First York is the winning bidder for York City Council’s Park & Ride service, retaining operation of the six routes. The seven-year contract starts in January 2018.
The new agreement will see electric buses – potentially the debut order for Optare’s MetroDecker EV – operating on three of the six routes, alongside new Euro 6 diesels.
First already operates 11 Optare Versa EV electric buses, new in 2014.
There will also be six new Euro 6 new-generation Citaro G articulated buses for the Rawcliffe Bar service, which passes under low bridges.
Overnight parking will be introduced at Askham Bar and Monks Cross sites giving visitors the ability to park en-route to their hotel, or to access the rail network for a journey lasting more than one day.
The contract follows a false start last year, when no operator submitted compliant bids after the council demanded an all-electric service, which led to First’s existing contract being extended twice.
York is one of only a handful of P&R operations that returns revenue back to the council, generating £39,000 in 2017/8. However, because the income will be lower in 2018/19 than in previous years, the council will need to allocate an additional £85,000 in its budget in that year.
