A York Park & Ride site will reopen as part of an expansion of bus services from this Sunday (27 September).
First York has announced that Grimston Bar Park & Ride will begin operating again – and the company is also introducing a dedicated service for students.
Service 8 will resume operating every 12 minutes during the day from 7am, with additional stops at Windmill Lane End, Beeswing and Matmer House to manage capacity with social distancing restrictions.
The extra drop-off and pick-up points, which also apply on P&R route 2A, are a temporary measure in response to Covid-19 and will be reviewed when the current Government guidance limiting passengers is lifted.
The return of Grimston Bar P&R will also see the launch of a new connection to university locations with the UB1 service which will operate a journey up to every 30 minutes.
This will be complemented by new timetables for the 66 service and a renamed 67 (formerly the 66A) which will run a combined frequency of up to every five minutes.
The 66X will operate a limited stop service between the campus and York Station at peak morning and afternoon periods only.
A campus shuttle service has been nearly doubled to provide free trips up to every 10 minutes between sites, creating some 88 journeys a day in each direction.
Managing director of First York Marc Bichtemann said: “Our team of schedulers have worked really hard to develop a network of services that enables us to manage the return of student life to the city and maintain safe capacities on board our fleet.
“With a vastly increased free shuttle and dedicated routes for students we will be able to ensure they can travel safely with a service that’s easy and convenient to use.”
He added: “The Park & Ride network is also opening up further with Grimston Bar serving another important corridor into the city as York continues its recovery.
“This return to operation and other service changes we’ve made will help bus travel to play its vital role in supporting the local economy and enabling everyone to complete their journeys with safe distancing.”
Among other changes, Service 4 York-Acomb will resume its pre-Covid route operating from Cornlands Road, Gale Lane, Front St, Green Lane and Tudor Road (Clock House) while some route changes have been made to 12 service from Monks Cross and its stop on Jockey Lane.
Poppleton Bar Park & Ride remains closed and electric vehicles will be deployed on service 12 which requires the route to be changed to facilitate charging.
Full details of all the changes and timetables can be found at the First York website.