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15
Jul 2022
Bus services ‘facing potential cliff-edge’
Bus services in a county that failed to secure any money to improve services in the government’s high-profile Bus Back Better scheme are now facing “a potential cliff-edge”, North Yorkshire’s transport boss has warned.
In a statement to a meeting of North Yorkshire County Council next Wednesday, Cllr Keane Duncan said the authority was aware several of the county’s commercial routes were facing “significant pressures”, due to the loss of government subsidies in three months.
The warning from the Conservative-led council’s executive member for highways and transportation comes ahead of bus services across the country having to introduce a £2 price cap on local and regional journeys from October.
It also comes just three months after it emerged the authority’s £116 million Bus Back Better bid had been rejected in its entirety by the government, which claimed the bid had lacked “sufficient ambition”.
As winning the grant had been crucial for elements of the county’s Bus Service Improvement Plan, the authority expressed dismay at the decision.
Even ahead of the decision in March, members of the authority’s executive had underlined the need for bus services for the county’s rural communities, which dwindled following significant austerity cutbacks.
Cllr Duncan said the council had launched a review of the passenger service network across the county to understand which could become threatened in the coming months.
He said:
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He said the review would enable him to assess potential support the council could provide “to keep as many of our vital services running as possible”.
The authority’s opposition leader, Councillor Bryn Griffiths, said concerns had been mounting for the viability of some bus services as they appeared to have reached a tipping point.
Coun Griffiths said by giving one-off grants for specific projects limited to certain places the government was failing to provide the resources needed to improve access to public transport across England’s largest county.
He said:
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