near 12 metro stations and 3 train stations, in 2011). These car parks offer low prices and all-day and return (2× 75 min) tickets including the public transport fare.

Park and ride facilities allow commuters to avoid a stressful drive along congested roads and a search for scarce, expensive city-centre parking. They may well reduce congestion by assisting the use of public transport in congested urban areas.

There is not much research on the pros and cons of park and ride schemes. It has been suggested that there is "a lack of clear-cut evidence for park and ride's widely assumed impact in reducing congestion".

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Wikipedia