Public transport vital for future sustainability of rural communities

COUNCILLORS should ‘not lose sight’ of the sustainability of public transport, heard a meeting of of North Yorkshire Council.

Members of the Skipton and Ripon Area Committee were responding to a report into the ending this month of the council’s on-demand Digital Demand Responsive Bus Service (YOR Bus) which ran in the Ripon area. Members at yesterday’s (Thursday)  meeting held at Skipton Town Hall were told the two year pilot project was to end at the end of June.

Councillor David Staveley (Con, Penyghent) said too much time was wasted on debating public transport and it was time it was accepted people would rather use their cars than buses.

Residents would be horrified he said if they knew how much bus services cost and although he accepted not everyone would agree with him, it was not ‘green’ if no-one used it.

“This should have stopped after one year, it is not green to run a service with only one person on it, most people don’t want to use public transport,” he said.

Cllr Barbara Brodigan (Lib Dem, Ripon) said YorBus had failed, but she did not accept there was no future in public transport. “People use their cars not because they want to, but they have to because public transport is rubbish,” she said.

Cllr Simon Myers (Con, Mid Craven) said he had to disagree with Cllr Staveley and public transport was important to the sustainability of rural communities and whether or not they got more houses built. “We are condemning these villages to death without public transport. We cannot get planning permission to build the houses we need without public transport,” he said.

Cllr Myers added attitudes needed to change towards public bus services. “We know older people have not gone back to public transport post-Covid; we need to encourage people back to using public transport. Sustainability is crucial for our communities. I agree it is not right having buses with one person on it, but lets not lose sight of the sustainability of public transport.”

Story continues

Asked when the last time when he used a bus, Cllr Myers said it had been while in London, whereas at home, he lived ‘in the middle of nowhere’ where there was no bus service.

The YorBus service was launched by North Yorkshire County Council in July 2021 to operate in the Ripon, Bedale and Masham area to offer passengers low-cost journeys on demand.

North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for highways and transport, Cllr Keane Duncan, has said the pilot has provided valuable insights about demand responsive transport in rural areas.

He said: “We launched the YorBus pilot two years ago to enhance our existing public transport network. It has allowed us to gather valuable information about the costs and benefits of running a digital demand responsive bus service.

“While YorBus proved popular with passengers, the service only operates in one part of the county and the cost per journey is significantly higher than the traditional, timetabled bus routes we support. Without sufficient additional funding being available to expand the service so YorBus can benefit residents across North Yorkshire, and with costs per journey remaining so high despite efforts to improve value for money, the pilot will come to an end.”