A review of York’s community transport provision will lead to savings of more than £1.2M, according to a council report. City of York Council has been working in partnership with consultant, Northgate Kendric Ash, since April 2007, towards better transport arrangements for vulnerable children and adults, children getting to and from schools, and people with disabilities.

Progress made in the first 16 months of its 30-month contract is due to be presented in a report to the council’s executive this week, and states that the partnership is well on target to ‘produce in excess of the £1,200,000 in gross cumulative savings which were targeted’.

The partnership has been instrumental in establishing York Transport Provision – a dedicated team responsible for managing transport provision on a day-to-day basis.

The development of a passenger transport framework agreement has also been vital, as it will lead to new routing arrangements and significantly reduce the number of vehicles needed to transport children to and from school-generating savings of £136,800 a year.

The partnership aims to reduce CO2 emissions by 20% through initiatives such as improved utilisation of the internal fleet, the reduction of taxi usage, and the ‘stipulation for more environmentally-friendly engines’. So far, 25 taxi contracts have been terminated, resulting in a reduction of 8.5t of CO2. By registering the council’s 10 internal fleet vehicles with the Department for Transport Bus Service Operators Grant Section, they are now eligible for an annual £15,000 fuel rebate for all fuel used to transport clients.

The council has been able to retrospectively claim for the fuel rebate for 2002-2007 – meaning a total income of £95,181. The partnership has also drawn up a proposed eligibility test to decide the most appropriate modes of transport for clients, based on their needs.