Park and Ride services across Essex to lose £1.3m as Covid-19 impact continues
The predicted loss comes as the Essex County Council prepares to expand its park and ride services in Chelmsford
Last updated 18th Sep 2022
Park and ride services across Essex are predicted to lose £1.3million in the next year as the effects of covid continues to hit.
The predicted deficit for 2022/23 is a big jump from the loss of around £530,000 Essex County Council incurred for the service in 2018/2019.
The predicted loss comes as the authority prepares to expand its park and ride services in Chelmsford as part of the new Army and Navy junction sustainable transport package for the city.
The £81m plan involves the construction of a new hamburger junction to replace the demolished flyover, along with the expansion of park and ride sites in the city – currently those plans include a 500-space expansion of the existing Chelmer Valley Park and Ride and a 350-space expansion of Sandon Park and Ride.
The council has said that any additional provision of park and ride bus services above and beyond what is currently contractually required will result in additional revenue costs.
If additional fare demand does not increase significantly this could lead to an unfunded revenue pressure.
It acknowledges its park and ride sites – two in Chelmsford and one in Colchester – are continuing to experience “significant income shortfalls” forecasted at £1.3m for the current financial year.
However, it also believes that the current park and ride capacity is sufficient to take on increased demand and therefore no additional bus services will be required.
In a statement as part of the cabinet decision to submit its outline business case to the Government, council leader Councillor Kevin Bentley said: “Park and ride services have a key role in enabling people to make sustainable journeys into Chelmsford and Colchester.
“We continue to review the change in travel patterns that has resulted from the Covid pandemic and will bring forward new measures shortly to ensure passengers and taxpayers are getting the best value from these services.
“The unadjusted income shortfall for Park and Ride services for 2022/23 is £1.3m.”
But the county council has also acknowledged it may have to “descope” its plans to expand park and ride provision in Chelmsford if costs of developing a new Army and Navy junction rise.
Essex County Council, which is set to submit its funding plans for the £81m Army and Navy Sustainable Transport Package to the Government, has acknowledged it will be liable to fund all cost escalations.
This may mean that it may dumb down its plans for improvements to the city’s park and ride provision if cost rises cannot be funded -the current capital programme allocation of £65.424m will need to be increased by £15.564m to reflect the current estimated cost of £80.886m.
It adds: “Should the level of funding sought from the DfT not be received, or cost escalation occurs, and on the basis that all value engineering opportunities have been exhausted, Essex County Council could look to descope park and ride elements of the scheme without significantly affecting the benefits to bring the total cost of the project within the funding envelope available.
“Beyond this, other options could be considered such as removal of the new stretch of bus lane on Essex Yeomanry Way. It should be noted that this could negatively impact the strategic case for the scheme.”