City of York Council has been awarded £17.36m over three years to support the development of key bus schemes and initiatives across the city.
The council submitted a multimillion-pound bid to the UK government to help make major improvements to bus provision last year, as detailed in York’s Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP).
The BSIP is a document required by the Department for Transport (DfT) following the publication of National Bus Strategy in March last year.
York’s BSIP aims to make the city’s bus network more inclusive, accessible, attractive and welcoming. Key objectives within the plan include:
- Improving the frequency of bus services, providing more routes and supporting the reintroduction of park and ride services from Poppleton Bar following its use as a Covid-19 testing centre
- Better, cheaper tickets for young people, and better tickets that are valid for travel on all bus services in York
- Completing the electrification of York’s bus fleet, following the 33 electric buses currently operating in the city
- Providing bus priorities and supporting rapid bus services to new developments around York
- Upgrading York’s Park and Ride network, allowing it to support a wider range of bus services, providing overnight parking at more sites and refurbishing the two oldest sites, at Rawcliffe Bar and Grimston Bar
The council will lead a partnership of bus users and bus operators to develop projects to spend the £17.36m improving bus services across the city, in line with previously-agreed BSIP objectives.
Cllr Andy D’Agorne, deputy leader and executive member for transport, City of York Council, said: “We are delighted to be successful in receiving £17.36mi in funding toward enhancing and developing public transport across the city in partnership with all the service operators. This comes just a week after we were awarded £8.4m for 44 zero-emission busses in the city.
“This is fundamental to achieving the city’s carbon reduction goals while supporting the development strategy set out in the Local Transport Plan. To encourage greater use of the bus network, and sustainable travel routes, our network and bus services must be safe, convenient and attractive to residents, commuters and visitors.”
The council has also asked for funding to provide benches and lighting at more bus stops, provide audio announcements on all buses in York and install 100 more real-time bus information screens across the city.
York’s BSIP, a key supporting document of the council’s new Local Transport Plan, will be reviewed on an annual basis to respond to the changing bus market and to tie in with other policy development.
