A top transport consultant – and former Sheriff of York – has devised an integrated public transport plan for the whole of York and North Yorkshire that he believes could transform the way we get around the region.
Jonathan Tyler’s proposals - produced with the help of Swiss transport-planning software - call for:
- integrated bus and train operations planned as a whole network across the region
- frequent services on key urban and inter-urban routes from early morning until late evening, every day of the week
- supplementary services for every neighbourhood and village closely coordinated with the key routes
- connectivity between trains and buses
- high standards of reliability and punctuality, helped by widespread bus priority measures in urban areas
- a simple system of good-value fares and concessions.
Mr Tyler has even drawn up a clear, colour-coded transport map for the region – not dissimilar to the London Underground map – showing all the key routes and intersections.
And he believes that now – with the region’s first-ever directly-elected Mayor due to take office in May and a new York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority taking shape - is the time to begin planning for it.
His proposals have won the support of York Central’s Labour MP Rachael Maskell.
She said: “If York and North Yorkshire are serious about addressing regional disparity, the economic opportunity of the whole region and to provide an integrated, sustainable transport system, which is well connected and reliable, then the future leader of the new authority would be wise to heed the expertise with which Jonathan Tyler has set out his proposals.”
Mr Tyler - a former senior British Rail manager turned transport consultant specialising in timetable planning, who served as Sheriff of York in 2016-17 – drafted the transport ‘manifesto’ on behalf of Passenger Transport Networks, York following meetings and discussions with community organisations and transport forums across the region.
He unveiled it to some local MPs and members of the shadow combined authority, and is sending copies to all the mayoral candidates.
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He admits that the planned transport network would be expensive to introduce – which is why he is suggesting it could be brought in in stages.
But he says there would be key economic, social and environmental benefits – not least in enabling people without cars to travel easily across the region using public transport.
That would be good for business, as well as a way of reducing social isolation in rural areas, he says.
And he says whoever is elected as the region’s first directly-elect Mayor in May will have the power and the budget needed to at least start to implement such a scheme.
“Now is a great time to be considering something like this,” he said.
“The new Mayor and new combined authority will have quite considerable power.”
Why do we need a new, integrated public transport plan for the region?
Mr Tyler claims it is ‘essential’ that the public transport network across York and North Yorkshire should be transformed.
In his manifesto report, he says: “Incomplete bus and train networks, ill-timed connections, slow and unreliable journeys, particularly due to heavy congestion and a lack of bus priorities, infrequent services and timetables without evening and weekend journeys, do not afford people with a car …sufficient convenience for them to use the services offered.
“Those without a car must attempt to shape their lives around whatever services exist, and in many places that is increasingly difficult.”
His report continues: “Central to future transport policy must therefore be measures to so improve public transport that a significant proportion of journeys are transferred from cars to buses and trains, both of which are more energy efficient and less polluting.”
His proposed transport system for the region involves a network of rail and bus routes linking major centres such as York, Harrogate, Scarborough, Malton, Northallerton and Darlington, with bus routes also linking regularly to smaller rural centres.
It says services should run hourly to a regular timetable between major centres – and two-hourly, also to a regular timetable, to smaller centres, with services continuing late into the evening.
Crucially, all services should be carefully timetabled and integrated, so as to avoid long delays waiting for connections, he says.
His transport map for the region shows rail routes in green and bus routes in red.
Major transport hubs with railway stations, such as York and Darlington, are in green, with medium-sized hubs (Scarborough, Harrogate and Northallerton) in yellow and smaller hubs (such as Malton and Knaresborough) in brown.
His proposed transport network stretches from Doncaster and Selby in the south up to Darlington and Newcastle in the north.
Responding to Mr Tyler’s proposals, York Central MP Rachael Maskell said: “I would urge businesses and communities to really engage with these plans.
“Too many people are cut off because they cannot access or rely on the fragmented transport system across our region.”
Cllr Pete Kilbane, York’s executive member for transport, added: “We welcome all input into the transport debate in York and thank Jonathan Tyler for this work. These proposals are a valuable contribution to that debate.
“We’ve committed to reduce driven miles by 20 per cent in York to reduce congestion and improve air quality as the city prepares to expand by thousands of new homes in the years ahead.
“That will require an integrated public transport system that gives people genuinely affordable and reliable options for getting into and around York or the city will soon clog up.
“The (directly-elected) Mayor (for York and North Yorkshire) will play a key role in determining what the transport network looks like and so all candidates should give these proposals serious consideration.”
Cllr Carl Les, the leader of North Yorkshire Council, said any integrated transport network for York and North Yorkshire would need to be integrated ‘across the whole of Yorkshire’ and beyond to be really effective.
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