Scrapping YorBus will leave thousands without a bus service, councillor warns

Scrapping an on-demand bus service will leave thousands of passengers a month without a service, a councillor has warned.

North Yorkshire Council is examining cost-effective ways of boosting transport services after the authority admitted its flagship Yorbus demand-responsive transport pilot had failed.

It has emerged the Yorbus service for the Bedale, Ripon and Masham area cost more than £15 per passenger to run.

Ahead of launching the two-year pilot, which ends later this month, the council had been warned by public transport providers, including Moorbus, that demand-responsive transport would prove far too costly.

However, councillors disagree over whether there is any appetite for public transport in rural areas and if more frequent services would entice people to leave their cars.

The authority’s opposition leader, Cllr Bryn Griffiths said the ending of the trial later this month would mean “about 1,000 passengers a month without a bus service”.

A meeting of the council’s Richmond constituency committee heard him call for answers as to why the council had failed to win bids for huge amounts of government funding for public transport schemes such as Yorbus.

During a debate over Yorbus, Cllr John Weighell, who led North Yorkshire County Council for nearly 14 years, said Yorbus had not met the needs of residents with mobility issues in rural areas as the stops were too far apart.

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He said even before the Yorbus pilot was launched it had never appeared viable as the authority had previously worked on the principle of supporting services that needed a subsidy of £6 or less per passenger journey.

Cllr Weighell questioned whether demand-responsive transport services would work better if they were limited to short journeys, close to larger market towns.

He said the authority should instead invest more money into developing and supporting voluntary-run community transport.

Cllr Griffiths replied: 

“The problem is they rely on volunteers and we are struggling for volunteers at the moment. Stokesley has two community care buses and they are crying out for volunteers.”

Northallerton councillor Caroline Dickinson, a member of two North Yorkshire bus user groups, said there was “a big concern about the buses and getting people to appointments”.

She said: 

“There’s all the talk about getting people out of their cars onto buses, but in the Dales we don’t have buses.”

The authority’s leadership said they had believed it could have been the “silver bullet” for North Yorkshire’s sparse public transport provision, particularly in rural areas.

Responding to criticism over the authority paying more than £200,000 to continue the pilot for a second year, the council’s leader Cllr Carl Les said it had been necessary to thoroughly test ways to attract more customers, such as bookings arrangements.

He said: 

“It is right to stop now we have proved the costs are prohibitive.”

The authority is now considering increasing its work with volunteer-run community transport providers to reduce the cost of vehicles.

Cllr Les said the Little White Bus service, which has provided scheduled travel in Wensleydale and Swaledale since 2011, could be a better model to help improve transport access in rural areas.

Despite being in a remote area, the service run by paid and volunteer minibus drivers carries in excess of 60,000 passengers a year across 500,000 miles and provides school transport.

He said the authority was already promoting a car share scheme in Harrogate and would consider supporting such schemes for villages where people could search for any journeys they wanted to share, either as a driver or a passenger.

Fears for rural transport as Masham and Ripon minibus service is scrapped

Councillors have expressed disappointment after a flagship on-demand bus service in Masham and Ripon is set to be scrapped.

Last week, North Yorkshire Council took the decision to end its YorBus pilot on June 30 over cost concerns.

It was revealed that the service carried just 14,208 passengers over 12 months, at an average cost per passenger of £15.57 across the year.

Cllr Keane Duncan, executive councillor for transport, said in a statement that the cost of the service was “significantly higher” than traditional routes.

However, some councillors have expressed disappointment that the on-demand service will no longer continue.

Felicity Cunliffe-Lister

Cllr Felicity Cunliffe-Lister.

Cllr Felicity Cunliffe-Lister, who represents Masham and Fountains division, said the bus was used by younger people in her area.

She said:

“I’m very disappointed. There were a lot of the younger generation using it.

“At the same time, it was expensive to run. It was using a lot of money. But it was not a great surprise and I don’t think it was ever to going to get to a break even point.

“However, I think it does demonstrate that there is a need for bus services in rural areas.”

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She added that she would like to see a community service introduced in the place of YorBus.

Meanwhile, Cllr Barbara Brodigan, who represents Ripon Ure Bank and Spa, described the decision as “regrettable but understandable”.

She added that the service was never going to survive in light of the council’s failed £116 million bid to government’s ‘Bus Back Better’ fund.

She said:

“Without government help this has had to be funded by the council. Usage peaked over last summer and then levelled off to about 2.4 passengers per hour, more passengers could possibly have made the pilot more cost effective.”

Cllr Andrew Williams, who also represents Ripon Minster and Moorside, added:

“It’s sad that the innovative idea has failed to take off but NYC can’t justify the continuation of a service which is costing a subsidy of £14 for each journey made, 

“I suspect that most council tax payers would think that was pouring money down the drain. We have tried to provide a service but residents have voted with their feet and simply not used it in sufficient numbers to justify continuing further.”

The Stray Ferret approached North Yorkshire Council to ask why the scheme was not scrapped within the first year given the running costs.

A spokesperson for the council said the pilot was extended to “explore options for wider rollout could be explored in more detail, including assessing potential zones and a review of the overall delivery model”.

Meanwhile, Cllr Duncan said that the authority would be reviewing initiatives to help rural transport.

He said:

“While continuing to work closely with operators to support at-risk services, we are also currently reviewing a number of initiatives to improve rural transport and asking the public for their views to help shape our future strategy.”

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.”

North Yorkshire Council to axe YorBus service

North Yorkshire Council will axe the YorBus service next month nearly two years after it was launched.

The service, which operates between Ripon, Bedale, and Masham, was launched as a pilot scheme by the council in July 2021 to offer rural residents low-cost journeys on demand.

The service could be booked by residents via an app.

However, council officials have decided to axe the service as it had become too expensive to run. As a result, it will end on June 30.

The authority added that the cost per journey of YorBus was “significantly higher than the traditional, timetabled bus routes”.

The pilots costs around £230,000 to operate annually, but latest figures suggest YorBus journeys cost over twice as much as a scheduled service.

A YorBus service, which operates in Masham and Ripon.

A YorBus service, which operates in Masham and Ripon.

North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for highways and transport, Cllr Keane Duncan, said:

“We launched the YorBus pilot two years ago to enhance our existing public transport network.

“It has allowed us to gather valuable information about the costs and benefits of running a digital demand responsive bus service.

“Without sufficient additional funding being available to expand the service so YorBus can benefit residents across North Yorkshire, and with costs per journey remaining so high despite efforts to improve value for money, the pilot will come to an end as planned next month.”

When discussing the service coming to an end, he added:

“This will allow us to be fair to all residents and focus every penny of our limited resources on supporting bus services across the county at a time of unprecedented pressure.

“While continuing to work closely with operators to support at-risk services, we are also currently reviewing a number of initiatives to improve rural transport and asking the public for their views to help shape our future strategy.”

In 2022, the council bid for £116 million to improve bus services as part of the Government’s Bus Back Better scheme, but was unsuccessful. An expansion of the YorBus service was earmarked if the funding had been granted.

The two YorBus vehicles will be returned for use on other local bus services and drivers will be redeployed.

Earlier this week, the council launched the Let’s Talk Transport survey, asking residents to share their travel habits in hopes to develop the travel strategy for the coming decades.

Bus routes 136, 138, 138A, 139, 144 and 159 will continue to run, as well as alternative community transport operators in the area where YorBus ran.

Alternative travel options can be found here.

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Stray Views: YorBus service ‘worse than useless’

Stray Views is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. Send your views to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk.

John Geddes makes interesting points in his recent letter to you about Yorbus. At first, I was an enthusiastic user of the service.

Although it was quite clearly uneconomic, it worked well for me: and apart from journeys during the lunch hour period which were next-to impossible to arrange, was usually responsive to my needs.

Since it became possible to book rides, the service has become clunky and sometimes worse than useless (it’s no use to me to be able to get somewhere if I can’t get back).

Even booked rides are no longer reliable. I understand the need to offer a 50 minute window in which the ride might come, but then to give 10 minutes notice of its leaving 10 minutes ahead of that offered window often makes the ride impossible to accept.

The drivers are unfailingly friendly and courteous. They, like many users, complain about the quality of the app.  But it feels as if suggestions for improvement are not listened to, let alone acted upon.

Perhaps John Geddes’ suggestion of having instead a YorTaxi service is a possible way forward?

Margaret Lawrenson, North Stainley

Victoria Avenue plan ‘utter madness’

First, we had the débâcle of phase 1 of the Otley Road cycleway which wasted time and money resulting in the loss of trees, damage to the environment and the eco systems. The cycling brigade refuse to use it because they consider it is dangerous and does not comply recommended standards.

Second, we had phase 2 of Otley Road cycleway along with Beech Grove Low Traffic Neighbourhood and all the other attempts to make it work. Fortunately for this area of the town these proposals have now been scrapped but again, what a waste of time and money.

Third, we have the meaningless Station Gateway project now leading nowhere.

Now we read NYCC has identified Victoria Avenue as its priority cycling scheme of three in the pipeline. This has raised a number of fundamental questions, including:

    1. What is this ongoing fetish with cycling schemes in Harrogate when the council has proved it does not understand the demographics of the town? Remember, there are people who cannot or do not wish to cycle.
    2. Why has Harrogate been specifically identified for plans to encourage active travel plans and not Northallerton, Skipton, Scarborough or other towns in North Yorkshire?
    3. How can you justify the loss of parking spaces along Victoria Avenue in Harrogate? This is yet another blow to town centre businesses, not just shops but particularly professional offices, dentists etc whose businesses are located along Victoria Avenue.
    4. How will it cut congestion?  The only way to deal with this issue in Harrogate is by building a proper bypass.

It is utter madness once again and will ruin Victoria Avenue. I hope public consultation will be far better than it has been on any of the various “elements” to date. Myself and a number of other local residents and business people consider it is utter madness once again.

We will strongly oppose this latest meaningless proposal. Why waste yet more money? There are more urgent requirements in Harrogate and also more cost effective ways of improving the appearance and feel of the town for everyone.

Barry Adams, Harrogate

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‘No bus service preferable to an unreliable one’

I live in Knaresborough (Eastfield) and I have done so for quite some time.

On Saturday 11th March I arranged to meet a friend in Ripon which entailed my being at the mercy of Transdev.

To my relief, the 1B arrived in Nidderdale Drive on time, and the first stage of my journey was completed to Harrogate without problems. Similarly, the 36 was on time, and I arrived in Ripon at the appointed time. So far so good.

After a convivial afternoon, I gratefully caught the (on-time) 18.11pm no. 22 back to Knaresborough. I couldn’t believe how swimmingly the afternoon was going.

I arrived back at Knaresborough bus station in time for the scheduled 19.15pm no. 1B in order to complete a flawless afternoon.

Of course, Transdev as usual had lulled me into a false sense of security, and of course the 1B didn’t turn up.

A fellow (would-be) passenger consulted the Transdev app and announced at 17.25pm to the waiting many (there were quite a few of us), that the only Transdev vehicle on the road between Harrogate and Knaresborough was a 1A returning from Aspin on its way to Harrogate.

I, in common with everyone else, then set off walking. Having mobility issues, this involved a 30 minute trudge in the cold before I managed to get home. I was also carrying a small amount of shopping which served to compound the problem.

My point is this: that no bus service at all is preferable to a completely unreliable one. I have seen the advertising on Transdev for bus drivers, and I realise that not everyone wants to be one, but either sort it out properly, or else just scrap the whole idea of providing a regular and reliable connective service, and concentrate on the big ticket items like the no. 36.

You would be doing us all a favour, believe me.

James Harrison, Knaresborough

Do you have an opinion on the Harrogate district? Email us at letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. Please include your name and approximate location details. Limit your letters to 350 words. We reserve the right to edit letters.

Trial bus service costs North Yorkshire taxpayers £4 more per journey to subsidise

An “innovative” bus service in North Yorkshire is costing taxpayers about £4 per passenger journey more to subsidise than traditional timetabled buses, it has emerged.

North Yorkshire County Council’s executive member for transport Councillor Keane Duncan said the latest available figures for the authority’s Yorbus demand-responsive pilot scheme, around Ripon and Masham, showed a “financial mismatch”, despite successful efforts to increase patronage.

Ahead of reviewing data from the trial the council believes there are about ten zones across the county where a Yorbus-style service would be viable to operate.

A meeting of NYCC’s executive was told Yorbus journeys were costing between £11 and £13, which compared with £8 to £9 on routes the county council subsidised in the same area.

Despite the figures, Cllr Duncan underlined his intention to continue developing what he described as an “innovative” alternative to fixed bus services, which he said had been welcomed in the trial area.

He said:

“Passenger numbers are up, loyalty is there, people are coming back and using Yorbus time and time again which is a really positive sign for us.

“Conventional timetabled services may have a lower subsidy, but they operate on a fixed timetable. This means they can only benefit those lucky enough to live along a bus route with a bus stop available to them.”

Yorbus has been heralded as the potential solution to the dearth of public transport in rural areas of England’s largest county.

The success of the pilot scheme is being viewed as crucial by campaigners fighting for rural transport services, particularly after the authority’s £116m bid to the Government’s Bus Back Better scheme was last year rejected in its entirety, with Whitehall officials citing a lack of ambition.

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The meeting this week heard transport user groups had recently highlighted concerns about the lack of transport in rural areas.

The concerns follow the executive last summer approving spending nearly £230,000 of taxpayers’ money on trialling its Yorbus demand-responsive bus service for a further year.

They also come three months after Cllr Duncan warned the county’s bus network was “facing a really grave situation”, partly due to rising costs.

The meeting was told the council had relaxed restrictions on using its on-demand bus service since last summer amid fears restrictions were deterring key potential customers and would make the Yorbus unsustainable.

He said the council had expanded Yorbus’s times of operation, the number of villages to which it travels, and, following numerous complaints, introduced the ability to pre-book journeys.

Cllr Duncan said recent months had seen patronage rise by about 30% on the year before.

However, he said the cost per passenger journey on Yorbus, which has been operating in the Masham, Bedale and Ripon area since July 2021, remained relatively high, even compared with journeys on buses with fixed timetables.

Cllr Duncan said the value to residents of Yorbus was greater than traditional buses as it maximised the number of people who could use it – some 40,000 residents in the pilot zone – and was more flexible.

He said the authority would examine the pilot scheme in the coming months, including how to address the high cost per journey.

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

North Yorkshire County Council’s transport boss has issued the stark warning that the county’s bus network is “facing a really grave situation”.

Councillor Keane Duncan, executive member for highways and transportation, made his remarks after a meeting where members representing communities across North Yorkshire heard many commerically-run services were in peril or being downgraded.

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.

The council has been trialling Yorbus, a demand-responsive transport scheme around Ripon and Masham in the hope of finding a sustainable public transport solution for rural areas. It is yet to announce any alternative public transport proposals to its rejected plans.

A meeting of the authority heard opposition members highlight the importance of public transport as a means of cutting carbon emissions and question the authority’s intentions over investing in the area.

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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.”

The meeting heard a call from Scarborough Labour councillor Tony Randerson for a “nationalised bus service”.

Cllr Duncan responded saying bus services in the county were facing unprecedented pressure due to higher costs and passenger numbers had fallen to just 80 per cent of pre-covid levels.

He said:

“For many of the routes that represents the difference between profitability and not profitable services.

“It is important to point out that the bus network is North Yorkshire is facing a really grave situation. I think unprecedented pressure as a result of reduced passenger numbers, as a result of higher costs.”

He added: “The message across the county is use it or lose it. We need people to support these services.”

He said the authority subsidised routes to the tune of £1.6m annually, but the situation in the county would “outstrip that many times over”, adding:

“That subsidy is not at a level that which we would be able to support those 79 routes, so it is a very grave situation.”

He added:

“Creating a nationalised service would not solve those fundamental issues if those operators are not there to deliver those services.”

“There may be is more that we could do to become more interventionist in terms of the bus network, but at the moment the backbone of the county’s bus service is the commercial operators.”

YorBus: Transport chief defends service after ‘blank cheque’ concern

The transport boss of North Yorkshire has moved to defend the county’s on-demand bus service after concerns were raised that it could become a “blank cheque” of public funding.

YorBus was launched as a trial to provide services in poorly-served areas in Ripon, Masham and Bedale, and allows passengers to book via an app.

It has been hailed by North Yorkshire County Council as an “innovative” approach to public transport and the authority has repeatedly stated its ambition to roll-out the scheme across the county.

However, there have been concerns over the running costs which are higher than normal bus services subsidised by the council.

Cllr Keane Duncan, executive member for highways and transportation at the county council, has now said “incorrect” figures were discussed at a recent meeting and that the costs are reducing as more passengers use the service.

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He also said it is “unfair” to compare YorBus with normal services because of its flexible offer.

Cllr Duncan said: 

“The average cost per passenger journey as of August 2022 is £11.68 – that’s £3 more than the average subsidy per journey on for the fixed services.

“This figure has reduced from £35.00 per passenger journey in the month it launched (July 2021), and this continues to reduce as passenger numbers increase.

“Comparing YorBus with fixed timetable routes is in many ways unfair. While YorBus has a higher subsidy per journey at present, it is available to around 14,000 people within its zone of operation.

“Conventional services may have a lower subsidy level but operate on a fixed timetable.

“This can only benefit those lucky enough to live along the bus route.”

In total, YorBus cost the council £229,000 last year, and another £230,000 has been set aside for the remainder of the trial period which will run until June 2023.

Passenger fees were also recently increased in August with a single journey costing £2 for adults and £1 for a child, while under-fives travel free and concessionary bus passes can also be used.

Keane Duncan

Keane Duncan 

At a council meeting earlier this month, concerns were raised over the running costs and that taxpayers outside the trial area are not seeing any benefits.

Settle Cllr David Staveley said that with 850 active YorBus users out of 611,000 population in North Yorkshire, there will be many residents who “might not think it is the best use of taxpayers’ money”.

He said:

“I’m just a bit worried that it sounds like a blank cheque.”

In response, Cllr Duncan said in a statement this week:

 “YorBus is very positive in the sense that it maximises the number of people we can offer transport to and is much more flexible.

“People can be picked up and dropped off at any bus stop in the zone.

“It’s also worth remembering that YorBus is a pilot.

“We’re continually reviewing the service and making improvements so we’re in the best position to decide whether we can expand it to new zones in the county.”

YorBus: On-demand service’s running costs are twice as much as regular buses

More questions have been raised over whether North Yorkshire’s on-demand bus scheme is value for taxpayers’ money after it was revealed it costs twice as much to run than regular services.

A North Yorkshire County Council meeting heard YorBus costs the authority around £18 per passenger journey, while normal timetabled services cost £9 on average.

The pilot scheme was recently extended for another year in the Ripon, Masham and Bedale areas, and allows passengers to book services via an app.

In total, YorBus cost the council £229,000 last year, and another £230,000 has been set aside for the remainder of the trial until June 2023.

At Thursday’s meeting of the Skipton and Ripon Area Constituency Committee, Settle councillor David Staveley said he was concerned about the costs and that taxpayers outside the trial area were not seeing any benefits.

He said:

“There are 850 active riders for YorBus in a population of several hundred thousand and I’m sure the rest of us who aren’t benefiting from this service might not think it is the best use of taxpayers’ money.

“I’m just a bit worried that it sounds like a blank cheque.”

The council launched YorBus to provide public transport in poorly-served areas and has repeatedly stated its ambition to roll-out the scheme across the county.

YorBus

A total of 13,426 passenger journeys were completed in the first year which transport officer Andy Clarke said went “beyond our hopes”.

However, campaigners have previously argued that the council should be setting much higher ambitions.

Mr Clarke told Thursday’s meeting that passenger numbers were increasing and that the costs of running the service were “coming down all the time”.

He added:

“YorBus is attracting a different customer base. This is not just people transferring off existing local bus services – it seems to be new customers coming along as it definitely offers something different.

“What we will be looking to do is reduce the cost figure for YorBus and then make some more detailed comparisons with other lower density rural services.

“We very much need to understand what we can get out of YorBus and how well it can perform.”

YorBus uses two 14-seater buses which are wheelchair accessible.

Its fares were recently increased in August with a single journey costing £2 for adults and £1 for a child, while under-fives travel free and concessionary bus passes can also be used.

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On demand Yorbus sees over 13,000 trips in first year

More than 13,000 journeys were taken using the on demand YorBus service in its first year of operation.

Data from North Yorkshire County Council showed that 13,426 journeys had been taken by the end of July, requested by 850 riders.

In July 2022, there was an average of 51 trips per day.

The bus service serves an area to the north and west of Ripon including Masham, West Tanfield and Bedale.

The pilot scheme, started in July 2021, has now been extended for another year.

The statistics are included in a report on the service’s first year which will be discussed by the council’s Skipton and Ripon area committee next week.

Increasing journey numbers

Journey numbers have gradually increased since the start of the year.

Despite this, the council almost doubled fares for the service at the start of August to £2 for an adult and £1 for a child.

The number of journeys is also roughly seven times the council’s target for the scheme.

It initially hoped that 885 journeys would have been taken after six months.

However, the Transport Action Network has accused the council of setting the target deliberately low.

YorBus covers 217 square kilometres to the north and west of Ripon

Councillor Keane Duncan, the county council’s executive member for transport, celebrated YorBus’s first year in July. He said:

“YorBus has proved incredibly popular since its launch in July 2021, with extremely positive feedback from users.

“We will continue to review this demand-responsive service to help us explore rolling out YorBus to other parts of the county.”

The report also stated that almost half of users would drive if the service was not available. It argued:

“This shows that YorBus is helping to encourage North Yorkshire residents away from the private motor vehicle and onto public transport.”

£229,000 has been allocated to the service for 2022/23.

Next steps

The council will now look at its future plans for on demand YorBus service.

This could include group discount tickets, a joint promotion campaign with the National Trust and investigating the viability of rolling out of YorBus to other parts of the county.