Transdev offers £1 fares if you travel with grandparent

Bus company Transdev is offering young people journeys across the north for £1 — as long as they take a grandparent.

The company said its Go with Granny offer aimed to bridge the generation gap by encouraging older people to use their concessionary travel passes while taking grandchildren with them.

Transdev, which is the parent company of the Harrogate Bus Company, operates routes in Lancashire, Yorkshire and Greater Manchester, giving families a chance to go on long day trips for just £1.

The offer is for one weekend only — on Saturday, August 13 and Sunday, August 14 — and applies to young people under 19.

The company said in a statement today that many people will struggle this summer to find the money to take their grandchildren on a day trip.

Transdev chief executive Alex Hornby said:

“We know everyone is trying to keep their spending down this summer, especially with energy bills due to rise again in October.

“At the same time, the school holidays often see grans — and grandads too — looking after the grandchildren while mum and dad are at work, and we don’t see why they should have to stay at home.

“By offering young people the chance to go with granny on the bus, we want to help bridge the generation gap and make sure everyone has the chance to enjoy an amazing two days filled with magical memories.”

A video featuring the deal can be found here.

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MP Andrew Jones ‘disappointed’ at funding snub for £116m bid to boost bus services

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones has added his voice to the widespread disappointment that the area has not been awarded any money from the government’s Bus Back Better scheme.

After the announcement on Monday, Mr Jones said he was particularly concerned about a government suggestion that North Yorkshire County Council’s £116 million bid had failed because it did not show “sufficient ambition”.

He said:

“I am disappointed that we weren’t successful in getting this funding.”

“We need to look at the bid that was submitted and the Department for Transport’s analysis of that bid to see why they felt that was the case.

“We might disagree with them or we might find there are things we can learn for next time.”

It had been hoped the £116 million would have funded new bus lanes, more affordable fares, real-time passenger information and a simpler ticketing system for services across North Yorkshire.

Despite the disappointment, Mr Jones said he was pleased that a separate bid to bring 39 new zero-emission buses to Harrogate was successful and that a park and ride pilot scheme for the town was still a possibility.

Speaking about the park and ride plans, Mr Jones said:

“If people use it, it has the potential to get more traffic off our roads and improve our environment.

“And we shouldn’t forget that we have been very successful in securing cash for public transport investment – particularly buses – in our area.

“We won £7.8 million from the government’s Zero Emissions Bus Regional Areas scheme to create an entirely electric bus fleet for our area last month.

“In 2016 we won over £200,000 to install clean bus technology in our local fleet.  We also won cash from the government to start the journey to being a zero emission bus town.

“So we must temper our disappointment with pride in how far we have come and re-double our efforts to bring back axed services on our rail line and getting even more cash into our local bus services.”

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The £7.8 million was awarded in March after a joint bid from North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Bus Company to make the firm’s fleet all-electric was successful.

This project will cost almost £20 million in total, with more than £12 million being invested by Transdev – the parent firm of Harrogate Bus Company.

A total of 20 single-decker and 19 double-decker buses will be bought over the next three years, as well as the supporting charging infrastructure.

Alex Hornby, chief executive of Transdev, said this project should be seen as a positive and that he believes passenger numbers will continue to grow in Harrogate – even without more government funding.”

“Obviously on behalf of our customers, we are disappointed to see that the proposed improvements for bus travel by North Yorkshire County Council were not approved by the central government.

“However, we remain confident that we will be able to grow demand for bus travel thanks to the funding support from the Department for Transport in a new electric bus fleet in Harrogate which will result in a fully zero-emission network in our town and convert our base in Starbeck to a 100% electric bus depot.”

Mr Hornby added:

“We will continue working closely with North Yorkshire County Council to see how else we can introduce any of the original Bus Back Better proposals, including a pilot park and ride site at Pannal on our class-leading 36 route.”

Bus strategy ‘hollow’ without more money, says Harrogate Bus Company boss

The boss of Harrogate Bus Company has said the government’s Bus Back Better strategy to make services more affordable and reliable will be “hollow” without more funding.

Alex Hornby’s comments come after council officials warned North Yorkshire would not get “anything near” the £116million it bid for from the scheme, which promises to “transform” services but has seen its budget slashed from £3billion to £1.4billion.

Mr Hornby, who is chief executive of Harrogate Bus Company’s parent firm Transdev Blazefield, said the scheme will be “insufficient” to fund all proposed improvements across the country, including those planned for Harrogate. he said:

“We felt the plans for Harrogate were ambitious with new bus priority on the main bus routes to make buses faster and more reliable – things us and our customers want, and what we know will attract more people on board.

“These plans are not new – they have been waiting for funding since before the pandemic – and we hope North Yorkshire County Council will continue to seek funding.

“We have worked solidly with the county council on their enhanced partnership, but it’s a bit hollow without funding for enhancements.”

The council will next month enter into a new “enhanced partnership” with bus operators in order for North Yorkshire to get access to funding for its proposed £116million Bus Service Improvement Plan.

The plan asks for £23million to build more bus lanes, £74million for other infrastructure improvements and £14million for support for services.

There are also proposals for a simpler ticketing system and better information on journeys.

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However, council officials have warned it was “unlikely” that North Yorkshire would receive all of the £116million it bid for and that there was a possibility it could get no funding at all.

Harrogate congestion

They said any funding received would be prioritised to areas where they believe it is needed the most, including Harrogate, which has some of the best bus services in North Yorkshire but still suffers with the worst traffic congestion.

Included in the plans is a park and ride pilot scheme for Harrogate, and officials expressed confidence that enough cash could still come forward for this.

They also said the on-demand bus service, YorBus, which allows app users to book and track journeys in Ripon, Masham and Bedale would also be high on the priority list for financial support.

Separately, council officials said they were also confident about another bid for £8million of government cash to make all of Harrogate Bus Company’s fleet electric.

If successful, Transdev would contribute £11.5million towards the costs of buying 39 zero-emission buses.

A government decision on this bid is expected before the end of the month.

Mr Hornby said even without government funding, Harrogate Bus Company’s network has still improved in recent years as he also set out some of the areas that he believes should be prioritised for investment:

“New housing developers will help expand the network and we would encourage colleagues at North Yorkshire County Council to focus on improving the infrastructure and bus shelters, some of which are now well past their best.

“Our bus network in Harrogate has thrived without capital spending from the public sector thanks to our investment in the class-leading fleet on the 36, the first all-electric town network and in new and refreshed low emission buses elsewhere.”