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15
Apr 2021
Rural people being denied ‘fundamental human right’ to buses
Rural residents are being deprived of their “fundamental human right” of public transport, a meeting has heard.
Resident Bill Bracknell told North Yorkshire County Council's transport, economy and environment scrutiny committee that many rural people had little option other than to use cars because of a lack of buses.
Responding to a report on local rural transport, Mr Bracknell said there were many things the council could do to improve buses but it did not recognise their essential value to country life.
He said:
In response, officers told the meeting the council had provided financial support to 85 local bus services with 18 operators last year.
Read more:
- Transdev has agreed to buy the West-Yorkshire based bus service, Yorkshire Tiger.
- £500,000 is set to be spent on environmental projects to off-set the damage of Kex Gill development.
Officers said as part of a drive to provide innovative solutions, a new digital demand responsive service would be launched in the summer in Ripon area for an anticipated 12 month trial period.
Councillors heard transport would be shared with other services and vehicles would vary their routes based on demand rather than using a fixed route or timetable.
Alongside this, members were told the council supported 15 voluntary car schemes as well as six dial-a-ride schemes run by voluntary organisations, which during 2019/20 saw a combined 103,000 journeys made.
Nevertheless, officers said it remained unclear how the new national bus strategy would affect bus service provision in North Yorkshire, where demand continued to outstrip the available funding for public transport, leaving some communities feeling left out.
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