‘Unsustainable’ park & ride catering for 20 cars a day

The Park and Ride from Galway Airport was branded “unsustainable” last night after it emerged that just 20 cars per day are using the service.

And in the nine weeks it has been up-and-running, there were a total of 14 days when nobody used the service at all.

However, Michael Coyle, Chief Executive of Galway Chamber – the controlling shareholder of the airport – said the operator of the service, Farrell Travel, is committed to continuing the service, on the reduced frequency introduced just over a week ago.

“The operator remains committed to continuing to provide the service at reduced timetables. It’s a six-month pilot,” said Mr Coyle.

He said that while feedback from users was positive, the average number of cars each week was 135 (150 people).

“The usage remains lower than the operator and we would like. In the early stages, there was evidence of numbers growing, but once the schools closed, numbers fell back.

“We have introduced a revised schedule. We believe it can help traffic congestion, particularly with the advent if major road works, and with major events such as matches, concerts and the Novena. Second level school children were using it to travel from school,” said Mr Coyle.

Referring to a story from this newspaper a fortnight ago, Cllr Tom Costello said the figures were “devastating” as the service had already been cut back.

“When are they [the operators] going to cry halt? 150 per week is a devastating figure,” said Cllr Costello.

Cllr Mike Crowe said he never believed the Carnmore site was sustainable, and he was not sure if Galway was ready for Park and Ride, whether it had the population to sustain it, or if there was enough of an incentive to use it.

Cllr Donal Lyons said the service is unsustainable going forward, because of the losses being incurred.

Read more in today’s Connacht Sentinel