Council Allocates Additional Funds for York Bus Service

York City Council has approved additional funding to sustain a vital school bus service, with a significant financial commitment aimed at improving its reliability. The council will invest an extra £16,000 to ensure the continuation of bus route 13, which operates from Copmanthorpe to Haxby, until the end of the school term in July.

Originally, the funding was set to expire at the end of May, but mounting concerns from schools and the bus operator Connexions about the service's reliability prompted the council to extend the support. This route is crucial for students attending Joseph Rowntree, Huntingdon, All Saints, and York College.

The additional funding, as reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), comes in response to Connexions reducing the number of buses on the route from four to three in October due to rising operating costs and a decline in passenger numbers since the pandemic. The extra funds will allow Connexions more time to devise a more reliable timetable and address the ongoing issues.

The council's decision focuses on ensuring that busy areas such as Flaxman Croft and West Nooks receive adequate service, with buses running every half hour until July 21. This extension aims to stabilize the service for the community, particularly for the students who rely on it daily.

Council officials acknowledged that the reliability problems affecting the entire route could not have been predicted when the initial funding decision was made in February. The swift allocation of funds was deemed necessary to prevent most of Copmanthorpe from losing its bus service entirely, which would have significant repercussions for students' travel.