A new park and ride service from Broadmeadow is expected to take up to 350 vehicles out of Newcastle CBD each weekday.
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The initiative, which will be unveiled as a 12-month trial today, has been touted as a way to free-up car parks in the city, ease traffic congestion and save CBD workers as much as $1400 a year.
From Monday, people can park at McDonald Jones Stadium and catch a free bus to one of four stops in the city, between 6.30am and 8.30am – leaving every 15 minutes.
Buses will then collect commuters from stops near Customs House, the intersection of Perkins and King streets, Civic and Markettown every 15 minutes for the return trip to Broadmeadow, between 4.30pm and 6pm.
The plan is a partnership between Newcastle City Council, Transport for NSW, Newcastle Transport, Venues NSW, Revitalising Newcastle and Hunter Development Corporation. It will be free until January 29, when a $2 daily fee is introduced for parking at the stadium.
But the charge will be a 75 per cent saving for some commuters, who pay up to $8 a day to park in the Honeysuckle precinct while they go to work.
“It will take more than 300 commuter cars off the roads, promote public transport and free-up parking spaces for shoppers, which in turn assists business,” Revitalising Newcastle director Michael Cassel said.
Lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said the service was part of council’s vision for an integrated transport plan.
“Park and ride is a solution developed by council with support from the state government that has the potential to ease demand on parking as our city grows,” Cr Nelmes said.
“Newcastle is undergoing significant renewal. It's a time of enormous change and we are working hard, as is the NSW government, to ensure the city remains open for business as it goes through this period of evolution.”
Newcastle council interim chief executive officer Jeremy Bath said the trial would show that there was demand for more public transport links between the suburbs and the CBD. He said strong uptake would support council’s push for Newcastle’s light rail network to be extended to Broadmeadow.
To use the service, commuters must first register for a free permit either online at newcastle.nsw.gov.au/parkandride or by calling council on 4974 2000.
There will be alternative park and ride locations for occasions when the Newcastle Jets or Knights have weekday evening clashes at the stadium.
Nick Bielby
Nick Bielby is a crime reporter who has worked as a journalist since 2011. Having joined the Newcastle Herald in 2017, he won a Walkley Award in 2019 with Donna Page for their investigation 'Dirty Deeds', which exposed the decades of illegal dumping of toxic material in and around a Hunter waterway.
Nick Bielby is a crime reporter who has worked as a journalist since 2011. Having joined the Newcastle Herald in 2017, he won a Walkley Award in 2019 with Donna Page for their investigation 'Dirty Deeds', which exposed the decades of illegal dumping of toxic material in and around a Hunter waterway.
