YORK bus users have welcomed planned improvements to the service – but fear cuts to services may still be on the way.

City of York Council has announced that there will be a public consultation on its new ‘enhanced partnership’ between the council and local bus operators.

The council has been awarded £17.3 million as part of its bus service improvement plan (BSIP), which could lead to improved bus stops, real-time information screens, an app-based ticket that can be used on all services and cheaper fares for young people.

The city is also to get 44 new electric buses as part of a separate Department for Transport scheme.

But bus usage in York – while in a better position than some Yorkshire areas – is still at about 80 per cent of pre-Covid levels.

The government has been supporting bus companies during the pandemic, but this is expected to be withdrawn by October.

“Once that finishes, then unless ridership is back to pre-Covid levels, it’s going to have an impact on services,” said Graham Collett, vice-chair of York Bus Forum (YBF).

Mr Collett said he feared cuts were being planned.

More than 60 West Yorkshire bus services are at risk of being axed when emergency government funding is cut off in the autumn.

YBF has welcomed the city’s BSIP cash, but the council did initially bid for almost £50 million – meaning some improvements have not been funded, including adding audio-visual equipment to 100 buses which announce the stops.

York last year decided not to pursue a franchising model which would see buses brought back under public control, as is being pursued in Manchester and West Yorkshire.

Instead, the enhanced partnership model is designed to build on the relationship between the council and operators.

While a higher proportion of people in York take the bus compared to the national average, York’s outer villages still suffer from poor connections and there are several areas which do not have any evening or Sunday bus services – because they are not deemed financially viable by private operators.

YBF is calling for an hourly service throughout the day to all parts of the city.

“It’s the network enhancement that we feel is very important, because we’ve got areas of the city that rely on a very poor service coming from North Yorkshire,” Mr Collett said.

He added that there were concerns bus user representation under the new system would be little better than the current system.

A consultation on the enhanced partnership plan runs until September 8.

The council’s deputy leader and executive member for transport Cllr Andy D’Agorne said: “The BSIP funding represents a great chance to drive change through very significant investment and a new, statutory ‘enhanced partnership’ between the council and local bus operators, which sets out the responsibilities of both and makes a commitment to honouring them.

“Now we want to understand the views of the public, and stakeholder organisations, on our draft agreement, before we start the improvement programme.”