City of York Council drop in event regarding new city centre bus shuttle service proposals

City of York Council will be holding a drop in event on 28th and 29th January at the Hilton Hotel, to outline proposals for a new city centre shuttle bus service

City of York Council will be holding a drop in event on 28th and 29th January at the Hilton Hotel, to outline proposals for a new city centre shuttle bus service. From 11am until 4pm officers will be on hand to talk through the bus shuttle service proposals, including the possible routes and the types of vehicles which could be used.

The proposal to introduce a shuttle service was identified in the York City Centre Active Travel Access Study with the report outlining the impacts of removing the footstreets exemption that had allowed Blue Badge holders access.

It is hoped that some of the buses which could be used for the shuttle service, in both footstreets and the wider highway network, will be available to view during the exhibition days.

The proposal to introduce a shuttle service was initially identified in the York City Centre Active Travel Access Study (October 2021).

The report outlined the impacts of removing the footstreets exemption that had allowed Blue Badge holders access to footstreets.

It also suggested the council should explore options for a city centre bus shuttle service, alongside the other measures such as benches, changes to pavement café licences etc which are being progressed already.

The council has explored some of the shuttle bus options and this exhibition provides an overview of them.

There are many potential options for a bus shuttle route through the footstreets of York. The aims that were considered when drawing up these options were:

• Providing access to footstreets: The service should enable users to get to as many of the places they need to go within the footstreets as possible
• Linking footstreets to car parking: The service must provide a link between the footstreets and Blue Badge parking bays outside of the footstreets, including on-street and off-street bays
• Linking footstreets to public transport stops and stations: The service would ideally link to the railway station and key bus stops including Park and Ride stops
• User friendly: The route should be easy to understand
• A frequent, cost-effective service: The bus should run frequently so users don’t have to wait a long time for it. The service should also be affordable in the long-term

The council has commissioned an external consultancy called Steer to develop the options and will use the feedback during the event and consultation as part of these further proposals.

Anyone unable to attend the drop-in session will also be able to complete the consultation and provide feedback: Have your say in current consultations – City of York Council