York Park and Ride scores 9 out of 10 in vote of confidence from customers
- 90% or more satisfied with service, journey time and cleanliness
- 95% would recommend to a friend
- 87% are happy with reliability and believe the service is cheaper than using car parking in the city
The York Park and Ride operated by First Bus in partnership with City of York Council has been given an overwhelming vote of confidence by customers.
In the latest survey of users, nine out of 10 (93%) said they are satisfied with the service and with journey times into the city. The average journey times for trips between each P&R site and the first city centre stop are:
- Poppleton – Clifford Street: 20 minutes
- Rawcliffe – Theatre Royal/Museum Street: 20 minutes
- Monk’s Cross – Stonebow: 9 minutes
- Grimston Bar – Piccadilly: 17 minutes
- Designer Outlet – Clifford Street: 16 minutes
- Askham Bar – Tower Street: 18 minutes
Cleanliness of buses and willingness to recommend the service scored even more highly, with 96% agreeing buses are ‘clean and tidy’ and 95% confirming they would encourage others to use Park and Ride.
Kayleigh Ingham, Commercial Director of First Bus in North & West Yorkshire, said: “These are stellar results and recognise the effort our team makes every day to deliver reliable journeys, and the investment we continue to make in the network.
“We work closely with City of York Council’s transport team to review frequencies, fares and other improvements. It is clear from these results that customers are loving the bus and we will do all we can to keep their appreciation and win over new users.”
Almost 90% of people said they were satisfied with the reliability of service and that the Park and Ride is cheaper than using car parking in the city.
Cllr Kate Ravilious, Executive Member of Transport at City of York Council, said: “It’s fantastic to see such strong support for our Park and Ride service. We’ll continue working with First Bus to make Park and Ride an even better option for residents and visitors alike.
“We’ll also be working with the Mayoral Combined Authority to link the Park and Ride service to travel across the region, and we’ll be designing our Movement & Place Plan to help buses bypass traffic congestion, making them the smooth, clean and reliable option for travel in and out of York.”
More than a third (35%) of non-users said the fact that the network is fully zero emission buses could influence their travel habits in future.
“Together with the council we are looking at ways to convince infrequent users and car drivers to consider using the service more often,” added Kayleigh Ingham. “We firmly believe there is good opportunity to grow our commuter customers and encourage more people to think of leaving their car on the outskirts of the city. In doing so, this helps reduce carbon emissions in the city and create a better environment for everyone.”
Picture captions:
Cllr Kate Ravilious with David White, Operations Manager of First York (centre) and driver Clive Sutton.
Cllr Kate Ravilious (centre) with Customer Experience Advisor Rita Forshaw, David White, Operations Manager of First York (centre) and driver Clive Sutton.
Ends
Notes to editors
Survey conducted by Human8 during March and April 2024.
York Park and Ride is now the UK’s biggest all-electric Park and Ride bus network.
The fleet of zero emission buses saves more than 800 tonnes of CO2e every year.
In 2023 the Park and Ride carried almost 4 million passengers.
Notes to editors
Media enquiries to Richard Harrison, PR Manager, First Bus North & West Yorkshire 07973 668116 richard.m.harrison@firstbus.co.uk
About First Bus
At First Bus, we are on a mission to grow bus usage. We will get behind initiatives that move people out of cars and onto bus.
We are one of the UK’s largest bus operators, delivering over a million passenger journeys every day for the communities we serve.
Transforming our business for the better, we are putting our people and customers at the heart of all we do.
We are all about making journeys easier for our customers, which is why we were the first national bus operator to rollout Tap On, Tap Off payment technology across our entire UK fleet of 4500 buses. Our First Bus app has also been voted ‘best in class’ amongst UK bus operators.
First Bus is committed to operating a zero-emission bus fleet by 2035. By March 2024, 15% of our will fleet will comprise Zero Emission Buses (ZEBs).
We are passionate about giving back to the communities we serve, which is why we are helping local businesses to progress their own decarbonisation journeys with access to our charging hubs while our buses are on the road.
We also operate the Aircoach network in Ireland, Specialist Passenger Solutions, First Travel Solutions and Ensignbus.
First Bus is a division of FirstGroup. Find more information on First Bus here: https://news.firstbus.co.uk/