Green Park Match Day Parking

[Huntley & Palmer]

Can vouch for Mereoak P&R being a viable option. I can walk to the ground but if it's raining or I can't be oxf*rd then I get the bus £3.50 return which includes parking. Got on it as late as 2-15pm and got to the ground before KO, you get s bit of traffic snag from the M4 junction down to the stadium but no stress. Usually at least two buses waiting at the stop post game and you are back in your car within 15 mins of the game finishing

[RoyalBlue]

I contacted the council and the club on Saturday night regarding the issue of parking. The club replied yesterday morning (I'm not holding out much hope for a response from the council). In relation to parking the response that I received was:

In recent seasons, the capacity of the Worton Grange site has been approximately 500 cars and looking at the number of cars using the site, these can in theory be accommodated in other offsite car parks which have been operating at under capacity. However, we clearly would want our average attendance to increase and we fully understand that ensuring the stadium is accessible is key to this. I would like to assure that the club have been actively seeking additional matchday parking from various local businesses and organisations, and we will keep supporters fully informed as and when any further parking become available.

Basically, the club are concerned about the reduction in parking, despite other off-site car parks not being at full capacity at the moment, and the impact that it could have on attendances if a suitable solution isn't found.

Having less car parking spaces will be an issue next Friday, for the Palace Quarter-Final. The total (off-site) parking capacity is currently just under 2,400, now that Worton Grange will be unavailable. The club's own car park has around 2,000 spaces, although these are almost all parking permits that are sold out for this season and not all of the car park is available for supporters either, as the players, journalists. etc use it. I'm sure that local residents would prefer for people not to be parked on the streets, although this may be a suitable short term solution for some who parked at Worton Grange.

In the initial email, I brought up Green Park as a solution to the parking situation - despite their, current, stance on preventing Reading fans from parking on the site. I've since found out that Green Park has space for over 3,000 cars - so even a small portion of that would be beneficial in helping reducing the problems that the loss of parking spaces at Worton Grange could bring. Additionally, Green Park would gain revenue from it - should they wish to allow fans to park there.

I'm aware of the buses that the club put on for supporters, although this may not be a viable option for people outside of Reading - particularly if the buses don't pass through their town/village. Additionally, trains can be completely overpriced - as to make it unaffordable to some.

I'm really surprised that they reckon the capacity of Worton Grange was only 500 cars. There always seemed more cars than that at busy games. I also wonder which car parks were operating under capacity as the Holiday Inn car park always looks pretty full (or are they including Park and Ride when they refer to other offsite car parks operating under capacity?).

It's interesting to hear from others that the Mereoak Park and ride works well and that the journey time, particularly after games, is so quick. However, I guess its continued effectiveness under increased demand will depend on whether they are able to put on more buses or just try to cover with increased runs from the existing buses (I suspect the latter would fail to work). I still doubt I would be able to get there in time and find a bus with empty seats for evening games, as I suspect the closer it gets to kickoff the busier the buses become.

How many free spaces do people think there currently are on match days at Mereoak (prior to the likely increased demand).

[STAR Voice]

STAR gathered responses from c100 supporters at the time of the public consultation in Oct / Nov and those views are also reflected in this thread.

Our main concern is that a proportion (unknown) of our support will find the lack of alternatives to parking within walking distance of the stadium (following the closure of Worton Grange and the stadium’s own car parks) a reason for not coming / not renewing season tickets and we communicated this concern to the club at the time.

We’re working our way looking through the plans and we will be responding to the consultation, but we don’t spot any easy answer to the issue. Our reckoning on the net loss of ‘non-park and ride’ spaces close to the stadium is between 1000-2000, that is taking into account the new multi-storey (+600) and the losses of Worton Grange and the stadium car parks (it’s hard to say how many stadium spaces are taken by football fans on match days, given staff, park and ride, hotel etc).

There is a transport strategy – we don’t know what proportion of supporters that will work for. We know of individual instances where it won’t work / would be prohibitive in terms of time and money. In theory Green Park station could be very helpful. From the more informed comment we’ve had so far it won’t be any more useful or convenient than Reading West was for Elm Park (for younger readers, not a lot).

Both Brighton and Southampton are cited as examples of where public transport has worked in a new stadium environment. You can argue, as someone does above, that the Madejski Stadium is in a different situation from those – ie it is at a motorway junction that is not well-served by regular public transport and therefore a substantial car parking resource is essential.

It would be helpful if anyone can tell us of any football stadiums that are out of town / by motorways and don’t have much car parking resource nearby, so we can see how they cope. Swansea?

[Forbury Lion]

I'm really surprised that they reckon the capacity of Worton Grange was only 500 cars. There always seemed more cars than that at busy games

Maybe the car park attendants only declared 500 cars to their superiors pocketed the rest or maybe their superiors only declared 500 to the tax man....... it's debatable, much like the attendance figures in the Elm Park days.

[One8Seven1*]

imagine what it'll be like when the stadium car park is gone. We're not (currently) getting the extra buses suggested. We're being offered the same amount of buses doing double runs. So they'll be a mad scramble to leave the game at 80 minutes to get the first buses, and the rest get left behind to hang around in the cold and wet for anything up to an hour depending on traffic. The club might well be concerned about attendances not increasing, but they should be more concerned about attendances dropping! It will, undoubtedly, put some people off going to home games.

[Nameless]

The suggestion is that with bars and restaurants on site people might chose to arrive earlier/ leave later. Much better sitting in the warm having a beer and watching the 5pm game on TV than standing in a bus queue.
Whether people do think that would be a good idea time will tell.
If they charge stupid money for beers and pizzas they may find they have a lack of customers and there would definitely be a problem with evening games.

[RoyalBlue]

STAR gathered responses from c100 supporters at the time of the public consultation in Oct / Nov and those views are also reflected in this thread.

Our main concern is that a proportion (unknown) of our support will find the lack of alternatives to parking within walking distance of the stadium (following the closure of Worton Grange and the stadium’s own car parks) a reason for not coming / not renewing season tickets and we communicated this concern to the club at the time.

We’re working our way looking through the plans and we will be responding to the consultation, but we don’t spot any easy answer to the issue. Our reckoning on the net loss of ‘non-park and ride’ spaces close to the stadium is between 1000-2000, that is taking into account the new multi-storey (+600) and the losses of Worton Grange and the stadium car parks (it’s hard to say how many stadium spaces are taken by football fans on match days, given staff, park and ride, hotel etc).

There is a transport strategy – we don’t know what proportion of supporters that will work for. We know of individual instances where it won’t work / would be prohibitive in terms of time and money. In theory Green Park station could be very helpful. From the more informed comment we’ve had so far it won’t be any more useful or convenient than Reading West was for Elm Park (for younger readers, not a lot).

Both Brighton and Southampton are cited as examples of where public transport has worked in a new stadium environment. You can argue, as someone does above, that the Madejski Stadium is in a different situation from those – ie it is at a motorway junction that is not well-served by regular public transport and therefore a substantial car parking resource is essential.

It would be helpful if anyone can tell us of any football stadiums that are out of town / by motorways and don’t have much car parking resource nearby, so we can see how they cope. Swansea?

Interesting info Star Voice, thanks. And frightening that you calculate the eventual net loss of non park and ride spaces to be that high. Unless there is a significant change in supporters' mindsets and/or a very significant improvement in performances and results on the pitch, large numbers of people will stop attending games. The 'club' might might care but do its owners?

In some ways it is good that Worton Grange has closed now, as it gives me and others time this season to see and experience the extent of any possible problems before deciding whether we want to commit to season tickets next season.

[Armadillo Roadkill]

Fair play to the club though - the news of the reduction in parking places and how to still get to the games has been all over the OS, they've emailed season ticket holders etc. Great to see them really getting on top of this to help the supporters out. Oh.....

[Nameless]

Why focus on non park and ride spaces ? Park and ride seems a reasonable option when there simply isn't land on which people can park and walk. The key will be making the ride bit efficient so the time it takes to get back to your car by bus isn't significantly longer than the time it took to walk to Worton Grange.

[Maneki Neko]

yeah, a bit more park and ride provision, and a few more taking the excellent bus service from the provinces and we'll be fine!

[Nameless]

yeah, a bit more park and ride provision, and a few more taking the excellent bus service from the provinces and we'll be fine!

Certainly as a stop gap till the monorail is finished.

[Maneki Neko]

yeah, a bit more park and ride provision, and a few more taking the excellent bus service from the provinces and we'll be fine!

Certainly as a stop gap till the monorail is finished.

[Armadillo Roadkill]

yeah, a bit more park and ride provision, and a few more taking the excellent bus service from the provinces and we'll be fine!

Certainly as a stop gap till the monorail is finished.

Think outside of the box Nameless. I'm seeing...individual jet packs....

[STAR Voice]

Why focus on non park and ride spaces ? Park and ride seems a reasonable option when there simply isn't land on which people can park and walk. The key will be making the ride bit efficient so the time it takes to get back to your car by bus isn't significantly longer than the time it took to walk to Worton Grange.

Park and ride is indeed a reasonable option for the less 'demanding' supporter.

But for others it could tip the balance against coming either because of the inconvenience or the negative perception of P & R. It is interesting that a few in this thread will now consider giving Mere Oak a go (me included) given the suggestion it is more efficient than people think.

Winnersh P & R is a theoretical option. So too are the many (walkable) spaces in Green Park and other surrounding businesses in the land nearby, which the Club are attempting to access for match day parking.

Bear in mind a full Worton Grange car park will contain 1200-1500 passengers who, in a P & R scenario, would have to fit onto shuttle buses - unless some take the hint and use public transport via the town centre or district buses. But the new transport hub at REP may have a roof under which people can queue.

Can we repeat this request please. It would be helpful if anyone can tell us of any football stadiums that are out of town / by motorways and don’t have much car parking resource nearby, so we can see how they cope. Swansea?

[Nameless]

What is the situation with the greyhound stadium land ? Who owns it and what is the long term future for it ?
An ideal solution would be for the club to own it and make efficient use of it for parking but I suspect as soon as REP kicks in it will be redeveloped and is far too valuable to just use for parking.
If and when that goes there is a huge problem....

Bolton for a comparison ?
Location is similar, not sure how much parking they have on site.

[Clyde1998]

I'm really surprised that they reckon the capacity of Worton Grange was only 500 cars. There always seemed more cars than that at busy games. I also wonder which car parks were operating under capacity as the Holiday Inn car park always looks pretty full (or are they including Park and Ride when they refer to other offsite car parks operating under capacity?).

I was surprised by that, as well. I quoted a figure of 1,000 spaces, as that was the only figure I could find - it was from a article on the Arsenal website about travelling to Reading; the capacity of the other car parks they've listed is the same as what's quoted on the club website. I suppose that the capacity of Worton Grange could be lower than it was in 2012 though...

EDIT: In fact, using web.archive.org, the club website had Worton Grange's capacity at 1,000 in September,

[One8Seven1*]

What is the situation with the greyhound stadium land ? Who owns it and what is the long term future for it ?
An ideal solution would be for the club to own it and make efficient use of it for parking but I suspect as soon as REP kicks in it will be redeveloped and is far too valuable to just use for parking.
If and when that goes there is a huge problem....

Bolton for a comparison ?
Location is similar, not sure how much parking they have on site.

Perfect for us to build a multi-story car park, but that wont happen. It's about making money from land, not spending it.

[STAR Voice]

I'm really surprised that they reckon the capacity of Worton Grange was only 500 cars. There always seemed more cars than that at busy games. I also wonder which car parks were operating under capacity as the Holiday Inn car park always looks pretty full (or are they including Park and Ride when they refer to other offsite car parks operating under capacity?).

I was surprised by that, as well. I quoted a figure of 1,000 spaces, as that was the only figure I could find - it was from a article on the Arsenal website about travelling to Reading; the capacity of the other car parks they've listed is the same as what's quoted on the club website. I suppose that the capacity of Worton Grange could be lower than it was in 2012 though...

EDIT: In fact, using web.archive.org, the club website had Worton Grange's capacity at 1,000 in September,

Figure we've got is 800.

[Nameless]

Wonton Grange has changed capacity a few times. Obviously knocking the multi-storey bit down removed quite a few spaces !

[Hoop Blah]

I usually park on Green Park if I drive (most games these days) and if they clamp down on no parking there I can see it being the final nail in my season tickets coffin.

I could substitute my drive for public transport, probably a train and then a bus, but it will mean my 25 minute drive will become the best part of a 90 minute journey to ensure I get there on time. It was also cost me an extra £5-£10 a game and mean I'm out of the house for an extra 2 hours.

I don't blame the club for it, but I can't see me being arsed with that extra time, effort, inconvenience and cost.