Park and Ride ‘fiasco’ losing up to €4,000 a week

The Park and Ride from Galway Airport into the city centre is losing around €4,000 per week because of the abysmal uptake for the service, a city councillor has claimed.

Councillor Ollie Crowe said that in the six weeks the weekday service has been up and running for six weeks and has lost €25,000.

And he said the service will be abandoned within the coming weeks, unless public awareness is raised.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of Galway Airport has been summoned to appear before the next meeting of Galway City Council to explain the poor take-up for the service, which is part-funded by the local authority.

The City and County Council have each provided €50,000 towards the service, while the National Transport Authority has provided €100,000 plus a further €20,000 for marketing.

Cllr Crowe told the Galway City Tribune yesterday: “The service is excellent, it needs to be given a chance, but people just don’t know about it. There are 25 bus services running into and out of town each day, and numbers are minimal. There are only three or four people on each service.

“It’s losing €3,000 to €4,000 per week, it’s six weeks into it, and it has lost €25,000.

“The Board of the airport came cap in hand to us, and we provided funding. It’s been a fiasco. The Board and the Chamber need to sit down and work out how to market this service properly,” he said.

A report carried out by the Galway Transportation Unit last Summer found that an airport Park and Ride service was unfeasible and would cost the Council around €900,000 per year to operate.

Cllr Crowe conceded yesterday that report would probably be proven correct.

“It hasn’t been given a proper chance, it has about two weeks left. In the long term, that report will be proven correct,” he said.

Director of Services for Transportation, Ciarán Hayes, admitted the figures were “disappointing”.

“It’s a new venture on the part of the airport and Galway Chamber, and I think it’s up to all stakeholders to promote the new service and encourage patronage,” he said.

He pointed out that the service is in its infancy and it took time to attract customers, adding that not all of the €20,000 marketing budget had yet been spent.

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.