\u00a0 \u00a0 Before the Covid-19 pandemic, York\u2019s 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 \u00a370,000 each day.<\/p>\n The council and bus operators have announced they plan to increase patronage by 50% \u2013 to 60,000 passengers each day \u2013 over the next few years as a result of the Bus Service Improvement Plan funds the city received from the government last year<\/p>\n Now the council and bus operators have announced they plan to increase patronage by 50% \u2013 to 60,000 passengers each day \u2013 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 \u00a317.4m, comprising capital funding of \u00a310.7m and revenue funding of \u00a36.7m.<\/p>\n At a media briefing last week, the council explained that the first phase of funding had facilitated upgrades to York\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n 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 \u00a312,000 per month, although operator First York is being encouraged to restore commercial operation at some point in the future.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ve got a study just about to start on the park and ride sites, which we are looking to turn into multi-modal hubs,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe 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\u2019re traveling into or out of the city, or where you can interchange to electric scooters or bike hire.\u201d<\/p>\n But it is those plans to boost patronage on the wider bus network where the council is perhaps most ambitious. Pete Kilbane, York\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n He said the forthcoming bus enhancements would align with a comprehensive review of the city\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n We are starting to really see a sort of steady growth back to the network<\/p>\n Howard admitted that passenger numbers had not returned to York\u2019s network as quickly as the council might have hoped. He continued: \u201cBut I think if you\u2019re looking at the numbers we\u2019re seeing on park and ride and certainly the figures we\u2019ve seen over the summer\u2026 we are starting to really see a sort of steady growth back to the network. <\/p>\n \u201cI think the challenges are the things that have driven up operating costs for networks and that\u2019s where we\u2019re getting some of those challenges around commercial viability. Yes, those targets are challenging, but we think\u00a0the initiatives that we have by creating these multi-modal [park and ride] sites and the fare discounts\u2026\u00a0are going to be a real incentive to get passengers back on the network.\u201d <\/p>\n \u00a0 DON\u2019T MISS OUT \u2013 GET YOUR COPY! \u2013\u00a0click here to subscribe!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The post York unveils ambitions bus expansion plans<\/a> first appeared on Passenger Transport<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u200b\u00a0<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" City of York Council outlines plans to prioritise buses in a bid to reverse post-Covid pandemic decline and boost patronage by 50% \u00a0York\u2019s park and ride services have reported the strongest growth since 2017 over the summer \u00a0 City of York Council and the city\u2019s bus operators have announced ambitious plans to enhance the local bus network in a bid…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3186,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-camcab"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/redesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/redesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/redesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/redesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/redesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3185\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/redesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/redesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/redesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/redesign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
York\u2019s park and ride services have reported the strongest growth since 2017 over the summer<\/em><\/p>\n
\nCity of York Council and the city\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n
\nRegarding commercial viability, Michael Howard, York\u2019s head of active travel and sustainable transport, noted that the city\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
This article appears inside the latest issue of\u00a0Passenger Transport<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n