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York event to encourage businesses to ‘go digital’

Amongst the raft of information available to visitors at Middleton’s Hotel, Skeldergate from 10am-3pm will be advice on how a £3,000 Connection Voucher can rejuvenate local businesses in the city and the City Centre WiFi project.

Since April 2014 over 200 businesses and registered charities have received a Connection Voucher to speed up their broadband. Suppliers and City of York Council staff will be on hand to offer information and advice on the scheme and answer any questions attendees may have.

Special guests for this month’s event are Google Digital Garage who will be on hand to talk to small and medium sized businesses about how they can learn and benefit from new digital skills and use the internet to grow and attract more customers. Other companies at the event include: TalkTalk, Landlord Broadband, York Data Services, Agile, BT and Pinacl plus many more.
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NUMBER 13A BUS ROUTE GETS LIFELINE

Reports are coming in that the Council may continue the 13A bus service after First stop running it at the end of July.

This would allow time for a full review of subsidised bus routes during the autumn by the new Council Executive.

Westfield LibDem Councillors had passed on residents concern about the threatened axing of this route to First and to the Council.

Options for continuing the service to this area might include re-routing other subsidised services. This would avoid passengers – many of whom are elderly – having to walk long distances.

It is anticipated that the re-introduction of two way routes along Tudor Road and Green Lane would also form part of any service review.

At the moment the number 4 bus service only travels clockwise round the Green Lane/Tudor Road loop.

The decision on the 13A was taken behind closed doors with no pre-meeting agenda or background papers published. The new Council will rapidly lose credibility if it doesn’t become more open and shed the mistakes of the past …..and quickly.

A great Park & Ride offer for Catch the Bus Week!

First York say that they are helping to raise awareness of the benefits of taking the bus in York, encouraging people who don’t normally take the bus to give it a try.

“We all know that York suffers from unique traffic issues, but with an excellent Park & Ride service and buses at least every 10 minutes for much of the day, why not forget frustrations of sitting in traffic, jump on a bus and let us get you to the city centre?

For this year’s Catch the Bus Week, which runs from Monday 29 June to Sunday 5 July, we’re offering discounted travel on all our Park & Ride services.

Simply produce a York Car Park ticket or receipt from the previous seven days to the Park & Ride site supervisor and get a day return ticket for just £2, saving 80p. (Maximum of 2 discounted bus tickets per car park ticket/receipt.)

The special £2 fare applies for journeys from Park & Ride sites to York City Centre only, and will be available at any time of day. Normal fares will apply from all other stops.

Finding your nearest Park & Ride site is easy – all the info you’ll need can be found at www.yorkparkandride.co.uk.

It’s so easy on York Park & Ride!

Six Park & Ride sites
Open 7 days a week
Over 5000 spaces
Frequent buses
Park, Ride and Surf with our free Wi-Fi

The Catch the Bus Week offer is brought to you by First working in partnership with City of York Council.

For more information about Catch the Bus Week visit www.catchthebusweek.co.uk

Electric buses off the road in York?

New electric bus fleet launched last week

New electric bus fleet launched last month

As we said yesterday, it would be prudent to suspend the use of electric buses in York until the cause of yesterdays vehicle fire had been established.

It seems that, after some dithering, First intend to do just that.

Safety must come first and we were concerned that comments from the York Council (which lets the contract for the Park and Ride services on which the buses are used) and local bus managers implied yesterday that the buses would continue in use.

In petrol powered engines, fires were not uncommon. Fires are comparatively rare in newer vehicles and, those that do occur, can usually be traced to faulty electrical components.

New technology – like that deployed in the battery powered bus fleet – is another matter. The technology is in its infancy and , although inherently safer than the internal combustion alternative, deployment needs to be cautious.

A quick investigation should reveal the cause of the fire.

If, for example, it turns out that a spanner was left by maintenance staff in the engine compartment, and this led to the short circuit which caused the fire, then that would be one thing. A relatively easy fix (count the spanners!) and get the buses back on the road!

If a component has been incorrectly fitted then again the remedy is obvious.

Only if faulty components or – heaven forbid – a design flaw is revealed would an extensive and debilitating delay become inevitable.

We are after all just going through the first sustained period of warm weather since the large scale introduction of the buses in the City and who knows whether that might be factor?

So full marks to First for adopting a cautious approach, albeit a little late in the day.

They, and the Council, now face the headache of back-filling the gaps in the Park and Ride fleet.

Hopefully the York Council will now be open and transparent about the incident and the action that is being taken.

UPDATE: First say that the vehicle manufacturers are undertaking precautionary checks on the fleet. Park and Ride services are unaffected.

Bus service changes – more details emerging

More details, of the changes that First are making to their services from 2^nd August, are emerging.

The number 4 service will run to Heslington East via Tang Hall and Osbaldwick. (That seems to be a big change although a route map has not yet been published)

As previously reported the 13A is being scrapped with First only able to offer “dial and ride” as an alternative.

In Westfield the main changes are:

Service 1 – revised timetable Chapelfields – City Centre – Wigginton Revised timetables will be introduced, every day of the week, to improve reliability. From Chapelfields, the first and last buses each day will run five minutes earlier, every day of the week.

Service 4 – revised route and timetable Acomb – City Centre – University of York Between Acomb and the City Centre (Rougier Street) no changes will be made to the route. Between Rougier Street and Heslington East the route will change, with buses running via Tang Hall and Osbaldwick, replacing journeys on service 6. Buses will run every 10 minutes Monday to Saturday daytime, every 20 minutes Sunday daytime and every 30 minutes every evening, with all evening journeys now serving Heslington East.

Service 12 – revised timetable Foxwood Lane – City Centre – Monks Cross A revised timetable will be introduced on Mondays to Saturdays. An earlier journey will be introduced on Mondays to Fridays at 0643 from Elmfield Avenue to Foxwood Lane. An addition evening peak journey will be introduced on Mondays to Fridays at 1751 from The Stonebow to Foxwood Lane.

First York to scrap number 13A bus service

First York have announced changes to bus services which they will implement from the beginning of August.

The number 13 and 13A services will be scrapped.

The latter provides the only link to the City centre from the Hamilton Drive area and is likely to lead to calls for the Council to substitute a tendered service. There are a lot of elderly people living in the area served by the 13A.

First say that Harrogate Coach Travel will run a replacement which may mitigate the loss of the 13 Haxby to Copmanthorpe (via Tadcaster Road) service but details are awaited.

The announcement comes only hours after First announced that it would be running 9 buses an hour (!) between the Railway Station and the University. The number 4 already provides 8 buses an hour. The combined service would provide a theoretical frequency of one every 3 minutes (and is probably the nearest thing to continuous public transport short of a conveyor belt!!).

Of course, York’s’ traffic conditions will mean that buses on this route are likely to “bunch” so frequencies in practice may be much less than promised by the timetable.

First have said that they intend to re-route the number 4 at the University end but no details have as yet been made available.

Another major change affecting Acomb concerns the route of Service 5 which will be revised to run via Boroughbridge Road, Beckfield Lane and Ostman Road to serve more of north Acomb (instead of Carr Lane and Woodlea Avenue).

According to First, the proposed changes are:

Service 1 (Chapelfields – Wigginton) revised timetable to improve reliability
Service 4 (Acomb – University of York) revised route to the University
Service 5/5A (Acomb – Strensall) revised route between Station Rise & Boroughbridge Rd (via current 10 route). In Acomb service 5 will be revised to run via Boroughbridge Road, Beckfield Lane and Ostman Road in both directions omitting Carr Lane and Woodlea Avenue.
– Service 6 (Clifton Moor – City) frequency increase to every 10mins from 12mins (Mon-Fri only) to meet demand. Revised route to the City with the University link now provided by service 4
– Service 10/10A (Nether Poppleton – Stamford Bridge) rerouted between Rougier Street and Boroughbridge Road via the current route of services 5/5A serving National Railway Museum, Leeman Road, Salisbury Road and Water End. In Stamford Bridge services 10/10A will operate in a one way clockwise loop from The Square via Main Street, Burton Fields Road, Battlefields Way, Moor Road, Church Road, High Catton Road, Roman Avenue North, Roman Avenue South, High Catton Road and Church Road to The Square and then current route back towards the City Centre
Service 12 (Foxwood Lane – Monks Cross) revised timetable to improve reliability with an extra earlier journey from Elmfield Ave at 0643 and an extra later journey from the Stonebow at 1751
The current service 13/13A Copmanthorpe/Acomb/Haxby will be withdrawn due to low demand (customers will be able to use new service 13 between Haxby & Copmanthorpe provided by Harrogate Coach Travel Ltd.

NB. The Council announced last week that bus use in the City had reached a high of 15.6 million journeys last year. Most of these will have been generated by the new Park and Ride sites although the Council has so far declined to reveal the numbers using stage carriage services.

Monks Cross Park&Ride gets new fleet of electric buses

The UK’s top Park&Ride (P&R) service is further expanding its offer to customers by introducing a new fully electric fleet of buses at Monks Cross Park&Ride.

In partnership with First who operate the site, the introduction of six new electric buses this month follows on from the success of the introduction of a fully electric fleet onto the new Poppleton Park&Ride last June.

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‘It’s not OK’ child sexual abuse awareness campaign launches 11 May 2015

A joint child sexual abuse awareness campaign between City of York Safeguarding Children Board (CYSCB) and the NSPCC launches in York on Monday 11 May.

The aim of the ‘It’s not OK’ campaign is to help ensure that parents, carers, children and young people, professionals and the general public know how to recognise the signs of child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation, where to get help and advice, and increase confidence in saying or doing something to stop the abuse.

This year-long multi-agency campaign, the first of its type for the NSPCC in England, will have four distinct phases, with each targeting a different audience. Information, resources and campaign materials will all be available in one place – the new sexual abuse and sexual exploitation website for York: www.itsnotokay-york.org.uk

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£159k funding to give domestic abuse victims 24/7 support

Nearly £160,000 of Government funding will round-the-clock support for people experiencing domestic abuse in York.

The Independent Domestic Abuse Service (IDAS) will use the £159,064 award in York and Harrogate to fund extended and better-quality provision, backed by The North Yorkshire and York Domestic Abuse Partnership, and by Safer York Partnership.

The funding will pay for extending the IDAS helpline for emergency support and advice to a 24-hour, seven days a week service, and it will allow for 24/7 staffing at the refuges. It will also allow for more staff training to better assess the needs of those requesting help and to support them, as well as training for refuge users to build resilience and to prepare for successful resettling.

Sarah Hill, Director of IDAS in York, said: “Domestic violence affects up to one in four women and is not a nine-to-five problem. I’m delighted that this extra funding is going to let us deliver 24-hour services, weekend cover and community provision so that we can provide a better quality and safer service to families when they need it.”

Some children’s bus fares to double in York

Behind closed doors decision hits number 20 bus service.

Two decisions were taken last week which affect bus services contracted by the Council with Arriva/Transdev in York.

There was no prior consultation with local Councillors or residents before the decisions were published.

The first change will see child fares on the 627/637/647 services increased so that they are “in line with those charged on other local bus services”. The services provide links to Fulford, Archbishop Holgate and Manor schools (from Acomb).

Currently children using these routes pay £1 return. This would be doubled to £2 (saving the Council £19,711)

The increase will be implemented from 1st September 2015.

The Council has promised to “ work with the contracting bus operator (Arriva) to explore opportunities for term pass discounts”

The number 20 bus service which links Tesco, Gale Lane and Front Street with Poppleton, Wigginton and the University will run less frequently.

“Instead of an hourly ‘clock-face’ timetable, additional running time will be built in to the timetable meaning certain departures will be 70 or 75 minutes apart.

Most buses will run from Heslington Hall via University Road and Melrosegate (currently buses run from Heslington Hall via Field Lane, Osbaldwick village, Alcuin Avenue and Melrosegate). School-time journeys will still be routed via Osbaldwick as they carry a number of children from the village to and from Huntington and Joseph Rowntree schools“.

All buses will divert to call at Vangarde Shopping Park (John Lewis etc), providing a new transport link for staff and shoppers. “Providing this link may allow CYC to use some of the Vangarde Section 106 developer funding to offset a proportion of the contract price”.

The proposal will remove the section of route through Heslington East and Osbaldwick except for at school times. The Councils says that, “whilst some Osbaldwick resident are using the service (around 15 passengers per day on average), alternative bus links are available”.

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