'Bus gate' consultation attracts 1,200 responses

A consultation over plans aimed at cutting bus journey times in York by closing parts of the city centre to cars and taxis has so far sparked at least 1,200 responses.

City of York Council has proposed keeping parts of Rougier Street, George Hudson Street and Micklegate open only to buses and emergency vehicles, a system known as a "bus gate".

If approved, the restrictions - enforced by automatic number plate recognition cameras - would start as an 18-month trial next summer.

Kate Ravilious, the authority's senior Labour councillor in charge of transport, said: "The consultation runs until 12 January and we're urging as many people as possible to get involved."

When the council launched its consultation in November, Ravilious said a bus journey through the proposed priority area took six minutes longer in 2025 than it did in 2019.

"We've identified that by re-routing some of the other traffic away from this route, giving buses priority, we can improve journey times and make our buses much more reliable through the city," Ravilious said.

Attending a recent public event held at York Explore Library to discuss the plans, York resident Deborah Malley said she had been "pleased" to hear about the plans for the so-called "Rougier Route".

"I'd all but given up on buses. It's absurd trying to get anywhere on them in York," she explained.

Ms Malley, who lives within the Rougier Route area, said that to get to work on time, she felt she had to catch an earlier bus than the one she actually needed, just in case.

"I was frequently late, so before I started cycling I would get to the stop to catch the bus before the one I wanted to make sure I got a bus and made it to work," she said.

"It's chaos and change needs to be made."

Speaking at the same consultation event, Jennifer Gambold said she was "probably" in favour of the plan.

But Ms Gambold said she questioned the additional travel time for vehicles excluded from the Rougier Route which had been suggested by the council.

"I was told it would add 90 seconds but I am not sure about that," she said.

"The traffic is very busy there and, initially at least, there'll be additional traffic coming through.

"A lot of information is being put out that I am not sure is on firm ground."

Meanwhile, Rob Ainsley - a cycling campaigner - said he was "very pleased" at the plans.

"At last some action is being taken. There is far too much traffic in York and it affects everybody, not least drivers, because it adds hours to journey times," he said.

"At the moment, it's a lot easier for me to cycle than get the bus. I've not been taking buses because they get snarled up in traffic, so this will make them a lot quicker."

However, York resident Chris Morley said: "I'm still of the mind that it's a problem that's not so serious it requires all this."

"It will cause so many other problems, they'd be better off finding another way of doing it," he said.

Mr Morley also suggested that council officers should look at easing congestion in other traffic "pinch points", such as Coppergate.

"I think it will be much harder to get around York because of the increased traffic," he said.

Ravilious said the number of responses to the consultation showed what "a huge change" the proposed bus gate would be for the people of York.

"Everybody is really interested in how it will work," she said.

"If people currently rely on driving, they're concerned about where they'll go instead and what options they'll have."

Ravilious added that the council was "really listening to that feedback".

"These are proposals. We'll be adapting them based on the feedback we get," she explained.

"Then, when we go ahead next summer, it'll be an adapted, experimental scheme with the chance to make changes as we go along."

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