Park & Ride fare hike

From 26 March 2017 there will be a number of fare changes introduced on York’s Park & Ride network.

The Council claims, “These changes have been introduced in line with national inflation and earnings data and to help meet the operational costs of running York’s high-quality Park & Ride service”.

There was of course no fall in fare levels when the price of fuel plummeted 2 years ago.

The future of the park and ride service remains unclear following the failure of the Council to attract any bids to run the services under strict new contract rules. First has had its contract extended for a short period of time.

New fares are:

  • Day ticket (bought in multiples) to increase from £2.50 to £2.60
  • Adult returnto increase from £2.80 to £2.90
  • Adult weekly to increase from £11.20 to £11.60
  • Adult monthly to increase from £44 to £46.40
  • Adult annual to increase from £440 to £464

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Changes to 44 Hamilton Drive bus service from April

LibDems petitioned for the 44/16 sercive to be retained

LibDems petitioned for the 44/16 service to be retained

Connexions buses have been awarded the service 16 (currently 44) contract from 1st April. We understand that they will be using new low carbon Euro 6, locally built, buses from the Optare group

The service, which links Acomb Front Street, Green Lane and Hamilton Drive to the railway station,  is currently run by Transdev.

The new service will be extended to Piccadilly

The announcement follows several months of campaigning by Liberal Democrats who collected a petition seeking retention of the service.

 

Uber buses?

Interesting idea from TransDev in Harrogate

harrogate-bus-jan-2017TransDev was experiencing capacity issues in the morning peak on its flagship 36 service between Ripon and Harrogate. It was as a result of a large number of young people travelling to school in Harrogate on the 36, creating overcrowding problems. Over a two-week period 70 parents said they would be willing to pay for their children to use a dedicated door-to-door service and committed to buying season tickets that not only include travel on this dedicated school bus, but the rest of the Harrogate bus network too. As more and more parents came onboard the overall cost to all reduced.

The operator’s school bus fleet vehicles are typically parked up outside the traditional travel to school times. A wish to fully utilise these assets has led to the creation of the VAMOOZ app which will be launched in the coming months.

VAMOOZ will see Transdev Blazefield launch trips to destinations that are currently unserved by its conventional bus network. These destinations could include places like shopping centres, such as Meadowhall near Sheffield and the Trafford Centre outside Manchester, and trips to sporting events, concerts and music festivals too, as well as potentially more traditional visits to towns and cities of interest across the north of England.

VAMOOZ app users will browse the range of destinations on offer or, alternatively, make a suggestion for a trip of their own choosing. They will then commit to travel on that trip at the price offered by the app but uniquely this price will reduce as more and more users commit to travel.

Key to helping stimulate that demand is that users making a commitment will be invited to share their travel plans with friends on social media and by email in a bid to encourage them to travel too. As more and more people commit, the lower the price becomes to all.

Read a fuller article on this idea by clicking here

Changes to 24 bus services to Windsor Garth

24 – Ascot Way to York – click here for a timetable

Some minor changes will be made to the Monday to Saturday timetable from Monday 9th January:

  • 08:09 from York Rail Station to Ascot Way will now start at Piccadilly at 08:04
  • 18:04 from York Rail Station to Ascot Way will now start at Piccadilly at 18:08 and run up to 10 minutes later throughout
  • 18:37 from Ascot Way will leave at 18:42 and run up to 5 minutes later throughout

– See more at: https://www.arrivabus.co.uk/yorkshire/updates/yorkjan/#sthash.L58f3fcJ.dpuf

Other changes to York vbus services

Service No. Operator Brief summary of changes
4/12/16 44 Transdev Service will run from Acomb to city centre only.
4/1/17 627 Arriva Morning journey to run 5 mins earlier.
8/1/17 8 First Minor timetable change.
8/1/17 31
31X		 Stephenson’s Minor timetable change.
8/1/17 66 First Inbound service will set down passengers at Clifford St instead of Piccadilly.
8/1/17 66A First New route: Merchantgate – Hull Road – University of York
8/1/17 66X First New route: Merchantgate – Hull Road – Grimston Bar
9/1/17 24 Arriva Minor timetable change.
9/1/17 25 Arriva Minor timetable change.
9/1/17 26 Arriva Earlier (0658) start time from Fulford.
19/2/17 13 Connexions The 0635 trip from Rail Station to Copmanthorpe will be removed.

Trial Sunday bus service linking Foxwood/Woodthorpe and Askham Bar extended for a month

First have announced that the trial bus which links Foxwood, Woodthorpe & Bishopthorpe with Tesco and Askham Bar will continue to run until the end of January 2017.

The services will run on:

  • Tuesday 27 December 2016
  • Bank Holiday Monday, 2 January 2017
  • Sundays 8, 15, 22 and 29 January 2017

Download Service 500 timetable

The free service, numbered 500, runs with an electric bus, subject to availability, to reduce noise and emissions. It was due to finish on 18th December

500-bus-service

York bus services reliability stats

The latest figures released by the Council suggest that frequent bus services are getting more reliable in York
Bus reliability trends in York

Bus reliability trends in York

The figures which represent a snap shot of bus reliability – are taken in the autumn of each year.

By last autumn, frequent bus services (defined as those routes with more than 6 buses per hour)  were on average less than 1/2 minute late.

However performance on routes with less frequent services showed a small decline in reliability. 83% were on time compared to 87% the previous year.

The figures are bound to rekindle calls for weekly service reliability figures to be published. These figures can be made available easily using the technology installed to provide “next bus due” real time information.

Other public transport providers such as the train operating companies are required to routinely publish similar information.

Award for York Electric Park & Ride Buses

Irony lost on Council as it downgrades its “green” specification for new park and ride contracts
Electric bus fleet

Electric bus fleet

Only a few days after the York Council leadership agreed to consider tenders for new park and ride services which do not include the use of ultra low emission vehicles on most routes, its existing electric fleet won a sustainability award. The service has been run in partnership with First from the sites at Poppleton and Monks Cross for the last couple of years.

Fears about the cost of replacement batteries, led the Councils Executive last week to downgrade its emission expectations when discussing a new contract specification for park and ride services in the City.

A contract for the new services attracted no tenders when it was advertised earlier in the year.

A media release for the Council today says, “York’s Park & Ride Scheme, which is run in partnership with First York and City of York Council, is setting the standard for other Park & Ride sites across the country, after scooping a prestigious accolade for its contribution to sustainable transport, at the North of England Transport Awards.

The North of England Transport Awards reward and encourage innovation and excellence and help disseminate the very best practice throughout the north of England, and this year, York’s Park & Ride scheme received the Contribution to Sustainable Transport Award.

In particular, First York was recognised for its wider commitment to providing greener travel for the region, with its fleet of electric vehicles, helping to reduce CO2 emissions in the city.

First York operates two fully electric Park & Ride routes at Poppleton Bar and Monks Cross, working in partnership with City of York Council and local bus manufacturer, Optare. The two schemes, which launched in 2014 (Poppleton Bar) and 2015 (Monks Cross), run 12 zero tailpipe emission electric vehicles, and were one of the first fully electric Park & Ride schemes in the UK”.
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