AN organisation that campaigns for improved public transport has condemned 'drastic' cuts to bus services in Skipton and the Dales.

The reduction of the 72 Skipton to Ilkley service and the 64 Ilkley to Skipton service to just once every two hours on Mondays to Saturdays, and the complete withdrawal of the early morning outward and early evening return services,  is a 'short-sighted' and possibly 'spiteful' move says Friends of DalesBus.

Its chairman, Paul Harrison, claimed cuts also put at risk the Sunday service which for years has made connection with the DalesBus Grassington network; and he has called on people to make their views known to those authorities responsible for public bus services.

"With just a year to go before the North Yorkshire duty of bus services provision is relocated to the new mayoral authority, North Yorkshire County Council seems to have taken a very short-sighted and what could possibly be seen as a spiteful move to hit local people with further severe cuts in its last throws of authority," he said.

"The county council has been criticised for many years about its public transport policy. Now they want to make it even harder for people in rural areas to get to college or work - and get home again afterwards at a reasonable fare, hitting the very people who are the key present and future contributors towards our economy.

" And, what about people who would just like to visit the area - can they really do no better than drive people away with their no evening or Sunday bus service policy. There should be no reason why these services cannot continue uncut - even expanded - with minimal subsidy given the number of visitors to the area and local population levels."

He added: "It seems one answer that local authorities come up with is that they only have to consider their local area when making decisions. However, they are also duty bound to be getting the best value service provision as well. Providing a full day public transport service at minimal cost to serve local needs should not be beyond the skills of the council. Instead of having a policy of turning their back on weekend and holiday leisure travel, they could be promoting it to help with service provision costs."

North Yorkshire County Council’s executive member for highways and transportation, Cllr Keane Duncan, said the authority understood how important buses were to people and it always worked with operators to seek a solution when a service was under threat.

“Service 64, between Ilkley and Skipton, ran commercially until February when operator Transdev announced the route was no longer viable. We stepped in and funded it at the existing hourly frequency while looking for a longer-term solution. We sought tenders, but the price of maintaining the same timetable long-term was very high and would have meant making cuts elsewhere," he said.

“The 64 links with Service 72, an existing tendered route between Skipton and Grassington also run by Transdev. The company proposed operating both routes on a two-hourly basis Monday to Saturday. This allows us to keep Service 64 running for passengers.

“Bus services in North Yorkshire are facing pressure from reduced passenger numbers, increasing costs and staff shortages, with around a third of services at risk of service changes or ceasing altogether unless passenger journeys increase. This is an unprecedented situation and we’re working closely with operators to support them.”

Alan Isherwood, general manager of the Keighley Bus Company, added : "All bus operators are facing challenges due to rising costs, while on some routes customer numbers have not returned to pre-pandemic levels.

"We stepped in to run the 64 in 2020 when First withdrew their X84 route between Ilkley and Skipton. Sadly, with low use and reduced funding for concessionary travel, we can no longer run it commercially.

"Working closely with North Yorkshire County Council, we will continue to operate the 64 between Ilkley and Skipton, and link it to our route 72 between Skipton and Grassington, which already operates on a tendered basis under contract to the county council.

"From May, both routes will be supported by North Yorkshire County Council and will run to a two-hourly frequency, using the same buses to keep running costs as low as possible. We share the County Council's determination to keep buses serving local communities wherever we can, and we will continue to work hard to promote both these routes to current and new customers."