North Yorkshire’s bus services are in a “mess” after years of underinvestment, the region’s mayor has told councillors.
David Skaith said public transport and active travel had been going in the “wrong direction” when he became Mayor of York and North Yorkshire two years ago and claimed they had not been given sufficient priority for the last 20 years.
His comments to members of North Yorkshire Council’s Richmond area committee come during a ten-week consultation on the Mayor’s first Local Transport Plan, which will guide future investment in buses, rail, roads, walking and cycling.
Mr Skaith told councillors:
“It just frustrated me when I came into this post two years ago to inherit the bus system that we had in place in York and North Yorkshire, particularly in North Yorkshire.”
The Labour mayor described the situation he inherited as a “mess”, saying problems had built up over many years.
He added:
“Buses are a mess in this region, and they’ve been a mess for some time.
“This hasn’t been something that’s born out of last week. This has been an underinvestment into public transport and active travel for 15, 20 years.
“I’m trying to fix that mess, and sometimes it feels like one arm tied behind my back, but I’m doing the bloody best I can to make sure that public transport does work for a region like ours."
Mr Skaith said improvements would require politicians to work together, adding that investment in roads and pothole repairs needed to happen alongside better bus services and active travel.
Mr Skaith said a Local Transport Plan now being consulted on would provide a longer-term framework for improvements.
He said:
“Put politics to one side and understand we’ve got to do buses and active travel particularly better in this county.”
In response to the criticism that North Yorkshire Council and its predecessor county council had underinvested in the bus network, council leader Councillor Carl Les said:
“I think it’s unfair of the mayor to criticise us when we wrestled with the problem of a declining demand for public transport, which then led to increased costs per passenger carried.
“And it was unfair to taxpayers, many of whom made the point to us that they didn’t see why we should be subsidising empty buses.
“However, if the mayor thinks that he has a silver bullet to put this right, well good luck to him.”
Visit www.yorknorthyorks-ca.gov.uk/local-transport-plan-consultation/ to take part in the Local Transport Plan consultation before November 4.
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