Updated proposals for the Rougier Route bus priority trial will be considered at a meeting of the council’s Executive next week (7 July).
Updated proposals for the Rougier Route bus priority trial, which aims to increase bus reliability and reduce bus journey times for more than 40 routes across York, will be considered at a meeting of the council’s Executive next week (7 July).
It comes after three rounds of public engagement ranging from citywide discussions to meetings with the residents and businesses in the area, and other key stakeholders.
At the meeting councillors will be presented with the feedback from that public engagement work and will review the proposals, which have been updated as a result of what people told us.
One of a number of significant investments in the city’s bus network, the Rougier Route trial would see a bus gate and bus lane installed on George Hudson Street to lower Micklegate.
Councillor Kate Ravilious, Executive Member for Transport, said; “The discussion at Executive is an important step in the process towards our goals of making York a more accessible, healthier and more affordable city. We have made great strides in recent years supporting people taking the bus, including reduced bus fares for young people; installation of over 250 individual improvements to bus shelters, and increased operating hours for all six Park and Ride bus services. But now we need to consider how we deliver more reliable, more convenient and more attractive bus services.
We are immensely grateful to everyone who took part in the consultation and gave constructive, helpful feedback. We’ve used this feedback to shape the updated proposals which are being discussed at Executive”.
In addition to modelling data, a full report and full consultation report, Executive will be asked to consider four recommendations from officers. These will all be discussed by the Council’s Executive on Tuesday 7 July.
The options being put forward for discussion are:
Option One: Proceed with the Rougier Route proposals from January 2027 using an experimental traffic regulation order and allowing Blue Badge Holders and Hackney Carriages exemptions to the George Hudson Street and lower Micklegate bus gates. Hours of operation to be 7am to 11pm. Recommended.
Option Two: Proceed with the Rougier Route proposals using a permanent traffic regulation order. Not recommended
Option Three: Implement the Rougier Route with a sub option permutation of Executive’s choosing. Not recommended.
Option Four: Do not proceed with the Rougier Route proposals. Not recommended.
The options have been developed following extensive consultation, which is also reviewed in the report. In summary;
- 57% of all respondents agreed that encouraging more people to travel by bus will reduce congestion
- 58.44% said our proposals would, or maybe would, help York’s bus services run more reliably
- 79.54% said York is ‘quite negatively’ or ‘very negatively’ affected by traffic congestion
- Within this, the highest response to ‘very negatively’ came those aged 25 to 39 (65.5%)
- Nearly a third (29.84%) of respondents have had to take one bus earlier than they need, to get to where they’re going on time
- 38.8% of disabled respondents said that work is the most important reason they use the bus
- 83.3% of respondents aged 16-24 said that they felt that encouraging more people to go by bus would help reduce congestion.
The papers for the Executive meeting can be viewed here: https://democracy.york.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=733&MId=15603
Notes to Editors
A bus gate or bus lane is a short stretch of road which only permitted vehicles can use during the hours of operation. In York, these are managed via Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras; there will be no physical barriers, instead a series of signs, road markings and a communications campaign to help raise awareness.
The Rougier Route proposals would deliver:
- A bus lane on George Hudson Street: private cars would not be able to use the southbound section of George Hudson Street beyond Tanner Row during hours of bus lane operation. Any driver travelling wanting to access the Micklegate area from Station Road would need to turn right on to Tanner Row, complete a loop down Micklegate and exit back on to George Hudson Street northbound
- A bus gate in both directions on the eastern end of Micklegate (the stretch from George Hudson Street to the North St / Skeldergate traffic lights): private cars would not be able to use this stretch of road during hours of bus gate operation.
- Micklegate from Micklegate Bar to the junction with George Hudson Street would become one way with private cars only able to use the street going eastbound (away from the Bar), and only allowed to turn left onto George Hudson Street
- Cycle facilities for cyclists to use Toft Green, Tanner Row and Micklegate in both directions
- Potential for installing more Blue Badge parking in the area. All existing Blue Badge parking would remain available and accessible
- Future opportunity to repurpose highway on Micklegate for other uses such as pavement cafes, street trees, EV charging, cycle parking, seating and Blue Badge parking. This will be led by the local community.
- Improvements to pavements, bus shelters and junctions for cyclists and pedestrians
- A future commitment to deliver a bus turning loop at York Railway Station to allow services a faster turnaround in the city centre, further reducing bus journey time
- Future opportunity to introduce a 20mph speed limit.
- And benefit from complimentary improvements at P&R sites including overnight parking at Askham Bar and Rawcliffe Bar.
York’s Bus Service Improvement Plan
In April 2022, the Department for Transport (DfT) made an indicative funding award of £17.3m to City of York Council in respect of its Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP).
York’s BSIP sets out a new vision to help improve York’s bus network, aiming to make it more inclusive, accessible, attractive and welcoming – becoming a source of pride for the city and its residents.
The key objectives in the BSIP are:
- Upgrades to bus infrastructure, including stops, shelters and real-time information screens
- New bus priority measures
- Improved ticketing and cheaper fares for young persons
- Improved bus information
- Improvements to local bus service levels
- Restarting the Poppleton Bar Park & Ride service
- Upgrading Park & Ride sites to include overnight parking and better connections to longer-distance bus services (in delivery)
- Proposals for new developments to include provision of high-quality bus infrastructure and services