WHAT better way to see the Yorkshire Dales National Park than by getting on a bus? Now, fans of bus routes in our area are being given the chance to take part in a survey to find the nation's most scenic route.

SEVERAL bus journeys in the dales are in the running as the country's favourite- and people are being given the chance to vote.

Voting will take place until May, and the winner of the nation's 'most scenic bus route' will be announced in the summer.

Those included in the national shortlist include three DalesBus routes, taking in Ingleton, Malham and Buckden and a Witchway route, taking in Skipton and Grassington.

People will also be able to vote for routes recently added by DalesBus in time for the summer.

The unique survey is the idea of bus enthusiast Paul Kirby, who was enjoying a summer trip along the Honister Pass in the Lake District at the time, and thought the route must be one of the most scenic in Britain.

He then wondered if the transport or tourist industry had carried out any research to discover the nation’s favourite bus service.

And, to his surprise, such a survey had never been undertaken. He then set about approaching the larger bus companies to see if they were interested in supporting such a project.

"I was delighted to receive a quick response from the five largest bus companies in the UK and they were all extremely keen on the idea," he said.

"The support of Arriva, First, Go-Ahead, Stagecoach and Transdev was vital because they have access to over 400,000 Twitter followers between them”.

Paul believes the results of the survey will be of interest not only to those who use the buses, but anyone who lives or works in the areas included.

“It is the largest survey of this type undertaken and the results should be fascinating. The winner could be a route in the Scottish Highlands, the Welsh Valleys, along the English coastline or any number of different places. It will be very interesting to discover the most popular.”

Claire Walters, Chief Executive of Bus Users UK which sponsors the survey, said there were plenty of routes to chose from.

"The main aim of the survey is to celebrate Britain’s best bus routes and encourage more people to experience the spectacular views of our rugged coastline, mountain passes, lakes, moors and dales without having to worry about driving, directions or parking," she said.

"We are fortunate to still have many regular routes that serve rural communities in such a wide variety of breath-taking countryside”.

The three month survey has already attracted more than 2,000 votes from bus users across the country, and many more are expected before voting ends in May. Those taking part in the survey are given a simple tick-box format with the option of adding other routes not included in the shortlist.

DalesBus, the Sunday and Bank Holiday bus services network to and through the Yorkshire Dales National Park and Nidderdale AONB, recently announced major service improvements to allow more visitors without cars to reach the dales.

The changes will see some services starting at Easter including the replacement of the much missed 74 Saturday Ilkley to Grassington service with a direct new 874 starting in Wakefield and Leeds and then linking Ilkley, Bolton Abbey and Grassington.

The improvements will open direct services to Malham from Greengates and Yeadon and from Burnley to upper Wensleydale.

Also underway, from the start of April are Sunday services from Bradford and Leeds to Malham and to Upper Wensleydale.

Paul Harrison, chairman of the 300 strong Friends of DalesBus, a voluntary group that supports the DalesBus network, said: "Our services offer important benefits to health and wellbeing by providing an affordable way out of the conurbations of West Yorkshire and Lancashire into the countryside of the Yorkshire Dales.

“Around 25 percent of the population of our town and cities do not have access to their own car and without DalesBus much of the national park would be totally inaccessible to them.”

The Friends also provided a programme of free public guided walks available to DalesBus users on different services, taking place on every Sunday and Bank Holiday throughout the season.

“Fares are being deliberately kept as low as possible, to ensure they are affordable for people of limited means – to reflect the need to ensure national park truly offer access for all,” he added.

To take part in the survey to find the nation's most scenic routes, visit: smartsurvey.co.uk/s/ScenicBus or via @mostscenicbus on Twitter.

The winner will be announced in the summer and a website containing details of the top 10 routes in England, Scotland and Wales, will be produced for travellers from home and abroad.

The shortlisted routes in our area are (but people are able to include their own suggestions):

830 DalesBus - Middlesbrough to Ingleton via Swaledale and Buttertubs Pass - Arriva North East

873 DalesBus - Ilkley to Malham via Skipton and Bolton Abbey - Transdev Blazefield

874/875 DalesBus - Wakefield to Buckden/Hawes along Upper Wharfedale - Arriva Yorkshire

X43 Witchway - Manchester to Grassington via Burnley and Skipton - Transdev Blazefield