York park and ride facts for kids
Optare MetroDecker EV passing York railway station, March 2023
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| Parent | City of York Council |
| Founded | 1990 |
| Service area | York |
| Service type | Park and ride |
| Routes | 7 |
| Hubs | 6 |
| Fleet |
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| Operator | First York |
The York park and ride is a special bus system in York, England. It lets people park their cars outside the city centre and then take a bus into town. This helps reduce traffic and pollution in the busy city.
It's the biggest park and ride system in the United Kingdom. There are six different sites where you can park your car. Together, these sites have space for almost 5,000 cars! The bus services are run by a company called First York.
Contents
How York Park and Ride Started
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The first permanent park and ride site opened in June 1990. It was located at a place called Askham Bar. Four years later, in 1994, a second site opened at Grimston Bar.
In 1995, a company called Rider York started running the buses. They brought in 20 new buses for the service. These buses were special because they had ramps for luggage.
A new site opened at the York Designer Outlet in November 1998. This made it easy for shoppers to visit the outlet. In February 2000, the Rawcliffe Bar site opened with 900 parking spaces.
Growing the Network
The Monks Cross site opened in July 2004. Later, in 2014, buses from this site also started going to the Vangarde Shopping Park. Electric buses were introduced on this route in 2015.
In July 2008, new single-deck buses were added to the fleet. More new buses, including longer articulated buses, arrived in 2009. These new buses replaced older ones.
The Askham Bar site was made much bigger in June 2014. It became a new, larger site with 1,100 parking spaces. A new site also opened at Poppleton Bar in the same month. This site used a fleet of fully electric buses.
Modern Electric Buses
In July 2020, even more electric buses joined the fleet. These were 21 new double-deck electric buses. They help make the park and ride service more environmentally friendly.
The Poppleton Bar site closed in March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was used as a testing centre for a while. It reopened on April 1, 2023, after being closed for some time. This reopening was part of a plan to improve bus services in York.
How the Services Work
Buses run very often, usually every ten minutes or even more frequently. This happens from Monday to Saturday during the day. There are seven different bus routes in total.
You can buy a single ticket for £2.50 or a return ticket for £3.50. These tickets let you travel between any park and ride site and the city centre. You can also buy season tickets. These tickets work on all First York bus services.
Park and Ride Routes
Here are the main park and ride bus routes as of May 2022:
| Route | From | To |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | York, Museum Street | Rawcliffe Bar via Clifton |
| 2A | ||
| 3 | York, Tower Street | Askham Bar |
| 7 | York, Clifford Street | York Designer Outlet via Fulford |
| 8 | York, Piccadilly | Grimston Bar |
| 9 | York, Clifford Street | Monks Cross via Heworth |
| 59 | Poppleton Bar |
The Buses and How They Operate
First York is the only company that runs the park and ride buses. Their main bus garage is on James Street. The buses are easy to spot because they are dark blue and gold. Before this, they used to be silver. The electric buses also had green details.
The buses used today are a mix of different types. Some are diesel-powered, like the articulated Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses. Others are fully electric, such as the Optare MetroDecker double-deck buses and the Optare Versa single-deck buses. Using electric buses helps keep the air cleaner in York.
