A multi-million pound temporary congestion charge investment plan has been agreed by Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet. Benefits agreed include extending the existing offer of free park and ride bus travel to mid-August.

The future investments agreed include an amended offer for park and ride bus travel in Oxford, with the introduction of a £3 combined ticket, covering 16 hours’ parking and return bus travel for up to five people, from mid-August until the end of March 2027, and additional benefits for other groups; including for NHS and school staff working in Oxford.

Councillor Gareth Epps, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport, said:

“The temporary congestion charge is giving residents and visitors to the city faster journeys, cleaner air, reduced traffic and safer streets.

“We now have an opportunity, with the funding from the scheme, to support some measures with lasting impact that will improve convenience and road safety for the most vulnerable road users. The measures we have agreed to fund today go some way towards tackling some of the persistent traffic problems we’ve seen, and also help to spread the benefits of the scheme as widely as possible, ensuring workers in our schools and hospitals, too, see the benefits.”

Free park and ride bus travel was first introduced on 29 October to support the temporary congestion charge, which has been implemented as an interim measure while Botley Road remains closed, preventing the start of the traffic filter trial.

Other initiatives that will be funded by the temporary scheme include:

• Free weekday park and ride parking and free or discounted weekday bus travel for NHS and school staff working in Oxford – subject to further discussion with NHS trusts, schools and Oxford City Council.
• Hospital express park and ride services.
• Free bus travel for six months per participant in the council’s Connect to Work programme for 2026 – 27.
• Active travel infrastructure work to address ‘missing links’ in the active travel network, including pedestrian crossings, side road entry treatments, and secure cycle parking.
• Investigating a limited trial of subsidised bus season tickets for certain communities.

Up to two adults and three children with a valid park and ride parking ticket are currently able to claim free travel to and from park and ride sites in the city. The tickets must be obtained from the bus driver at a park and ride site, and are valid on any Stagecoach, Oxford Bus Company or Thames Travel bus that stops at a park and ride site in Oxford, not just named park and ride services. 

(Picture: Oxfordshire County Council)