Schools bus service gets extended council funding

Funding for a York bus service that takes children to a number of schools has been extended.

The schools, along with bus operator Connexions, had warned York City Council that bus 13, which runs from Copmanthorpe to Haxby, was becoming increasingly unreliable.

The council had initially decided to fund the service until the end of May, but the authority will now extend it until the school term ends in July.

The extra funding will cost the council about £16,000, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

Connexions reduced the number of buses on the route from four to three in October owing to a rise in operating costs and passenger numbers dropping below pre-coronavirus levels.

The council has agreed to give the bus company more time to draw up a workable timetable.

Flaxman Croft and West Nooks at either end of the route will be the focus of support, the LDRS said, and the service will continue to be funded to run every half hour until 21 July.

Connexions says pupils at Joseph Rowntree, Huntington, All Saints and York College all use the service.

The council’s decision said the reliability issues were affecting the whole route and could not have been foreseen in February when they decided the original funding deadline.

It said quick action was needed because if it was scrapped, most of Copmanthorpe could be left without a bus service.

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