A PARK-and-ride trial scheme has been launched in the west of the Island to help encourage greater use of public transport.
Infrastructure Minister Andy Jehan said that, following discussions with the Jersey in Transition environmental group, the Airport playing field car park near Les Quennevais School and Les Ormes had been chosen as the site for the pilot initiative.
Park-and-ride schemes have proved popular throughout the UK and Europe, enabling commuters to park their cars on the outskirts of a town or city and travel into the centre by bus or another form of sustainable transport.
Jersey in Transition had initially unveiled a proposal to use the former Covid-19 testing area at the Airport, but Mr Jehan explained that the chosen location was “much easier and quicker” for implementing the trial as it is owned by the government.
Permit holders will be able to park at the Airport playing field from Monday to Friday between 6am and 7pm and use the nearby bus stop on Route des Quennevais for their onward journey.
The permit and parking is free, but users will need to pay for their bus journey as normal.
Islanders can pick up a permit application form from the reception at Les Quennevais Sports Centre.
The permits will expire at the end of August.
Mr Jehan said: “We are doing a soft launch but hopefully we will see people take up this opportunity.”
He continued: “I expect to see people from St Peter and St Ouen perhaps using the service as much as [those in] St Brelade. I imagine it will be a very low uptake to start but I’d like to think that certainly dozens of people would avail themselves of the service. It’s an opportunity to do something different and we are going to give it a go.”
Jersey in Transition chair Nigel Jones said: “We are happy to see it happen and to see it happen this quickly, as we were keen that it start before the summer.”
He reiterated his desire to see the scheme replicated in other parishes should the trial prove successful.
