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

Proposed bus service cuts

Services withdrawn fully: Routes

Partial reductions: Routes

Subject to further discussions with neighbouring authorities: Route

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.
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Bus use in York stable but fears for subsidised services grow

Some park and ride sites to operate free service on Boxing Day

Labour Councillors have announced that they will be considering reducing subsidised bus services in the City at a meeting which will be held on 11th December.

Labour were criticised during the recent Westfield by election for keeping secret their plans to reduce services like the number 13A which serves the Hamilton Drive area.

There has so far been no consultation on the proposals which will seek to reduce the annual £800,000 spend by the Council on sustaining off peak bus services and those to remoter parts of the City.

The latest crisis reflects problems which started to develop when Labour took control of the Council in 2011.

Bus service usage figures at Nov 2014 2

 

They concentrated their efforts on scrapping the popular (with passengers) ftr service but failed to put anything in its place. Routes were chopped and changed with stability only achieved during the last 12 months.

Now even that seems to be under threat.

Bus service usage peaked at 12 million passenger journeys with the introduction of the ftr in 2006 before declining last year to 10.4 million.

Overall bus usage has held up with a gradual increase in the numbers using Park and Ride services which themselves peaked last year at 4.4 million.

 Further increases are expected this year with the opening of the larger Askham Bar site and the new service from Poppleton Bar.

NB. The Council has announced it’s Christmas Park and Ride services.

A late night shopping service on all six Park&Ride routes will operate every Thursday, with the last bus leaving the city centre on all routes at around 9.30pm (for exact timings visit http://www.itravelyork.info/).

The first extended service will run from the 20 November ahead of the biggest Christmas market in York’s calendar – St Nicholas Fair starting on 27 November.

In addition to this, passengers will also be able to take advantage again of the, now traditional,  FREE travel on Boxing Day on the three key P&R routes which will be operating.

Three Park & Ride services will operate on Boxing Day:

  • Askham Bar (white line – route 3) – First bus at 7am from the site, last bus back from Tower Street at 6.42pm
  • Designer Outlet (red line – route 7) – First bus at 7am from the site, last bus back from Rougier Street at 6.40pm
  • Monks Cross (silver line – route 9) – First bus at 7am from the site, last bus back from Rougier Street at 6.43pm

All three services will operate at a 15 minute frequency throughout the day and will be FREE for all passengers (and will stop at all usual stops along the route).

To find out more about the offer or to find the best bus route through York, try out the council’s new i-Travel York online Journey Planner at http://www.itravelyork.info/