First and City of York Council have celebrated 20-years of successful partnership providing one of the best Park-&-Ride networks in the United Kingdom.
On the 5th November 1994, First began operating
park-and-ride bus services from Grimston Bar and Askham Bar. Over 20-years the service has grown to six sites with 4-million journeys a year. During
that time the service, which started with DAF SB220 single deckers, now
uses Optare Versa battery-electrics on one of the routes.
The latest developments include the
opening of two new sites in June at Askham Bar and Poppleton Bar.
Customers using the new Poppleton Bar site can take advantage of the
latest technology with a fully electric fleet and free on-board Wi-Fi.
As well as being one of the first
operators to provide simple and convenient smartcard payment, First also
introduced articulated-buses to increase capacity as the park-and-ride
service became more popular.
Cllr David Levene, Cabinet Member for
Transport, said: “Through these ongoing bus improvements across the city
and our strong partnership working, our aim is to increase passenger
numbers by 18% by 2015.”
A further selection of buses used specifically on the services, can now be viewed on the new Focus Flickr site by clicking here
A further selection of buses used specifically on the services, can now be viewed on the new Focus Flickr site by clicking here