York unveils ambitions bus expansion plans

City of York Council outlines plans to prioritise buses in a bid to reverse post-Covid pandemic decline and boost patronage by 50%

 
York’s park and ride services have reported the strongest growth since 2017 over the summer

 
City of York Council and the city’s bus operators have announced ambitious plans to enhance the local bus network in a bid to boost bus patronage, stimulate modal shift and ensure the city meets climate goals.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, York’s buses transported around 16 million passengers each year, with ridership on the rise since 2014. However, since the pandemic patronage is stuck at 85% of pre-Covid volumes. This equates to around 40,000 passengers each day or 10% of all city journeys, and 30% of those to the city centre, at an operating cost of around £70,000 each day.

The council and bus operators have announced they plan to increase patronage by 50% – to 60,000 passengers each day – over the next few years as a result of the Bus Service Improvement Plan funds the city received from the government last year

Now the council and bus operators have announced they plan to increase patronage by 50% – to 60,000 passengers each day – over the next few years as a result of the Bus Service Improvement Plan funds the city received from the government last year. York received £17.4m, comprising capital funding of £10.7m and revenue funding of £6.7m.

At a media briefing last week, the council explained that the first phase of funding had facilitated upgrades to York’s park and ride sites, allowed improvements to real-time information systems and delivered an all-operator, tap-on-tap-off ticketing system, as well as a range of reduced fares targeted principally at younger people and a fare promotion over the summer that targeted families.

A number of early morning, evening and weekend bus routes that were at risk of withdrawal are also now being subsidised by the council at a cost of £12,000 per month, although operator First York is being encouraged to restore commercial operation at some point in the future.

 
Regarding commercial viability, Michael Howard, York’s head of active travel and sustainable transport, noted that the city’s park and ride sites are defying national trends with some of the most substantial increases in patronage since 2017. Consequently, the city is now prioritising enhancements to the park and ride package.

“We’ve got a study just about to start on the park and ride sites, which we are looking to turn into multi-modal hubs,” he explained. “We are looking to turn them into somewhere you can actually interchange to other bus services, you can interchange to a car club vehicles when you’re traveling into or out of the city, or where you can interchange to electric scooters or bike hire.”

But it is those plans to boost patronage on the wider bus network where the council is perhaps most ambitious. Pete Kilbane, York’s executive member for economy and transport, said the city was determined to boost daily ridership in a move that he said would alleviate congestion and meet Net Zero targets.

He said the forthcoming bus enhancements would align with a comprehensive review of the city’s bus network, engaging passengers, user groups, and stakeholders to boost efficiency. Furthermore, later this year the council will launch a consultation on a revamped Local Transport Strategy, that will place an emphasis on public transport.

We are starting to really see a sort of steady growth back to the network

Howard admitted that passenger numbers had not returned to York’s network as quickly as the council might have hoped. He continued: “But I think if you’re looking at the numbers we’re seeing on park and ride and certainly the figures we’ve seen over the summer… we are starting to really see a sort of steady growth back to the network.

“I think the challenges are the things that have driven up operating costs for networks and that’s where we’re getting some of those challenges around commercial viability. Yes, those targets are challenging, but we think the initiatives that we have by creating these multi-modal [park and ride] sites and the fare discounts… are going to be a real incentive to get passengers back on the network.”

 
This article appears inside the latest issue of Passenger Transport.

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The post York unveils ambitions bus expansion plans first appeared on Passenger Transport.

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