City of York Council's Park & Ride service continues to smash its own passenger records with passenger numbers surging by almost 20 percent over the last year.

New figures from the council show that over 100,000 people used the four Park and Ride services last month, almost 20 percent more than during February 2001.

Rawcliffe Bar performed exceptionally well, with a 36 percent increase in passenger numbers and a massive 77 percent increase in commuters travelling before 9am.

From this month, brand new buses are being introduced onto the Park & Ride service meeting the latest exhaust emission and accessibility standards.

Councillor Dave Merrett, the council's executive member for planning and transport, today stressed the importance of Park & Ride as part of the council's five year strategy to contain congestion.

He said, "We have to imagine how bad congestion in York would be without the Park & Ride services keeping more than 2000 cars out of central York every day.

"But we not going to be complacent. Indeed, council officers are currently designing the proposed new site at Monks Cross and will shortly be consulting citizens about possible site for a Park & Ride service close the A59.

"We are also investigating the possibility of a seventh site, on Wigginton Road, which could have the added benefits of providing a much-needed high frequency, quality bus service for Clifton Moor and the hospital."

Councillor Merrett said the new figures showed that car drivers could be persauded to travel by public transport but it had to match the private car in terms of comfort, reliability and speed.

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Notes for editors: Park and ride passenger numbers (for commercial reasons we cannot give totals for numbers at individual sites: Total passenger usage: o February 2001 - 100,931; o February 2002 - 118,452 o Total increase (all sites) - 17.35 percent Increase in pre-9am passengers for all sites: o February 2001 - 27,664; o February 2002 - 38,502 o Total rise - 39.2 percent Increases at individual sites: o Askham Bar - 9.4 percent o Grimston Bar - 12.4 percent o Rawcliffe Bar - 36.6 percent o Designer Line - 19.4 percent Increases on pre-9am at individual sites: o Askham Bar - 22.4 percent o Grimston Bar - 28.4 percent o Rawcliffe Bar - 77.4 percent o Designer Line - 39.4 percent