Reversal of fortune for North Yorkshire’s bus services, says transport chief

North Yorkshire’s transport boss has spoken of his optimism that all existing bus services will be saved and the network expanded over the coming years,

Cllr Keane Duncan, the Tory candidate to become North Yorkshire and York’s first elected mayor, said nearly 80 routes were close to being wiped out a year ago.

But Cllr Duncan has now said the county’s public transport services has undergone a reversal of fortune after landing a £2.9m government grant and a £2 price cap being introduced on local and regional journeys.

He told a meeting of North Yorkshire Council’s executive this week many of the county’s bus services were “more popular than ever” and some services had even become “too popular”.

He said the Department for Transport funding would serve as “a lifeline to services” without which “many services would have ceased” and that having achieved survival, anyone elected to become mayor would face the challenge of reversing the erosion of bus routes in the county.

Bus campaigners said they hoped the statement marked “a significant milestone” for public transport services in the county, which shrunk by one of the largest amounts in the country over the last decade.

Since the North Yorkshire Rural Commission recommended the county’s transport bosses “take up the opportunity to provide more innovative passenger transport” in 2021, there has been little progress on increasing coverage of rural areas, partly due to the failure of the demand-responsive Yorbus service that covered Ripon and Masham.

Last summer, Cllr Duncan warned of a “grave” situation facing public transport in North Yorkshire, with about a third of the network — 79 routes — being under threat due to passenger numbers remaining low following the pandemic.

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It came 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”.

However, Cllr Duncan said the Department for Transport grant of £2.9m, which the government has stipulated must not be used to replace existing council support for public bus services, would help ensure all services are maintained until after the launch of a mayoral combined authority.

The meeting heard existing service levels would be maintained, “based on local circumstances and need”, over the next two years.

The funding will be spent on what the council considers “are the best overall outcomes in growing long-term patronage, revenues and thus maintaining service levels, whilst maintaining essential social and economic connectivity” for communities.

Cllr Duncan told the meeting he was delighted to be reporting “a much more positive picture” as a result of the council’s action plan to work closely with bus operators.

Harrogate bus service lost

After claiming that “not a single service had ceased as a result of becoming commercially unviable”, fellow Conservative councillor Paul Haslam, who represents Bilton and Nidd Gorge, told the meeting a Harrogate bus service had been lost over commercial viability.

Cllr Duncan replied the authority had “supported changes to timetables to help the viability of several routes across the county”.

He added the achievement of the council’s passenger transport team could not be underestimated and the £2 fare cap had been “immensely successful in getting passengers back on to services”.

Cllr Duncan said: 

“We are hopeful that we can continue to support all the services across the county over the coming months and years. It gives us the solid foundations we need to support those lifeline services.

“It gives us a solid foundation for building that network back in the coming months and years.”

Harlow Carr bus service to stop running this weekend

A popular bus service which connects Harrogate town centre with one of the UK’s finest horticultural gardens will stop running this weekend.

Harrogate Bus Company’s X6 service, whose passengers are eligible for a 30% discount on entry to RHS Harlow Carr, was launched in July but was only ever intended to run until today (September 3). 

The timetable change is one of several announced by the bus company, all of which will come into force on Sunday.  

The schedule for the number 1 bus between Harrogate and Knaresborough will be changed slightly to improve reliability, although the frequency will remain the same.  

On the number 2 service between Harrogate and Bilton, there will be minor changes to departure times from Knox into Harrogate.  

Some afternoon departures on the number 8 bus between Harrogate, Knaresborough and Wetherby will have new times. The 4.21pm from Knaresborough to Wetherby will run at 4.41pm, the 4.55pm from Wetherby will run at 5.15pm and the 6pm from Harrogate will run at 6.15pm. There are no changes to Saturday the service.  

There will also be some changes to the 620H (Dacre to Rossett School), 720H (West Tanfield to Ripon schools), S2 (Bilton to Rossett School), S3 (Penny Pot to Rossett School), S6 (Bilton to Rossett School), S8 (Woodlands to Harrogate) & S36 (Ripon to St John Fisher) buses to ensure the services run reliably and meet the school starting and finishing times.  

Updated timetables can now be downloaded from the Harrogate Bus Company website. 

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Axed bus service for Ripon and Masham cost £15.57 per passenger

A picture has emerged of the scale of losses sunk on the axed flagship rural bus service for Ripon, Masham and Bedale.

North Yorkshire Council announced last week it would abandon the YorBus on-demand bus service, which it had hoped to roll out to numerous rural areas poorly served by buses. The 14-seater minibuses will cease to operate at the end of the month.

The council claimed future transport services would be shaped by lessons learned from YorBus.

But councillors from across the political spectrum sounded a less upbeat tone about the outcome of the pilot at a meeting of the council’s Skipton and Ripon area constituency committee yesterday.

A report to councillors revealed Yorbus had seen a further £224,000 of taxpayers money pumped into it after disappointing first year figures.

Despite changes to try to improve uptake, the high-profile service carried just 14,208 passengers over 12 months, at an average cost per passenger of £15.57 across the year.

This is significantly higher than that for fixed timetable bus routes in the area which are around £6.50 per passenger.

Sustainability warnings

Within months of YorBus being launched, public transport experts had said it was unsustainable and needed a major overhaul to attract more passengers.

The authority’s hopes of extending demand-responsive transport were dealt a further blow last year when the government rejected the county’s £116m Bus Back Better bid in its entirety, citing a “lack of ambition” — a claim the council has rejected.

The committee heard how YorBus had often been seen driving around with few or no passengers. One Conservative member claimed following disappointing YorBus figures for the first year, officers had worked “to try and prove the concept”.

Cllr Andrew Murday

Cllr Andrew Murday

Cllr Andrew Murday, a Liberal Democrat who represents Pateley Bridge and Nidderdale,  questioned why the council had not abandoned the trial after the first year, adding:

“Obviously the project has failed and there are better ways of providing public transport.”

The meeting heard the trial had been extended for a further year largely to test if changes to the booking system improved take-up.

Councillors were told while the development of public transport was a key part of the council’s economic development plan, particularly to boost tourism, more rural bus services, including a regular service to the Yorkshire Dales gateway town of Grassington, were under threat.

Some councillors suggested the council should look to facilitate taxi or car-sharing through localised social media accounts before others pointed towards passenger safety concerns.

Residents ‘horrified by the cost’

Calling for more innovative solutions, Settle and Penyghent councillor David Staveley said:

“Most residents who don’t use these public service buses, and don’t have any inclination to, would be quite horrified by the cost per journey that this has incurred. It’s a lot of money that’s coming out of the public purse.”

However, other councillors argued the reason behind residents’ reliance on  cars was due to the lack of a sufficiently frequent and direct bus service.

The meeting heard villages without public transport were being “condemned to death”, as planning rules banned building “unsustainable” homes, while post-pandemic many of the county’s elderly residents had not gone back to using buses.

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Referring to the trial, executive member for culture and housing, Cllr Simon Myers, said:

“It’s regrettable it hasn’t worked, but somehow we have to change people’s attitudes to public transport. How do we encourage the public back to using the services that are there? That’s a real challenge.”

Helmsley Conservative councillor George Jabbour said he believed from next year the incoming mayoral combined authority would have the additional funding needed to invest in public transport.

Cllr Jabbour added:

“This experience should not make the council less bold in its drive to explore new creative and innovative ways to improve public transport in our county.”

Bus route changes ‘necessary’ in face of growing Harrogate congestion

The company behind planned changes to bus routes around Harrogate has said they are vital to protect services in the face of worsening congestion.

The Harrogate Bus Company – part of Transdev – said its concessionary passenger numbers had fallen, while roads have become more congested, meaning it has to use extra resources to maintain current service levels.

It follows complaints from customers that changes to the number 6 route in Harlow Hill, and combining the 2A and 2B in Bilton, could leave vulnerable people more isolated.

The Harrogate Bus Company’s General Manager Steve Otley said:

“We are currently carrying only 70% of concessionary customers compared with 2019, prior to the pandemic. Meanwhile, worsening road congestion in Harrogate, which has no bus priority measures, means extra resources are needed to maintain service levels.

“We published our intentions in December to give our customers chance to understand the changes well in advance.”

Residents and social groups had contacted the Stray Ferret with concerns that the streamlined route of the number 6, skipping out Harlow Avenue and the stop outside the Green Hut community centre, could mean elderly and disabled people were unable to access the service.

While the nearest stops on the new route are just a few hundred metres away, they said this distance could be prohibitive for people with mobility problems.

In Bilton, combining the two routes will mean residents on Woodfield Road and Dene Park will be unable to access shops and services around King Edward’s Drive without going into town and catching the next bus back out again.

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The concerns have been backed by local representatives, including Paul Haslam, Conservative councillor for Bilton and Nidd Gorge, who said he was hoping to negotiate with North Yorkshire County Council and the bus company to find a solution.

Cllr Mike Schofield, who represents the Harlow and St George’s division for the Liberal Democrats, said:

“Whilst I accept how finances work within business, I feel that there is surely an option for an hourly bus to ensure the elderly and those with physical restrictions still have a means to get out and have their independence.

“Are we not supposed to be supporting active travel for all?”

However, Mr Otley said the proposed changes, coming into effect from Sunday, February 19, were the best compromise between route and frequency of service.

He said the decisions had been made based on current use of stops along the route, adding:

“We have managed to protect the frequency of route 6 at every 30 minutes with a slightly quicker route, so the Green Hut stop is no longer used. On average, eight customers per day catch a bus from there, six of whom use concessionary passes – and the majority travel between 9am and 11am, suggesting they’re not Green Hut users.

“On the 2, we’ll be delivering more frequent services for the majority of our Bilton customers with a new timetable for route 2. As with the Green Hut stop on the 6, the stops we will no longer serve carry a small number of customers each day.

“On the current 2A and 2B, 98% of customers travel to/from the town centre, the small number of local trips are to/from King Edward Drive Top which will still be possible on the new route. Customers can also change buses at King Edward Drive Top.

“While we appreciate that a small number of residents will be inconvenienced, this change protects the timetable and speeds up journeys for the vast majority, protecting the busier stops along the route.”

‘Use it or lose it’ warning as bus passenger numbers fall across Harrogate district

Bus services across the Harrogate district are under “unprecedented” pressure thanks to dwindling passenger numbers, leaving some routes at risk of being cut.

North Yorkshire County Council has issued a stark warning that, faced with passenger numbers of only around 80% of their previous levels, additional funding would be needed to maintain services.

The authority’s leader, Cllr Carl Les, said unless more people travel by bus, the new North Yorkshire Council may be unable to maintain the existing services.

A planned cut of funding from the Department for Transport has been delayed from October until March, but local authorities face reduced income and rising costs even before the money runs out.

Cllr Les said:

“We are in a time of immense pressure for bus services nationally and North Yorkshire is no exception.

“Throughout the pandemic, the government has provided significant support to commercial companies to keep services running in North Yorkshire that would otherwise have been lost.

“While it is very welcome that this has been extended until March, we know many routes are continuing to struggle and companies tell us it will be impossible for these to continue operating without significant additional funding.

“The stark reality is that the survival of many services across the county are on a knife edge. We know how important public transport is for many residents but we are in a use it or lose it situation.”

The drop in passenger numbers follows the covid pandemic, with more people now thought to be working from home or using other modes of transport.

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NYCC has already tried to mitigate the impact of the pressures on bus services by setting up an enhanced partnership agreement, which met for the first time in August.

It sees the council work with bus operators to improve facilities and introduce measures to enhance operating conditions.

North Yorkshire County Council’s executive member for highways and transport, Cllr Keane Duncan, said the problems were down to the drop in passenger numbers, making many more routes unsustainable. He said:

“This is an unprecedented situation with around a third of the network at risk of seeing a reduced level of service or ceasing altogether unless patronage levels improve.

“We have already seen several routes cease, often at short notice, and the unfortunate expectation is that others may follow unless usage improves.

“While the council uses £1.6m each year to support services that are not commercially viable, this cannot meet the scale of the challenge we are now experiencing from routes operating without council subsidy.

“The council has been successful in lobbying government for extra financial support, but we accept this will not continue in perpetuity. We are working closely with operators to encourage passengers to use services and protect them for our communities.”

‘Sink or swim’ for North Yorkshire bus routes over next six months

North Yorkshire’s transport chief said the next six months will be “sink or swim” for some bus routes amid a lack of funding from central government.

Cllr Keane Duncan, executive councillor for transport at North Yorkshire County Council, said while £336,000 from government for bus services was “better than nothing”, it was a fraction of the £116 million previously asked for by the county council.

The Department for Transport awarded the council the funding to help with staff capacity in its enhanced partnerships team, which helps to draw up funding bids and works with operators.

The figure is significantly less than the £116 million bid made under the council’s Bus Services Improvement Plan earlier this year, which ministers turned down.

Cllr Duncan said the authority would continue to “face up to immense challenges” of maintaining bus services. He added that for some routes, it will prove to be “sink or swim”.

Cllr Duncan said:

“£336,000 is obviously better than nothing. But putting this into perspective, this is equivalent to less than 0.3% of our original £116 million Bus Services Improvement Plan bid.

“This is a pretty gutting state of affairs for the team who worked on our bid. I can’t hide that. Sadly, the fund was significantly oversubscribed and we were one of several authorities to miss out.

“The task now is to make the most of where we’re at. The enhanced partnership met earlier this month for the first time. This was a very positive meeting, with representatives of all of the county’s operators in attendance.

“We are facing up to immense challenges over the next six months, which will prove to be a sink or swim period for many routes.”

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Cllr Duncan added that the council would continue to look at improving bus services, despite having its multi-million pound funding bid rejected.

He said:

“It is only by the council and operators working closely together and sharing intelligence that we will be able to face up to these immediate challenges facing our network, protecting existing services as far as possible while making steps forward to improve the service provided to the public.”

Ahead of awarding the council staff capacity funding, the government said the grant would help it continue to work with bus companies.

In a letter to council officials, it said:

“We understand that this funding does not replace Bus Services Improvement Plan funding to spend on transforming your bus services.

“But we do hope it will help to support your ongoing work with operator partners, especially working through an enhance partnership or franchising arrangement, to deliver better bus services (whether they are commercial or tendered) and enable you to use local bus funding to best effect and attract future bus funding as it becomes available.”

Pateley Bridge mum’s fear over £660 sixth form bus cost

A mother in Pateley Bridge has raised concerns about the cost of getting children to sixth form on the bus.

Sariah Broadhead’s son attends St. Aidan’s Church of England High School in Harrogate.

Nidderdale High School, the only secondary school in Pateley Bridge, does not have a sixth form so her son has to travel for his education.

Ms Broadhead has to pay £660 a year for a bus ticket — something she has had to do for her three other children in the past.

The price of the ticket has become an increasing concern as the cost of living crisis bites. She said:

“With everything going up, with the price, everything is really high.”

Children up to Year 11 are entitled to free travel to their nearest school if they live more than a three-mile walk away.

Pupils can use commercial buses or special services provided by North Yorkshire County Council.

However, although the age for leaving education has increased to 18, no provision has been made for free school transport for over 16s.

Parents can buy a yearly ticket from the county council but this also costs £650 for the year.

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Sariah Broadhead - a Pateley Bridge mum whose son's bus pass cost £660

Sariah Broadhead has to pay £660 for her son’s bus pass (photo: Sariah Broadhead).

This has proved to be a problem in Nidderdale because there are no school buses into Harrogate.

Instead, Ms Broadhead’s son has to take the Harrogate Bus Company’s 24 service.

The company does not provide annual tickets for the route, forcing her to buy a pass which covers the whole of the north of England.

Mrs Broadhead believes the situation has left her “in a catch-22”. She added:

“This is the only option we have. Things are getting tighter.”

In response, a Harrogate Bus Company spokesman said:

“We welcome customer feedback on our ticket range, and fully understand justifiable concerns about the cost of living and financial pressures being experienced across the country.

“The annual version of our Gold pass for under-19s and students represents very good value, especially as it gives unlimited travel throughout our entire network from Manchester and Preston to Scarborough and Whitby, for the equivalent of less than £12.70 a week.”

Highways boss ‘confident’ Harrogate park and ride can still be funded

North Yorkshire County Council officials are still confident that a park and ride in Harrogate can be funded despite cuts to government funding.

A park and ride scheme is among the measures proposed by the county council as part of a series of transport initiatives to reduce traffic and ease congestion.

Two locations in Pannal on the 36 bus route were identified as possible sites.

On Tuesday, county council officials warned that it was “unlikely” that the authority would receive all of its £116 million bus improvement bid from government – which would help to fund the scheme.

But Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive county councillor for highways, told a Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Constituency Committee that he was still confident that there would be enough funding for a park and ride scheme.

He said:

“The various interventions following the Harrogate Congestion Study and the Harrogate Transport Improvement Programme are every much prioritised in our bus services improvement plan.

“Even if we get reduced funding, which is likely, I am confident that there will be money there for the various interventions that we want to make in Harrogate including a pilot for park and ride.”

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The news comes as the county council bid for £116 million worth of funding to improve bus services in North Yorkshire.

The county council unveiled its Bus Service Improvement Plan in October with proposals for more bus lanes, cash support for existing and new services and a simpler ticketing system.

But, the government wrote to councils in January highlighting how its £3 billion budget to “transform” bus services had more than halved to £1.4 billion.

Hope that electric buses bid will be successful

Separately, the county council has also bid for £8 million of government cash to make all of Harrogate Bus Company’s fleet electric.

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

Cllr Mackenzie told the area constituency committee that he remained confident of being successful in receiving the funding.

He said:

“I remain fairly confident about that [the bid]. We ought to hear something about that by the end of this month, that was originally the deadline given to us.”

Harrogate still a ‘top priority’ for bus improvements despite funding warning

Harrogate will remain a top priority for bus service improvements, a council official has said despite warnings the region could be left with little or no funding from the government’s Bus Back Better scheme.

Michael Leah, assistant director for transport and environment at North Yorkshire County Council, told an executive meeting today it was “unlikely” the authority would receive all of the £116million it bid and there was a possibility it could get no funding at all.

This comes after the government wrote to councils in January highlighting how its £3billion budget to “transform” bus services had more than halved to £1.4billion.

Mr Leah told today’s meeting:

“The overall availability of funding has reduced and therefore expectation has dampened across the county.

“If we are to get a number, it will unlikely be £116million.”

Mr Leah explained that any funding received would be prioritised to areas where the county council believes it is needed the most, including Harrogate which has the worst traffic congestion in North Yorkshire.

Ripon and Masham also ‘high on list’ for support

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

“If we were to not get any funding, there are still parts of our enhanced partnerships scheme which we could see through, such as better bus timetable information and more coordinated work with operators.

“It’s not just about the money.”

The county council unveiled its Bus Service Improvement Plan in October with proposals for more bus lanes, cash support for existing and new services and a simpler ticketing system.

Crucially, the aim is for services to cover the whole of North Yorkshire – something which has been described as an “enormous challenge” for England’s largest county.

It is hoped these targets will be also met through so-called enhanced partnerships where the county council will agree to infrastructure improvements in return for better services from bus companies.

Electric buses

Separately, the county council has also bid for £8million of government cash to make all of Harrogate Bus Company’s fleet electric.

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

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The different plans are all part of the overall aim to solve Harrogate’s congestion woes by encouraging people out of their cars and onto public transport.

But the scale of the challenge can be seen in figures which show just 6% of short commuting trips within Harrogate before the pandemic were on a bus – and that this was decreasing year-on-year.

And while Harrogate is the most populated area in North Yorkshire and is being seen as a priority for investment, the county council has been urged not to forget other parts of the county, particularly rural communities.

Councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for access at the county council, responded to say improvements to rural bus services have formed the “backbone” of the Bus Service Improvement Plan:

“There are huge challenges in providing affordable transport to a county as large as our own.

“But without question, one of the priorities we have is to improve bus services in rural areas, whether by traditional or more modern means as has been the case with YorBus.”

Council receives £389,000 grant to transport key workers

North Yorkshire County Council is set to support local bus companies to continue to transport key workers as part of a £389,000 government grant.

The authority claimed the money for 17 companies from the government’s Covid-19 Bus Service Support Grant which was designed to support services which have seen reduced passengers and an increase in costs due to the pandemic.

Around £167 million was made available by the Department for Transport and 92 bus services have been supported.

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The county council has also claimed £23,000 to reimburse bus companies for covid-19 costs such as personal protective equipment, hand sanitiser and dispensers, and the introduction of barriers and screens on vehicles.

Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive member for access at the county council, said: 

“Bus operators have provided a much-needed service to key workers and other passengers making essential journeys across the county throughout lockdown and the covid-19 pandemic.

“For many people, journeys by bus are the only way to get to work and to connect one rural location to another.

“Key workers have helped keep the county running during these unprecedented times, and bus services have supported them in turn. I’m delighted that North Yorkshire County Council was able to access this grant to help operators.”