8:00am Thursday 2nd September 2010
A REVIEW of York’s local bus services could be launched to ensure passengers do not lose out when operators sign new contracts next year.
City of York Council leader Andrew Waller is expected to rubber-stamp a recommendation to look at the area’s public transport network after a 529-name petition was drawn up calling for fare freezes, an end to service cuts by First York and a fresh analysis of routes.
The review, which will be discussed at a meeting next week, would be aimed at ensuring villages on the edge of York have sufficient access to buses, with most of the contracts for running services in the city coming up for renewal next autumn.
A report by the authority’s principal transport planner, Andrew Bradley, said the council only had control over the area the review would look at, though it attempted to influence decisions over fares and service reductions.
Coun James Alexander, the council’s Labour group leader, who organised the petition, said: “Increases in fares have coincided with a fall in bus patronage of 600,000 people between 2008/09 and 2009/10. Price and quality are contributing factors to congestion as many of the falling patronage will have got in their cars."
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