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Dec 2022

Last Updated: 02/12/2022

Transport

Public control of North Yorkshire bus network 'not realistic', says transport chief

by Calvin Robinson

| 04 Dec, 2022

Cllr Keane Duncan, executive councillor for transport at North Yorkshire County Council.

Public control of North Yorkshire’s bus network is not a “realistic answer” to the system’s current woes, says the county’s transport chief.

Cllr Keane Duncan, executive member for highways and transport at North Yorkshire County Council, said such a move would be too expensive for the authority to take on.

It comes as officials at the county council have warned passengers that some services may be scrapped if not enough people use them.

Cllr Duncan told an executive meeting that bringing the network under public authority ownership - often referred to as franchising - would lead to “20 to 30 thousands pounds of subsidy” per passenger every year.

He said:

“I think that no matter what political party you may come from in North Yorkshire County Council and beyond, or whatever political persuasion you might be, you’re looking at those figures at potentially subsiding per passenger per year at ten, twenty, thirty thousand pounds and it just doesn’t stack up.

“The case is not there. We know we have got some unique times in North Yorkshire and we have got to work through those. It is potentially more difficult than just ‘lets have public authority control’, that is not going to be a realistic answer to the problems we face.”

Local control is 'better value'

Matthew Topham, of the Better Buses for North Yorkshire campaign group, said that bringing the county’s network under local control was “common sense”.

Mr Topham said a franchising model - which Transport for London and Greater Manchester operate under - would be better value for passengers.

He said:

“Far from being “unrealistic,” taking buses into local control is the only common sense answer. It’s better value. It’s popular. It unlocks unique powers to improve services.

“Findings from London show franchising is a more efficient use of public money. In Jersey, it helped the council add routes while cutting costs by £800,000 a year. Imagine if we had it here!

“Polls show over two-thirds of the public back local control. Experts from the Countryside Charity CPRE, levelling up think tank IPPR North, and even the UN agree: local control is the way forward.

“If the mountainous areas of France or Switzerland all find it cheaper to coordinate services through local control, we can trust that North Yorkshire will too.”

The network’s woes come as seven months ago the government rejected North Yorkshire County Council’s bid for a £116m share of Boris Johnson’s high-profile Bus Back Better initiative, saying the local authority’s plans lacked ambition.

Since then, local politicians have raised concern over the future of services in their area.

North Yorkshire transport boss warns bus network faces ‘really grave situation’

80 bus services in North Yorkshire under threat, says Harrogate district MP

Nigel Adams, MP for Selby and Ainsty which includes rural Harrogate, said he feared up to 80 services could be under threat across the county.

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat councillor for Pateley Bridge, Andrew Murday, said residents of his division faced having just two services a day to Harrogate.

He said:

“We just have to do something about bus services, and encourage more people onto buses. We need to know how we are going to go about discouraging people from driving and encouraging people on to buses, so bus services can thrive.”

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Public control of North Yorkshire bus network 'not realistic', says transport chief

Local control is 'better value'

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