An animation has been released by Leeds City Council to show how the brand new park and ride in Stourton will look once complete in autumn 2021.
The £38.5 million project forms part of Connecting Leeds’ ambition to improve the bus network, provide better connectivity and reduce carbon emissions in the city.
The park and ride will have capacity for 1200 vehicles and will complement the Elland Road and Temple Green sites, catering for trips south-east of the city with access via Junction 7 of M621, A61S and A639. The Stourton site will take over £1.6m car kms off the network into Leeds City centre each year.
It is set to be the first fully solar powered park and ride site and will be served by an electric bus fleet which will run every day. The result of a solar powered site will result in the reduction of 471 tonnes of carbon each year, which is the equivalent of removing 203 cars from our roads. The solar panels will also power 26 electric car charging points and one bus capacity point, meaning electric vehicle users will benefit from a sustainable energy supply.
In addition to this, the bus priority measures along the new corridor linking the park and ride to the city will help to provide quicker and more reliable journey times on existing services. Modelling shows that at peak times, the measures along Hunslet Road and Low Road will provide a 10% journey time improvement for buses.
Leeds City Council's executive board member for climate change, transport and sustainable development, Councillor Lisa Mulherin, said: “The exciting development of Stourton park and ride builds on the obvious benefits of people switching to public transport use to reduce their impact on the environment. Solar panels and an innovative battery storage system, paid for with European Regional Development Funding, will provide energy for the whole park & ride site, which will be served by electric buses.”
Cllr Kim Groves, transport lead for the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, said: “I’m excited to see the development of Stourton Park & Ride and the positive environmental impact this will have on the local community. With the potential to take up to 1,200 cars off the road and offer improved journey times into Leeds city centre in a fleet of new all-electric buses, projects like this are an important milestone in our ambition to becoming a net-zero carbon region by 2038.”
Martin Hirst, Commercial Director of First West Yorkshire, said: “It is exciting to see the progress being made at the Stourton park and ride and we are delighted to have been selected by West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Leeds City Council to operate the service. This builds on our successful partnership with the existing park & ride network in the city and we’re looking forward to bringing the benefits of this bus connectivity to more people working in and visiting Leeds.
“The new buses will expand our all-electric vehicles in Leeds and are a continued demonstration of our strategy to move to a fully zero-emission fleet across the region in the years ahead. They also enable us to capitalise on the bus priority measures now rolling out across the city, helping to create cleaner air, reduce congestion and give customer reliable journey times in superior comfort.”
