Shop and Go
Norfolk County Council, in partnership with Norfolk County Services trialled a new 'Shop & Go' service in December, between Norwich's The Mall shopping centre and the Harford park & ride site. The 'Shop & Go' service allowed weekday users of the Harford park & ride site - both commuters and day shoppers - to ferry their morning shopping back to Harford park & ride at lunchtime, so they could carry on shopping or return to work bag free in the afternoon and did not have to carry it on the bus after work.
Users of the service simply dropped off their shopping purchases at a collection point at The Mall. The shopping bags were sealed in secure crates, the contents logged and receipted and for a fee of £1.00 were safely transferred back to the enquiry office at the Harford park & ride site, for collection at the office when users returned to the park & ride site at the end of the day. 'Shop & Go' customers were able to drop their shopping off at the collection point on Level 3 in the Castle Mall for hourly transfers between 10:30 and 15:30, Monday to Friday. Councillor Adrian Gunson, Norfolk County Council's Cabinet member for Planning and Transportation, predicted: “The 'Shop & Go' trial will make shopping by bus much easier and will provide an additional incentive for the public to use Harford park & ride during the busy festive shopping period. “I am sure the service will not only ease people's ability to do their Christmas shopping, and reduce the need for people to park close to the city centre for major shopping trips. This in turn will in turn help to ease city centre congestion.” The 'Shop & Go' service initially operated until Friday 5 January to coincide with the main Christmas and New Year sales period. The trial was successful and there are plans in cooperation with a department store to operate another ‘Shop & Go’ service from Easter 2007.
Author: Claire Sullivan
