The money that was spent by the council, was used not just to upgrade the car park, but to improve the facilities allowing better integration between forms of public transport. I believe it was known as the riviera project, not all the money came from the county council, there were some external partners. The aims for Bodmin parkway and Liskeard were:
| Improves access to everyday facilities for the mobility impaired. |
| Improves safety for travellers. |
| Reduces crime and fear of crime at stations. |
| Encourages use of public transport. |
| Assists in local economic regeneration. |
| Promotes sustainable tourism. |
In which case the council was already trying to encourage use of public transport, and the parking charges will definitely assist in this regard. I know it is not nice to have car parking charges introduced, but you have to consider the charges in other regions, which is considerably higher.
But I expect what will happen is passenger numbers increase at other stations where there are no parking charges such as Par, Lostwithiel, St Germans or Saltash. The parking charges are not to bad if the cost of public transport is cheaper than parking at the station, otherwise it is a money making mechanism for
FGW▸ . I know that the entrance road to Bodmin Parkway is not the best, maybe the parking charges can be used to improve the condition of the road.
