First York announce bus service changes

Number 4 to loop through Skeldergate – direct link between Acomb and York University broken

First buses have responded to complaints about unreliability and lack of capacity on some bus services.

click to enlarge

A major change to the number 4 – the best used bus service in the City – means that it will no longer travel to the University. Instead it will loop through Skeldergate and over Skeldergate Bridge to reach its new terminus on Clifford Street. There are frequent buses from there to the University.

The last change to the route of the number 4 -which took the service on a meandering journey through Tang Hall before reaching Heslington – was heavily criticised by passengers. On occasions 3 or 4 buses would arrive in Acomb in convoy. We hope that the new service – which retains a 10 minute frequency during the day – will prove to more reliable when it is introduced on 22^nd November. The Sunday frequency will be 20 minutes while buses will continue to run every 30 minutes in the evening.

Some minor timetable changes are promised on the number 1 service which links Chapelfields to Wigginton. A twelve minute frequency is promised at peak times between Monday and Friday.

Other changes affect service 6 (which gets a direct link to York University) and service 10 which will run via Battlefields Way, while an additional morning service will be provided between Dunnington and York College on Tadcaster Road, with an early morning service between Bishopthorpe and the railway station also being introduced.

Bus users get boost in York but still no reliability information being published

We can recommend the updated bus app for mobiles. It now has a facility to report problems with bus stops

click to access

With a new team in power at the Council, we will be renewing our calls for quality of service and reliability statistics to be made available each month.

At the moment the Council only passes on the data – which is collected automatically by route monitoring systems – for publication on a national web site once a year.

The last published figure – which is a snapshot – revealed that 1 in 5 buses were not running on time in the City.

While most bus users are mainly interested in when their next bus will arrive, the absence of the kind of bus service performance information routinely published by train companies, is a glaring omission for public transport users in York.

The last Labour Council discontinued the “mystery traveller” checks undertaken before 2011.

Since then ,there has been no sytematic independent checks on bus service quality in the City.

Bus service changes from Sunday

Significant changes to many of York’s bus services come into force on Sunday

Change Date	Service No.	Operator	Brief summary of changes
01/08/15	44	Transdev (Unibus)	Revised route: University (Hes. East Interchange) – York Station – Hamilton Drive – Acomb
02/08/15	1	First	Minor timetable changes.
02/08/15	4	First	Revised route: Acomb – Foxwood – City Centre – Tang Hall – Osbaldwick – University (Heslington East)
02/08/15	5 5A	First	Revised route: Strensall – York – Poppleton Road – Beckfield Lane – Acomb
02/08/15	6	First	Revised route: Clifton Moor – City Centre (Station Rd).
02/08/15	10	First	Revised route: Poppleton – Leeman Rd – City Centre – Stamford Bridge
02/08/15	10	Transdev	Revised route: Poppleton – Leeman Rd – City Centre – Stamford Bridge
02/08/15	12 14	First	Minor timetable changes.
02/08/15	13 13A	First	Cancelled.
02/08/15	13	ConnexionsBuses	Copmanthorpe to Haxby (West Nooks) via City Centre.
02/08/15	66	First	New route: York Station – York Sport Village via University (Heslington Hall).
02/08/15	HB1	Transdev	Cancelled.
02/08/15	HB1	First	University of York – York Hospital.
23/08/15	CB2	Transdev	Cancelled.
30/08/15	944	Coastliner	New route: Crossgates – Tadcaster – York College
21/09/15	56	First	New route: University of York – City Centre circular.
28/09/15	UB1	Transdev	Cancelled.
28/09/15	UB1	First	University of York campus shuttle service

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.

Holiday bus services in York unveiled

Impact of Tour de Yorkshire on bus services on May 3rd remains unclear

Good Friday (3 April)

A Sunday service will operate on all routes except:

York Park & Ride: normal weekday service
Arriva Yorkshire (York & Selby area): Saturday service on all routes, except 26, 42 and 415/416 (weekday service after 7pm)
ConnexionsBuses: Saturday service on all routes
Dalesbus: no service
EYMS: Sunday service except 115/119 (weekday service) and 400/401 (no service)
First Leeds (X84): Saturday service
Transdev Coastliner, Harrogate, Keighley & York (not Burnley & Pendle or Lancashire): Saturday service on all routes, plus Sunday service on York 11, 13 and 16A

Easter Saturday (4 April)

A normal Saturday service will operate on all routes

Easter Sunday (5 April)

A normal Sunday service will operate on all routes

Stephensons: start of 184/185 from York to Helmsley

Easter Monday (6 April)

A Sunday service will operate on all routes except:

York Park & Ride: normal weekday service
EYMS: Sunday service except 115/119 (weekday service)

Stephensons will not run any services on 29/31/31X, 181/183, 193 or 194 on Good Friday or Easter Monday.

May Day (4 May)

A Sunday service will operate on all routes except:

York Park & Ride: normal weekday service
Little White Bus will run a normal weekday service (instead of 855)
Stephensons: bank holiday timetables on 29/31/31X, 181/183, 193 and 194

Bus User Group seeking new recruits

Bus users are being invited to have their say on how bus services in York are planned and delivered.

City of York Council and local bus operators are encouraging commuters, residents and visitors to join the Bus User Group (BUSUG) on a voluntary basis to be involved in helping to improve bus travel in York.

The group has already helped to make influential decisions shaping a number of changes to the network, including:
• the design of the new all-operator bus timetables, now in use at all bus stops in York
• and, the installation of real time information screens
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Labour propose cuts to local bus services

Westfield, Foxwood, Woodthorpe and Dringhouses areas affected

The evening and Sunday number 14 service from Foxwood Lane via Woodthorpe will be discontinued. The 13A service serving Hamilton Drive is retained subject to retendering. The Middlethorpe loop off Tadcaster Road is in jeopardy

The full changes – proposed due to “low passenger levels” – can be found here. (click for route map)

Proposed bus service cuts

Services withdrawn fully: Routes

16a,
27

Partial reductions: Routes

10,
14,
19 (school days)
20
36

Subject to further discussions with neighbouring authorities: Route

21 (in 2016)

The proposals to change bus services, which are currently subsidised by City of York Council will go to a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday 6 January.

The Council is aiming to reduce bus subsidies by around £200,000. This compares to the £700,000 abortive expenditure that it incurred during the Lendal Bridge closure. The aim of the latter had been to increase bus usage.

There has been no consultation with passengers over the plan and the report makes no attempt to offer alternatives for those who do not have private transport.

In the past the Council has promoted dial a ride and similar services to provide a basic link on low use bus routes.

Unfortunately use of taxis may also prove to be expensive for older people since Labour withdrew of the tokens/taxi card alternative to having a bus pass

If approved, the service changes could be implemented from April 2015.
(more…)

No new approach from Labour in York

Those looking for a change of approach from the “new” Labour leadership on the York Council will be disappointed by the content of reports being circulated with next weeks Council agendas.

Having already broken the long standing convention that no party political opinions should be published in Council documentation, both the outgoing Leader and Deputy Leader have produced reports which criticise their opponents or seeking to blame the Coalition for all the ills of the world.

So much then for any attempt at making a fresh start or reaching consensus. Some at least want to continue the confrontational approach which was rejected so comprehensively by electors in the October by-election

Overgrown garage area

One report even seeks to blame the government for a reduction in the number of people registered to vote in the City!

More significantly it continues to turn a blind eye to the deteriorating condition of the infrastructure (right) on many Council estates in the City.

Cllr Alexander sadly has written his own epitaph by claiming “Liberal Democrats want no Local Plan or one that would fail Government requirements” In reality, a Local Plan agreed in 2011 which Labour tinkered with and then withdraw.

Liberal Democrats want a Local Plan which respects both the priorities of the City’s population and which seeks to preserve the unique qualities of the City. Labour’s plan to expand the size of the City by over 20% during the next 15 years satisfied neither of the tests.

Failure to produce a Local Plan which could attract the support of both the Council and the people of the City is a poor legacy to leave to your successor.

How many Labour Councillors does it take to change a light bulb?

Two Cabinet members are to be summoned to a meeting on 11^th December to decide whether to include the Punch Bowl in on a list of properties subject to an article 4 direction.

A meeting in October rejected the request even though designation would only require any proposed change of use to be subject to a formal planning application.

The Cabinet members for Planning and for Finance are now being asked to remove permitted development rights by CAMRA who are backed by a 1200 signature petition.

Bus service cuts – no consultation planned

Residents will have to wait until early January before finding out which local bus services Labour plan to cut. A decision meeting would have aired the issue was to have taken place on 11^th December.

The issue has now been referred to a Cabinet meeting scheduled for 6^th January 2015.

The Council has made it clear that they are not proposing to consult with passengers likely to be affected by any cuts.

Overnight closure of Green Lane Thursday 13 November 2014

Bus Service Updates – Front Street area

Route Diversions
Area: Green Lane Acomb
Cause: Emergency Works
Duration: Thursday 13th November 18:00-23:00

Dates: Thursday 13th November
Times: 18:00 ” 23:00

Due to emergency works, Green Lane will be closed on the times and dates above.
To Acomb; Normal route to Cornlands Road, then right on to Gale Lane, left to Tudor Road, turn at roundabout and bus to terminate at Acomb Hotel.
From Acomb Hotel, normal route.
Stops not served; Front Street, Green Lane
Additional stops; Tudor Road