Greater good (From The Oxford Times)

Greater good

6:50am Thursday 31st December 2009 in

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The prospect of a large expansion of Thornhill park-and-ride car park will be welcomed by anyone who uses it.

It is the most popular of the park-and-rides for the obvious reason that it can be used for those heading into Oxford and for those heading off to London. So popular has it become, that it is routinely full at a very early point in the day.

Expansion of park-and-ride will be the main weapon in Oxfordshire County Council’s armoury as it seeks to keep traffic moving on our roads in the years to come.

The expansion of Thornhill is not, however, without controversy. Having recently trumpeted its success in making all of Oxford’s park-and-rides free to park, the county council is now proposing that it should discriminate against those commuting to London and introduce a charge for them, but not for those heading into Oxford.

The rationale is that it will help to pay for a service that Thornhill was never meant to be providing in the first place.

Quite how the county council will be able to differentiate between the two different types of motorist in a single car park has not been explained.

Presumably, there will be segregated parking areas, although simple segregation will be open to abuse. It is hard to see how the system would work without the co-operation of the bus companies which would need to check whether passengers had the correct parking ticket.

Complications aside, one also has to ask whether it is right to discriminate against the London commuter. Travelling by bus is to be encouraged, whether it is into Oxford or on the coach to London. In both cases, the driver is removing a car from the road and reducing his or her environmental footprint.

It may not be within Oxfordshire County Council’s remit to reduce traffic on the M40, but it is unquestionably to the greater good.