Bus fares for young people in the Harrogate district will be capped at £1 as part of a one-year pilot scheme.
North Yorkshire Council’s executive members yesterday accepted £3.5 million of funding from the Department for Transport’s (DfT) Network North Bus Service Improvement Plan, which will be used to introduce the scheme.
The pilot will include expanded bus timetables, improvements to bus shelters and £1 travel fares.
£2.1 million of the money, which has been allocated to local authorities in the north and the midlands after plans for the HS2 rail project were halted, will fund additional weekday bus services during peak times across three Harrogate district routes.
These include:
- Services 21 and 22, which runs from Knaresborough to York via Ripon and surrounding villages.
- Service 70, which runs from Ripon to Northallerton.
- Service 1, which runs from Harrogate to Knaresborough via Aspin, Carmines, Starbeck and the Pastures.
A further £715,000 of the funding will be used to provide £1 bus fares for people aged under 19, which will apply county-wide, while £158,000 will be used to hire more staff to improve boarding times and information services at bus stations across the Harrogate and Scarborough districts.
Maintaining and improving bus stops, additional cleaning services and repairs to Ripon bus station’s waiting facilities will also fall under the scheme at a cost of £76,000.
Cllr Keane Duncan, the council’s executive member for highways and transport, said:
“As a result of our efforts, bus services in North Yorkshire have seen a significant reversal of fortune since the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Passenger numbers are up and we’ve protected at-risk services. Now, I am pleased we can go further.
“With £3.5 million of extra funding, we are able to introduce lower fares for under-19s, invest in bus stops and fund expanded routes in all corners of the county.
“This is very welcome news for passengers, but it is of course vital that services are supported so they can continue in the longer term.”
The council has urged the public to “get on board with the pilot” to ensure the services will continue beyond 2025.
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