The park and ride system which operated on a trial basis in Cork last month has produced interesting results. Parking space was made available near County Hall, outside the city, and people were encouraged to use the shuttle bus service by being asked to pay only a nominal charge.
Traffic gridlock in Cork is becoming more common - the cars seem to be multiplying to fill all the new roads that have been constructed through EU funding in recent years.
Some 18,200 people availed of the service during the period of operation. On day one, the uptake was just 61 people, but by the following Saturday the number had gone to 669. On the last Saturday before Christmas, the figure peaked at 1,685 people.
Mr Joe Fitzgerald, of Bus Eireann, says the scheme's success calls into question the policy of building multi-storey car parks in the city. Certainly the car parks that do exist in the city can actually add to the traffic chaos.
It is not uncommon for tailbacks to develop as hundreds of cars queue for parking space. The Bus Eireann and Cork Corporation experiment, on the other hand, showed that cars can be kept out of the city and that people will use the facility if it is provided.
Maybe the planners will look closely at the result. If it could work at Christmas time why not during the rest of the year?