The York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority were awarded funding to carry out a Rural Bus Franchising Pilot. One of the areas under study is the North York Moors National Park, and this includes Whitby. They conducted a survey in June – July 2026, and we completed the survey as follows
2. What is the name of your organisation: Whitby Community Network CIC
3. Please provide brief details of who your organisation represents: Whitby Community Network CIC tries to cover the whole of the area typically referred to as Whitby and District, or the Whitby Travel-to-Work-Area (TTWA). This aligns very approximately with the following NYC Wards : Whitby Streonshalh, Whitby West, Esk Valley and Coast, and Danby and Mulgrave.
5. Can you provide a brief summary of your organisation’s purpose / role? (if appropriate, please provide weblink to your organisation): Whitby Community Network CIC began operating under this name in late 2024, with the effective merger of Whitby Community Network (an unincorporated association of residents of Whitby & District campaigning on matters that impact on the district), and Whitby Beacon Town Forum CIC (a CIC formed around 2007 primarily focused on sustainable tourism). It is registered as a Community Interest Company (CIC) number 06393992.
Website: https://www.whitbycommunitynetwork.org/
Purpose: To develop a strong local community working with residents, local businesses and community groups, together with collaboration with local councils, based on transparency, democracy, localism, and community action in order to protect the historic nature of the town, to build a strong local economy and to provide a sustainable future for Whitby and District, and within that remit provide for sustainable tourism.
6. Which geographic area(s) are your responses primarily based on? Please tick all that apply:
3 – North York Moors
7. Are there any local areas in particular which your responses are focused on? Whitby & District,
8. How would you rate bus services in your area of interest against the following aspects, from 1 “strongly disagree” to 5 “strongly agree”;
Links – Buses provide adequate links to key destinations (key service centres, towns and transport hubs such as rail stations): 1
Frequency – Buses operate at a reasonable frequency: 1
Coverage – Buses provide good coverage by time of day (day time, evening, weekend): 1
Accurate information – available about bus services for example at bus stops, printed timetables, digital journey planning or real-time updates: 1
Reliable bus services: 2
Affordable – Bus travel is affordable and good value for money: 3
Quality – the bus service (bus stops, vehicle quality, driver friendliness) is good: 2
Other comments (please specify):
Key destinations such as hospitals & other health & welfare services have no direct links, including Whitby, Scarborough, James Cook hospitals & Scarborough Community Diagnostic Centre. Other hospital used by local residents including Bridlington, Hull, York and Northallerton are virtually impossible to access via public transport with many people having to pay for taxis.
Villages not on the major Middlesbrough-Scarborough route have either no or poor bus links.
Frequency – no Sunday/weekend services for Sleights one of the largest villages in England, no mid-
afternoon or late-night services through the week.
Communication generally very poor. Reliable bus services have not been available for many years due to many breakdowns, unsuitable buses for terrain/narrow roads etc, and lack of drivers likely to deteriorate further due to closure of the Redcar Depot.
Buses only affordable when fares retained at lower rates, however this is dependant on the number of buses needed to get to your destination.
Quality of bus service – lack of bus shelters in an area with unpredictable weather & a much higher ageing population than the rest of NY is totally unsatisfactory.
9. To what extent do bus and public transport services provide good access for different journey purposes and different groups of people in your area of interest? from 1 “don’t meet any needs” to 5 “meet all needs”?
Work – Links to major employee destinations: 2
Health – Links to hospitals and health care facilities: 1
Education – Links to secondary schools, sixth forms & colleges: 2
Key service centres – Links to access facilities such as shops, post offices, etc.: 2
Other transport services – Links to transport hubs / train stations, etc.: 2
Leisure destinations – Links to amenities such as leisure centres / evening entertainment: 2
Visitor destinations – Links to visitor attractions, popular countryside destinations: 2
Other (please specify):
Bus services inadequate and unreliable to cover all basic needs resulting in car ownership being a
necessity to access all key destinations. People are reluctant to use buses for any sort of timed
appointment because of unreliability, or they have to take an earlier service to ensure arriving on time. Many people have to pay for expensive taxis to be able to access hospital services.
Car ownership however is much lower, particularly in Whitby resulting in lack of opportunities for jobs, education and health service access.
Many of the villages, housing estates and key destinations in Whitby (a Principal Service Centre) eg West Cliff beach & the Abbey, are not covered by bus routes, and bus services have limited connection to key railway stations at coordinated times.
Whitby Park and Ride service: web site claims “The park and ride offer’s an affordable alternative to town centre parking and caters for a range of customers from commuters to day -trippers.” Again, this is mainly for tourists as seasonal opening times do not suit local workers/residents, with the bus running empty for most of the day.
Bus Services advertised on NYC website are in some cases mainly for visitors (tour buses/P&R/840), or a school bus service.
Bus-rail links where they exist don’t coordinate.
The lack of easily accessible information is extremely frustrating to all.
10. Are there particular groups of people or communities whose transport needs are currently not
well met? Please explain below:
· Disabled and elderly people are particiularly disadvantaged because of the lack of public transport.
· Car ownership is much lower, particularly in Whitby, resulting in lack of opportunities for jobs, education and heath service access, this particularly affects those on lower wages or unemployed.
· Villages not on the major Middlesbrough-Scarborough route have either no or poor bus links. Some villages in the Whitby & District Catchment Area have no bus services to the “Principal Service Centre” of Whitby including: Roxby, Borrowby, Newton Mulgrave, Kettleness, Goldsborough, Mickelby, Ugthorpe, Hutton Mulgrave, Dunsley, Newholm, Stainsacre, Low Hawsker, Sneatonthorpe, Raw, Littlebeck, Beckhole, Egton Bridge, Street, Fryup, Houlsyke, Danby Ainthorpe, Castleton.
· Public bus services have limited hours, therfore unsuitable for shift workers.
· Some services are directed at tourists, not residents due to operational times such as: Service number: 840 – Leeds – Malton – Whitby.
· People working in the “Key Service Centre” of Whitby are not catered for by public transport, with a lack of services for early/late shift workers, particularly for employees in the Hospitality sector.
· Bus services generally very limited or non-existent on Sundays/Bank Holidays, affecting residents, businesses and tourists.
· The P&R is advertised by NYC on their website as available for “commuters”, however due to
the limited opening hours and the lack of year-round opening this is not suitable.
11. If it were possible to make improvements to bus services, which of the following would have the greatest impact on enabling people to travel more by bus in the area you are commenting on?
Please identify and rank up to three items.
Please use the open text box to add any specific additional information
Links to key destinations: Priority 1
Frequency improvements: Priority 2
Better coverage by time of day (day time, evening, weekend): Priority 3
NYC Website highlights: Bus Services Serving Whitby: There are 7 bus services serving Whitby. https://northyorkstravel.info/place/?place=whitby&page=2
We would note the information is unclear and would highlight the following:
Only 95, 96, 840, X4/X4A, X93/X94 available to the general public, most with limited schedules and many villages and estates in Whitby not served.
Grey & Yellow Line classed as Tour buses and only seasonal. Residents can use, but charged per stop.
Service number: 384S – only serves Scarborough 6th Form College – why not the Univesity Technical College and Scarborough TEC ? Also not available to residents.
Coastline 840 is mainly a tourist bus operating from Leeds, the 843 service does not serve Whitby & District, so not sure why this is included.
Again we would point out much of the public bus information on most websites is inaccurate or unclear and would ask better up-to-date information is available both on websites and at bus stops suitable for our disabled and ageing population.
We are concerned that the present public bus service appear to address tourism needs before resident’s needs, such as getting children to school, people to work and residents to important appointments such as hospital and welfare/care facilities. Whitby has also been identified as a “Principal Service Centre” by North Yorkshire Council, so surely, we should be have a public transport hub connecting the Whitby & District community and the surrounding main towns. An example of this is highlighted by the following “My friend and I, both 80yrs olds live at Robin Hoods Bay with no car. We use the buses regularly and we have had lots of problems this year in particular as we have been cut off (the bus going straight to Scarborough rather than coming round R.H.Bay) with no warning and no alternative transport provided which is very annoying and awkward If you have an appointment or have to catch a train. Even normally you can’t rely on them as sometimes they don’t show up and you have to go before you really need to make sure you get there on time. There doesn’t seem to be any communication between the council and other services with Arriva and it’s just not on.”
Whitby and District is included in the “North York Moors” pilot of this consultation – again is this to improve tourism or for residents? We wish to query why Whitby is not included in the bus services from Tees Valley (where the Middlesbrough/Scarborough services originate
from), when this covers Richmond, Ripon and Northallerton?
We are also concerned by the lack of ambition shown by the draft Transport Plan & the Strategy for a Sustainable Future plan, particularly bearing in mind the excessive temperatures, flood, fire and storms now being experienced.
Following our MP’s criticism of Whitby’s rail links to Middlesbrough as “one of the worst in the country,” the Parliamentary Under-Secretary, DfT, Simon Lightwood MP, said “Connecting small towns is critical for the wider economy. Reliable commuter rail services can transform opportunities, making it easier for people to access jobs in nearby cities while continuing to live in the communities that they value.”
Surely this applies to public transport of any kind including buses!
