York park and ride

York Park and Ride is a park and ride system operated by City of York Council, in the city of York. It is the largest in the United Kingdom with 4,970 car spaces. There are six park and ride sites across the city, these being located at: Askham Bar, Grimston Bar, Monks Cross, Poppleton Bar, Rawcliffe Bar and York Designer Outlet.[1]

York Park and Ride
An articulated First York Mercedes-Benz Citaro, seen at Rawcliffe Bar in April 2012, branded in the former York Park and Ride livery.
ParentCity of York Council
Founded1990 (30 years ago)
Service areaYork
Service typePark and Ride
Routes7
Hubs
Fleet
OperatorFirst York
Websitehttps://www.itravelyork.info/park-and-ride

History

The first park and ride site was established on Tadcaster Road in 1990. Since then, the network has expanded, and now serves six park and ride sites around the city of York.[2]

Bus services have been operated by First York, under contract to the City of York Council, since the late 1990s.[3]

In June 2016, the York Park and Ride contract was put up for tender. However, as none of the bids met the council's criteria, First York was granted a twelve month extension, until January 2018, with a fresh tender process to commence.[4][5][6]

Subsequently, First York made a successful bid to retain the York Park and Ride contract, and is now contracted to operate the service until February 2025.[7][8][9][10]

Buses operate frequently, with a frequency of up to every 10 minutes. There are seven routes, forming part of First York's network of local bus services.[11]

The service operates with a flat fare (currently £3.30 return) between all park and ride sites and York city centre, as well as offering a range of season tickets, which are valid for use on all First York services.[2]

As of March 2020, the following York Park and Ride services, operated by First York, are:

  • Green Line 2: Rawcliffe Bar Park and Ride to York City Centre[12]
  • White Line 3: Askham Bar Park and Ride to York City Centre[13]
  • Red Line 7: York Designer Outlet to York City Centre[14]
  • Yellow Line 8: Grimston Bar Park and Ride to York City Centre[15]
  • Silver Line 9: Monks Cross Park and Ride to York City Centre[16]
  • Turquoise Line 59: Poppleton Bar Park and Ride to York City Centre[17]
  • Hospital Shuttle Bus: Rawcliffe Bar Park and Ride to York Hospital[18]

Fleet and operations

All services are operated from a single depot, located at James Street in York. Vehicles are in the process of being re-branded in to the new the dark blue and gold York Park and Ride livery.

Vehicles were formerly painted in a silver colour scheme, with the fully electric Optare Versa vehicles also featuring green detailing. Prior to this, vehicles were painted in a variation of First's magenta and blue Barbie livery, featuring the York Park and Ride logo.

York Park and Ride services are currently operated by a combination of Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 (York Hospital Shuttle Bus), Wright Eclipse Urban bodied Volvo B7RLE (routes 7 and 8), articulated Mercedes-Benz Citaro (routes 2 and 3), and fully electric Optare Versa (routes 9 and 59).[19][20][21]

Prior to the current fleet, York Park and Ride services operated using a combination of Wright Eclipse Metro bodied Volvo B7L and articulated Wright Eclipse Fusion bodied Volvo B7LA – the latter of which left the fleet following the delivery of articulated Mercedes-Benz Citaro vehicles in 2008.

A fleet of 21 electric double-deck Optare MetroDeckers are due to be introduced on to York Park and Ride services, with these being originally scheduled for delivery back in October 2019.[22][23][24]

References
  1. Holley, Mel (18 June 2014). "Fully electric York park-and-ride site means network is now UK's largest". routeone. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  2. "York Park & Ride". First York. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  3. First awarded Park & Ride contract for a further three years Travel York 16 August 2013
  4. Tender process opens to bid for York's Park & Ride service contract Travel York 16 June 2016
  5. Tender launched for York's park and ride Bus & Coach Professional 17 June 2016
  6. Park & Ride extension agreed The Press 14 October 2016
  7. Council and First to extend successful Park & Ride partnership City of York Council 14 June 2017
  8. First Bus to extend successful Park & Ride partnership in York FirstGroup 15 June 2017
  9. "First York P&R contract renewed" Coach & Bus Week issue 1296 20 June 2017 page 8
  10. First confirmed as York P&R winner Buses issue 749 August 2017 page 7
  11. Park and Ride City of York Council
  12. "Timetable - Green Line - Service 2 Rawcliffe Bar to City Centre". ITravelYork. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  13. "Timetable - White Line - Service 3 Askham Bar to City Centre". ITravelYork. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  14. "Timetable - Red Line - Service 7 Designer Outlet to City Centre". ITravelYork. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  15. "Timetable - Grimston Bar to City Centre". ITravelYork. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  16. "Timetable - Silver Line - Service 9 Monks Cross to City Centre". ITravelYork. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  17. "Timetable - Turquoise Line - Service 59 Poppleton Bar to City Centre". ITravelYork. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  18. "Hospital Park & Ride". ITravelYork. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  19. Electric Versas for York - First operating six Optare Versa EVs on new Park and Ride Bus & Coach Buyer 20 June 2014
  20. More Versa EVs for York P+R Bus & Coach Buyer 26 May 2015
  21. More electric Versas for York Optare 19 May 2015
  22. "York To Boast One of the Biggest Fleets of Double Deck Electric Buses Outside of London". Optare. 25 March 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  23. First York orders 21 electric deckers for park-and-ride Route One 27 March 2019
  24. York set for 21-strong Optare Metrodecker fleet Coach & Bus Week issue 1387 2 April 2019 page 8

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