Galway City Council's Park and Ride Service swings into operation for the Christmas season this Saturday December 3. Catering for workers, shoppers and visitors to the City alike, the first bus departs Ballybrit Racecourse at 7:00am, kickstarting the service, which will shuttle passengers to and from the City Centre every fifteen minutes until 9:30pm Monday to Saturday and from 11:00am to 7:00pm on Sundays.
Passengers will be dropped and picked up from Galway Coach Station, which is just a two-minute walk from the Galway Continental Market at Eyre Square and the heart of Galway city centre.
€Two Per Car ‘All in Fare’
Offering an excellent value service, the price per car irrespective of the number of passengers is €2 return. Commenting on the service in previous years, Joe Tansey (Head, Galway Transportation Unit ), stated: "Last year, an interesting trend emerged whereby a large number of people carriers parked at the Racecourse with at times more than 10 people dis-embarking to avail of the Park and Ride service to the city centre.
“Our surveys have also revealed that the Park and Ride Service is a big hit with children where parents highlighted that their initial reason for using the Park and Ride Service was because their children delighted in taking the bus, as prior to this some had never been on a bus."
Reduced Bus and Rail Fares to the city centre
Galway Transportation Unit, is encouraging members of the public particularly those travelling along the M6, N6, N18, N17 and Monivea Roads to Park and Ride this Christmas where customer experiences to date, indicate that they will enjoy a comfortable and relaxing journey to the City Centre, whilst at the same time help to curb traffic congestion during the run up to Christmas.
Galway Transportation Unit in conjunction with An Taisce Green Schools Travel programme is also encouraging everyone to walk, take the bus, cycle, park 'n stride and carpool to school in the run up to Christmas.
In addition, Galway Transportation Unit is inviting members of the public to avail of the reduced fares on offer by Bus Éireann and Iarnród Éireann as part of this combined Park and Ride initiative. For example, bus passengers can avail of €10 return reduced fares from numerous towns in Co. Galway via Bus Éireann and after 9:00am each morning Iarnród Éireann is offering €6 day return fares to Galway city from Athenry representing a saving in excess of €5 on the usual rate.
