Park and Ride: more colleagues than ever use free service

Use of the free Park and Ride service by colleagues and students travelling to campus increased massively last year as more colleagues and students took advantage of the exclusive offer.

The Park and Ride service runs from Mereoak to the south of Reading (off the A33 at Junction 11 of the M4) to Whiteknights campus and on to London Road. Buses run every 20 minutes at peak times between 6:25 and 19:30. Find out how to use it.

The service was first offered to staff in 2022 as a free way to avoid driving to campus, with students invited to use it from last September.

Termtime use of the service rocketed to 3,626 journeys during 2023/24, more than seven times the number recorded the previous year. Across the full academic year, the monthly average increased from 48 journeys in 2022/23 to 318 last year.

Reducing car journeys to campus is a key target in our new Travel Plan, which sets out ways the University will support staff and students to choose greener transport options to assist with our net carbon zero ambitions.

‘Very convenient’

As well as reducing carbon emissions and air pollution, the park and ride service can save colleagues time and money on their commutes.

Robert Elibank, in our Fundraising team, uses the service on his commute to London Road campus from Salisbury.

Robert said it prevents him from having to drive on the often congested roads around London Road, as well as saving money on petrol and campus parking.

“I like it because it’s very convenient for me,” he said. “It saves me a nasty 30-minute commute into Reading and a nasty 30-minute commute back out.” 

‘I’m a total convert’

Claire Holliman, an Apprenticeship Tutor in Henley Business School, commutes from Basingstoke. She is based at Greenlands but uses the Mereoak park and ride on days when she needs to work at Whiteknights.

Claire said: “In 30 years of living around here I had often passed the Mereoak Park and Ride and never used it. The recent train strikes prompted me to look into alternative ways of getting into the University, and I tried the Park n Ride.

“I am a total convert. It is a brilliant service.

“I get on the 300 Bus and I get off at Christchurch Green with a short walk on to Whiteknights Campus. Or for London Road I stay on bus to the Royal Berks Main Entrance stop with a short walk to the campus.

“Advantages are that you can park your car and ride the bus free, whereas if I went on the train it would cost over £12 return. As the bus uses the bus lanes, it really is much quicker than using the car. Also, I’m not driving so I can read, catch up on emails and prepare for the day.”

To avoid waiting at the bus stop at the end of the day, Claire says she uses the live update service on the Reading Buses app to see where the bus is and decide on when to leave work to catch it. She also uses the electric car chargers at Mereoak to charge her car while she is at work.