Truro's park and ride scheme planned for next year has moved a up a notch with a demonstration of a variety of buses. The demonstration was given to members of the county council and possible users of the service, and were brought to Cornwall as part of the tender assessment.

Two dozen people rode the park and ride circuit from County Hall into Truro City centre on each of the four buses and completed a questionnaire assessing various aspects of each vehicle including: comfort; accessibility; ride quality and aesthetics.

All of the buses could seat a minimum of 40 people, were low floor and had engines that complied with the latest environmental standards.

Matt McTaggart for the county council said: "The results of the questionnaire will form a significant part of the overall assessment of the vehicles. By involving representatives of the community to give their opinions on the selection of buses we will be in a better position to provide the best vehicles possible to operate on the Truro Park and Ride."

The passengers who rode on the buses to assess them included representatives from Age Concern, Yazz the Guide Dog with his owner Ann Partridge from the Cornwall Blind Association, Councillor Jenny Hoskin a wheelchair user and local bus operators.

The first phase of the Truro Park and Ride will be implemented on the western outskirts of the City at Threemilestone and the route will start at Threemilestone, heading into Truro along the A390 Highertown corridor, calling at Truro train station, into the town centre and back to Threemilestone. Cornwall County Council anticipates that the scheme will be in operation from Spring 2008.

Nigel Blackler, strategic projects manager for the county council said: "Should the scheme go ahead as planned, the buses will be delivered in October this year. The council will buy the buses and lease them to the chosen operator who has yet to be appointed.

The scheme will serve key sites on the corridor including Truro College, the Royal Cornwall Hospital, Treliske Industrial Estate, New County Hall and the City Centre with a regular service planned to be a 10 minute peak hours service and 15 minutes off-peak. The service will also link directly into Truro Rail Station interchange with all buses stopping on the way into and out of Truro, providing a frequent link between the station, the City centre and the western corridor.