North Yorkshire bus services face 'grave situation' - transport boss

Councillor Keane Duncan says bus services face unprecedented pressure due to higher costs and lower passenger numbers

Bus services in North Yorkshire face "a really grave situation", the county's transport boss has said

The comment by Keane Duncan, responsible for North Yorkshire's road network, came as a meeting heard many commercial bus services could be downgraded or cancelled.

Bus services faced "unprecedented pressure", Councillor Duncan told a North Yorkshire County Council meeting.

Higher costs and reduced passenger numbers were to blame, he said.

Seven months ago, the government rejected the authority's bid for a £116m share of the Bus Back Better initiative to improve bus services outside London.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Duncan, North Yorkshire County Council's executive member for highways and transportation, said services across the county were at risk of cuts or cancellation.

"It is important to point out that the bus network in North Yorkshire is facing a really grave situation," he said.

"I think unprecedented pressure as a result of reduced passenger numbers, as a result of higher costs."

However, Mr Duncan added there was "positive progress", with the prospect of government help so bus operators could cap single adult fares at £2 per journey.

The authority was working to introduce this between January and March next year, he said.

During the meeting, Pateley Bridge Liberal Democrat councillor Andrew Murday warned that residents in his area faced having only two bus services a day.

Mr Duncan said the authority had attracted £15m government funding for active travel in recent years, which he described as "a real success for us as an authority".

North Yorkshire council has previously invested £1.6m into subsidising bus services in the county following country-wide cuts to public transport.