Public transport in the Yorkshire Dales is set to be expanded after the authority running the National Park agreed to encourage a ‘significant boost’ to bus and rail services.
The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority hopes to influence local transport bodies in the region to make the area more accessible to people without a car and to encourage vehicle owners to choose public transport.
The authority called for increased use of rail travel, more evenly spaced services and increased capacity for cycles on trains.
The Yorkshire Dales National Park has an estimated 5m visitors annually with the latest visitor survey reporting that 82% of respondents travelled by private car while only 4% went by public bus or coach and 2% by train.
Mark Corner, the authority’s member champion for the natural environment, said: ‘Public transport is not an area for which the National Park Authority is responsible.
‘However, it’s increasingly clear that for reasons of climate mitigation and accessibility, we need those bodies who are responsible to bring about a situation where people use cars less and public transport more.
‘We want visitors to be able access the countryside for the benefit of their mental and physical wellbeing, and we want them to be able to do that easily and sustainably.’
