Transport in York to be overhauled

Date: 22/11/2012

Changes to public transport in York have been agreed at a meeting of councillors, with much emphasis on the city’s buses, it has emerged.

A city centre bus station may be created and the way that bus companies operate given an overhaul with new targets and guidelines.

These attempts to improve public transport will cover areas such as ticketing, vehicle standards, pollution and better passenger information.

The measures were approved by Councillor Dave Merrett, Cabinet Member for Transport at the City of York Council, in a private meeting recently.

A budget of £6 million has been set aside for the scheme, with £2.9 million having come from the Department for Transport’s Better Bus Area Fund.

This has been supplemented with £1.6 million from the council and further contributions from local bus operators.

In order to set out a benchmark for the standards expected to be reached, the council intends to draw up a policy statement for operators to adhere to.

Other changes to be put in place will include improvements to road layouts in York and amendments to charges issued for parking cars in the city centre.

Councillor Merrett said the council hoped to significantly increase the number of people travelling by bus over the next two years.

A spokeswoman for the council said that emphasis is being given to building a relationship with bus operators so that a unified approach can improve services for passengers.

Councillors are hoping that by encouraging more people to use buses the levels of pollution in the city will be reduced.

In order for this to happen bus services need to be seen as reliable and good value for money so that people forgo their cars in favour of public transport.

Councillor Merrett said: “These proposals will help to build on our existing relationship with local bus operators to drive improvements on York’s bus network.”

Posted by Nick Anderson

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