A congestion-busting scheme in the West Midlands is helping to reduce the demand for petrol by saving more than 80 tankers of fuel each year.

The free park and ride sites offered by public transport promoter Centro-PTA have been praised for helping take millions of car journeys off the region’s congested roads.  Now with world oil prices on the rise and worries over petrol supply making headlines, new figures have shown how would-be motorists are cashing in by leaving their car behind.

“A public transport user consumes three and a half times less energy than a motorist, so getting more people to use our buses, trains and trams is important for the future of our cities,” comments Cllr Gary Clarke, chairman of the policy-setting West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority.

He points out that in the Birmingham rush hour there are already more people travelling to work by bus, train and tram than stuck in their cars in traffic jams.

“Now as petrol prices increase and motorists feel the pinch, switching to public transport is going to be even more attractive,” he adds.

The increase in forecourt prices means that users of park and ride in the West Midlands are now saving almost £10 million a year in motoring costs between them.

• Centro provides 5,874 spaces at rail and Metro park and ride sites
  
• These are calculated to take more than 50,000 car journeys per week off the region’s congested road network – equivalent to an estimated mileage of more than 400,000 miles
  
• Based on Government fuel consumption statistics, these journeys would have used up 56,800 litres of fuel.  This is equivalent to 81 tankers a year.