An Olympic park and ride operating out of the Herts County Showground has been slammed as a ‘complete fiasco’ by a neighbour who says it was barely used during the games.
Alan Hardy, whose property forms the northern boundary of the showground near Redbourn, said the exercise seems to have been a waste of time and money because of the paltry number of sports fans seen by locals using the park and ride facilities.
Speaking before the Olympics finished, Alan said: “It’s been a complete fiasco.
“There are almost no cars there at all most days, in fact there are probably more empty coaches milling around in the morning than cars.”
At first Alan had been concerned about the 2,754 parking spaces allocated at the site being run by the Olympic Development Authority (ODA) for the 16 days of the games, following a lack of any consultation with him as a neighbour.
But he said: “The whole exercise is proving a complete waste of time and money. The ODA are throwing money around like confetti, and yet for no return. This might arouse suspicions in minds more cynical than mine...”
The poorly-supported park and ride has also been noticed by Redbourn parish councillor David Mitchell who said “My own observations have been that it’s two-thirds empty when I’ve passed by.
“I think the whole transport situation was overestimated, although it is better to overestimate than underestimate. But it’s been quite quiet.”
The park and ride costs £18 per day.
The ODA has said it will not reveal the cost of the park and ride or the number of people using it until after the Paralympic games, which start later this month.