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The city council says one of its top priorities is to give shoppers and city centre workers an alternative to the M5 - M4 - M32 - an area of the road network that is subject to periods of heavy traffic and congestion.

To that end, the M5 - Junction 18 - Portway Park and Ride is to open new spaces and extend its opening hours to meet the new demand. The length of the A4 bus lane has also been increased to make the journey smoother and faster.

The 278 space Portway Park and Ride is already heavily used, and the expansion will treble the capacity of the existing car park, providing an additional 295 marked parking spaces, with a further 257 spaces as overspill.

The expanded site will be covered by an extension of the currentÌý CCTV and on-site security systems and a new amenity building at the bus terminus on the site is also being planned to provide a better waiting environment for bus users.Ìý

The frequency of the Portway Park and Ride service is being increased to every eight minutes in the morning and evening peaksÌý - 7-9am and 4.30-6pm).

From Thursday, 25 September the last bus on all three Park and Ride services at Portway, Bath Road and Long Ashton, will depart Cabot Circus at around 8.30pm, Monday to Saturday. In addition a new early morning trip at 6.30am will operate on the Bath Road Park and Ride service.

The council says it will keep the service under review and consider options such as Sunday opening if demand is high. However, it says parking in the centre is cheaper and more freely available on Sundays.

A special Cabot Circus Park and Ride service will operate from the University of the West of England, Frenchay campus every Saturday and Sunday from 27 September until 20 December 2008. The first bus will leave at 7.45am on Saturday and the last at 8.45pm. On Sunday the first bus will leave at 9.45am and the last at 6pm.