More questions have been raised over whether North Yorkshire’s on-demand bus scheme is value for taxpayers’ money after it was revealed it costs twice as much to run than regular services.
A North Yorkshire County Council meeting on Thursday heard YorBus costs the authority around £18 per passenger journey, while normal timetabled services cost £9 on average.
The pilot scheme was recently extended for another year in the Ripon, Masham and Bedale areas, and allows passengers to book services via an app.
In total, YorBus cost the council £229,000 last year, and another £230,000 has been set aside for the remainder of the trial until June 2023.
At Thursday’s meeting of the Skipton and Ripon Area Constituency Committee, Settle councillor David Staveley said he was concerned about the costs and that taxpayers outside the trial area were not seeing any benefits.
He said: “There are 850 active riders for YorBus in a population of several hundred thousand and I’m sure the rest of us who aren’t benefiting from this service might not think it is the best use of taxpayers’ money.
“I’m just a bit worried that it sounds like a blank cheque.”
The council launched YorBus to provide public transport in poorly-served areas and has repeatedly stated its ambition to roll-out the scheme across the county.
A total of 13,426 passenger journeys were completed in the first year which transport officer Andy Clarke said went “beyond our hopes”. However, campaigners have previously argued that the council should be setting much higher ambitions.
Mr Clarke told Thursday’s meeting that passenger numbers were increasing and that the costs of running the service were “coming down all the time”.
He added: “YorBus is attracting a different customer base. This is not just people transferring off existing local bus services – it seems to be new customers coming along as it definitely offers something different.
“What we will be looking to do is reduce the cost figure for YorBus and then make some more detailed comparisons with other lower density rural services.
“We very much need to understand what we can get out of YorBus and how well it can perform.”
YorBus uses two 14-seater buses which are wheelchair accessible.
Its fares were recently increased in August with a single journey costing £2 for adults and £1 for a child, while under-fives travel free and concessionary bus passes can also be used.
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