THEY were introduced in Edinburgh as a way of easing congestion and reducing carbon footprints.
Now, bus park-and-ride schemes operate in several areas around the capital, including Ingliston, Hermiston Gate and Sheriffhall.
The east coast initiative is something a motoring expert believes Glasgow could take a lead from in a bid to encourage people to get out of their cars and help ease congestion.
Motoring expert Neil Greig, director of policy and research at the Institute for Advanced Motorists, says unlike Edinburgh and the east where bus park-and-ride locations have taken off, there is a lack of options for drivers in the west other than rail or subway park-and-ride links.
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And while rail and bus use drastically reduced due to the pandemic and people have opted to travel in their cars rather than share public transport, Mr Greig believes that long-term solutions need to be addressed now.
He also believes it is too early to look at making some temporary measures to allow greater space for pedestrians and cyclists in light of the pandemic and hopes the motorist is not left behind when decisions are being made about ease of getting around the city.
St Vincent Place is one of the areas where changes have been made
His comments come as a consultation is under way over some of the measures that have been introduced in Glasgow as part of Scottish Government’s Spaces for People programme.
Earlier this week, The Herald reported on the latest Spaces for People measures in the city, introduced last year in a response to make Glasgow more Covid safe, with benches and decking installed in St Vincent Place.
A city-wide survey is under way with residents and businesses being asked what measures they would like to see made permanent.
“I think there has been quite a lot of wishful thinking that people would suddenly get out of their cars and get on their bikes, and while we might have seen people take up cycling for health and wellbeing reasons due to Covid, it hasn’t been for shopping or economic reasons,” said Mr Greig.
Latest figures show that the Edinburgh and Glasgow free bike share programme, funded by the Scottish Government, attracted 18,000 new users between June and September 2020 with £1.2 million recently allocated to build on the increases Scotland has seen in cycling over the last year. However, Mr Greig warned there is a long way to go, adding: “Transport methods can take decades to implement and while we might look to Holland and Denmark of examples of cycling cities, it was developed over many years.
“The vast majority of trips in Scotland are taken by car even with an increase in cycling and public transport use either by bus or rail has fallen off a cliff.”
Read more: Covid Scotland: Glasgow installs new seating and decking to help boost spaces for people
He said Glasgow could look to explore bus park-and-ride options.
“While it might be a little bit more complicated in Glasgow as there are a number of bus operators in the city, rather than Lothian Buses largely operated by Edinburgh City Council through Transport for Edinburgh, it is still something that could be looked at,” added Mr Greig.
"No-one really wants to drive in the centre of a major city unless they have to.”
Decking and wooden seating built along St Vincent Place in Glasgow as part of the Spaces for People initiative
While Glasgow remained in tougher Level Three restrictions for the past few weeks, Mr Greig said commuter numbers are already returning to near normal at a time when temporary restrictions are still in place and he hopes motorists are not left behind.
Transport Scotland figures for May showed that car use was close to pre-pandemic figures at within 10 per cent of normal levels, while bike use had fallen by one-third compared with this time last year.
He added: “We have seen commuter levels in Scotland’s cities get back to near normal levels, particularly given the reluctance to use public transport, but still with restrictions in place in some areas.
“However, there are some areas where drivers may have had four lanes and are now using two, and it will lead to an adverse effect when you have the same number of vehicles travelling through less space.”
A Glasgow City Council spokeswoman said: “Our Spaces for People programme introduced an array of temporary travel infrastructure to support physical distancing for walking, wheeling and cycling during Covid-19. The current consultation is seeking views on the measures delivered and is part of a process to determine whether any of the active travel infrastructure should be retained permanently.
“Park and ride is currently under consideration as part of the Glasgow transport strategy and the city centre transformation plan.”
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