The Olympic Delivery Authority, which is responsible for a network of park-and-ride schemes across the UK has announced that the park and ride centres set up nine miles from the Olympic venues of Weymouth and Portland are to be free from this Thursday, to encourage more visitors to the seaside resorts.Some Park and Ride car parks in Dorset will be free August 1st and 2nd in an attempt to draw more visitors to Weymouth and Portland during the Olympics. The Monkeys Jump site near Dorchester will also be free after 14:30 everyday from this Friday (3rd August). There will be no charge for the bus services carrying passengers to the centre of Weymouth.
Some traders in Weymouth are reporting business up to 50 per cent less than normal for the time of year, and tourism operators have blamed fears of Olympic-sized traffic jams for the drop in numbers of typical summer holiday visitors. In fact there have been no delays for traffic heading to the resorts.
Two other car parks, Preston Beach and Mount Pleasant in Weymouth, will remain subject to the £10 parking charge throughout the Games, as the main sites serving ticketed spectators. A fourth site – at Kingston Maurward – will be kept in reserve in case of additional demand, but will not otherwise operate. Should it open, it will also be free at the same times as the Monkey Jump site.
G New
2 August 2012 8:52