Improving bus services with more regular and reliable journeys across Harrogate and North Yorkshire will be an “enormous challenge”, the county’s transport boss has said.
Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive member for access at North Yorkshire County Council, made the statement on Tuesday when the authority approved its £116 million Bus Service Improvement Plan, which aims to boost passenger numbers and cut car use.
The plan asks for £116 million of government cash over the next eight years to fund support for existing and new services, a simpler ticketing system, better information on journeys and other measures.
The aim is for services to cover the whole of England’s largest county – something Cllr Mackenzie said will be an “enormous challenge”.
He said:
“Bus services are very important to us – we as a council spend over £24 million on buses to get our pupils to schools.
“We spend £1.5 million every year subsidising rural bus services, which are not commercially viable and would not run without us.
“We also spend over £7 million a year on providing 127,000 bus passes for free travel for people because of age or disability, or because they are carers.
“But the challenge we have today to provide regular and sustainable bus services throughout the vast geography that North Yorkshire County Council covers with its sparse population is enormous.
“That is why I welcome the national bus strategy.”
Under the government’s bus strategy, £3 billion is to be made available to make buses across the country cheaper and easier to use.
It is hoped these targets will be also met through so-called enhanced partnerships where councils agree to infrastructure improvements in return for better services from bus companies.
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Other proposals in North Yorkshire County Council’s improvement plan include half-price fares for job seekers and apprentices, a new website with information on services and more zero-emission buses.
Pannal park and ride
There is also talk of a park and ride scheme in Harrogate, which officials are looking into but have yet to bring forward any detailed proposals for.
There are two potential sites for this: land near Pannal Golf Club and another site near Buttersyke Bar roundabout, south of the village.
The Harrogate district has more zero tail-pipe emission buses than most places in North Yorkshire and it is hoped more will be provided through a £20m bid for government cash.
If approved, the cash will be used to make all of Harrogate Bus Company’s fleet zero-emissions, with 39 new buses coming to the district.
Alex Hornby, chief executive of Transdev in the north of England, which owns Harrogate Bus Company, has expressed his support for the bid, saying it comes at a time when he believes Harrogate is “ready to embrace more sustainable forms of travel”.
Mr Hornby is also one of several business leaders who will speak at a net-zero conference at Harrogate Convention Centre on Friday when the vision of a greener transport future will be high on the agenda.
Another aim of the improvement plan is to expand the rollout of the council’s on-demand bus service, YorBus, which allows app users to book and track services in Ripon, Bedale and Masham.
There have, however, been questions over why the service has been hailed a “success” after it emerged it has only attracted about three passengers per hour.
In response to this, Cllr Mackenzie said the council would listen to all feedback, but added the number of those praising the service exceeded the number of critics.
He said:
Could Harrogate get its first bus lane?“We may or may not introduce it elsewhere, but so far the signs are very good.”
Harrogate’s first bus lane could be built on Leeds Road from Pannal towards the town centre, according to North Yorkshire County Council.
The council has had long held ambitions to build a park and ride scheme in Pannal to reduce traffic and ease congestion.
Land near Pannal Golf Club and near Buttersyke Bar roundabout south of Pannal have been identified as potential sites for the park and ride.
A key factor in the location is that it is on the 36 bus route that runs regularly between Leeds and Harrogate. Leeds Road is one of the main routes into Harrogate.
Cllr Don Mackenzie told the Stray Ferret that creating bus lanes in Harrogate town centre itself would be a “struggle” due to the road layout.
He added one could be built on parts of Leeds Road if the park and ride proposal comes to fruition but stressed the plans were still at an early stage.
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Meanwhile, the council is putting together a bid for a share of the government’s £3bn investment in bus services that is part of its National Bus Strategy.
The government has told all councils to publish a Bus Service Improvement Plan before November.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Service earlier this week, Cllr Mackenzie, said:
“In Harrogate we’re looking at park and ride, which will involve a bus contract, and we’re looking at bus priority systems such as bus lanes. So the National Bus Strategy just gives us an extra incentive to press on.
“We would be totally supportive of avoidance of the motor car and reliance upon public transport, whether that is road or rail or sustainable transport with a bit more walking and cycling.”