Annual Report 2019-20

Dales and Bowland Community Interest Company's annual report for 2019-20 is available to download here (PDF file).

• D&BCIC provided the “DalesBus” network of 14 Sunday and Bank Holiday public bus services into and around the Yorkshire Dales National Park and Nidderdale/ Forest of Bowland Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty throughout Summer 2019, plus one Summer Saturday service. Five services continued on Sundays all year.
  
  
• D&BCIC also produced, in conjunction with West Yorkshire Combined Authority, a timetable booklet covering most bus services in the Yorkshire Dales and undertook other activities to promote public transport in the area.
  
  
• D&BCIC is a volunteer-run not-for-profit social enterprise whose single member is a charity, the Yorkshire Dales Society, also known as Friends of the Dales.  
    
• DalesBus is not just a local but also a regional transport network. It serves a wide range of catchment communities across the North of England, from Preston to Middlesbrough, and Kirkby Lonsdale to Selby. Although primarily designed to meet the needs of urban communities to access the Yorkshire Dales National Park and Nidderdale/Forest of Bowland AONBs, DalesBus also provides a much-valued service for local communities within the Dales who otherwise would have no transport on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays, thereby further isolating those without access to their own transport. 
  
  
• 30,370 passenger journeys were made on services provided by D&BCIC in 2019-20.  
  
  
• Over the summer passenger numbers across the DalesBus network increased by around 4% compared to summer 2018, but the winter period saw a decline due to several weekend storms in February and the increasing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic from mid-March onwards.
  
  
• DalesBus delivers many economic, social and environmental benefits, but D&BCIC cannot achieve these alone.  For DalesBus to survive and develop we need increased longer-term financial support, especially in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.

The overall cost of providing and marketing the network in 2019-20 was around around £149,000 with fares income of approx. £63,200, leaving a net cost funding requirement of £85,800.

D&BCIC, together with our partner organisations Friends of the Dales and the Friends of DalesBus, is already seeking funding for the 2021-22 financial year.  We would be delighted to hear (via feedback@dalesandbowland.com) from any individuals, organisations or companies who might be interested in providing financial support, sponsorship or assistance with fundraising.

In the meantime, we’d like to thank everyone who helped support the DalesBus network in 2019-20.