Over 20 routes to benefit from new bus services

The investment in bus services comes with a “use it or lose it” warning, the council says

Extra bus services in North Yorkshire which will be paid for using £3.5m from the scrapped northern legs of the HS2 rail project have been given the go-ahead.

The decision by North Yorkshire Council will mean additional buses on more than 20 routes from Scarborough to the Dales on both weekdays and weekends.

There will also be a £1 single flat-rate fare for teenagers, run separately from the £2 flat rate for all passengers which is available across the whole country.

Keane Duncan, senior Conservative councillor in charge of transport, said bus passenger numbers were now back to around 90% of pre-pandemic levels.

The new services were agreed by the council's executive board after close work between the authority and bus operators, Mr Duncan said.

They would include earlier, later and more frequent buses, he added.

"We’re also proposing to invest in more customer service staff at the busiest stations - and in marketing,” he said.

'Use it or lose it'

The money for the services was only available for a year and the extra buses could be withdrawn if they were not being used by enough passengers, the council said.

Gareth Dadd, the council’s Conservative deputy leader, said the government would not continue to fund services which were not sustainable.

Buses serving rural areas would be those that would be most at risk, he said.

"The message – and I very much hope it comes from this executive and from our officers when we are marketing and campaigning for service use – is that very strong message of ‘use it or lose it," Mr Dadd added.

"This is a trial. Money will not follow empty buses."

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