The council has, without warning and just days before Christmas, launched a brief consultation on proposed changes to some bus services which, if approved, would come into effect from April 2024.
The changes are a result of a ‘behind closed doors’ review of the bus network that the council has undertaken, which councillors and residents have not been able to input into. The review has taken account of how well services are currently used, but apparently has not considered how services could be changed to attract more passengers.
Of most relevance to Dringhouses & Woodthorpe ward is the proposal to merge into one contract the 12 and 14 services. The 12 is currently operated by East Yorkshire and the 14 (which is the late-night service) is operated by Transdev. The information released by the council suggests that no overall service frequency reduction is anticipated and all stops will continue to be served, however minor timetable changes would be required.
It’s not clear how the two contracts would be ‘merged’ – presumably by issuing an invitation to tender? Residents will be concerned at the possibility of East Yorkshire being stripped of the contract to run the service, as feedback has been overwhelmingly positive since they took over the route in April 2023.
Some of the other service changes are likely to affect local residents who travel further afield within York, and details can be found HERE
The consultation ends on 17th January, and the online questionnaire is available at www.york.gov.uk/consultations It is understood that paper copies will be available in all Explore libraries.
Following the brief period of consultation, the feedback will be taken to an Executive meeting in late January, though it’s not clear how this will work as the consultation closes on the same day that the papers for the 25 January Executive meeting would have to be published!
Drop-in sessions are also being held at the Friends Meeting House on Friargate on Monday 8 January (2pm-5pm) and Wednesday 10 January (2pm-7pm). Sadly the council has decided not to come to local communities to speak to residents who will be affected by these changes, and there seems to be no plan to write to affected residents who are not online.