Annual Report 2022-23

​Dales and Bowland Community Interest Company's Annual Report for 2022-23 is available to download here (PDF file).
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• Dales and Bowland Community Interest Company (D&BCIC) manages much of the weekend DalesBus network, comprising during Summer 2022 two Saturday and twelve Sunday and Bank Holiday public bus services into and around the Yorkshire Dales National Park and Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. One Saturday and four Sunday services continued through the winter period.
  
  
• D&BCIC is a volunteer-run not-for-profit social enterprise whose single member is a charity, Friends of the Dales. D&BCIC has its own independent board of directors who are all unpaid volunteers working alongside commercial bus operators, community transport operators, user groups, local attractions and other businesses and local authorities.
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• 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, including West Yorkshire, Lancashire and the Tees Valley as well as North Yorkshire and the City of York. Although primarily designed to meet the needs of urban communities to access the Yorkshire Dales National Park and Nidderdale AONB, 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.
  
  
• 41,731 passenger journeys were made on services managed by D&BCIC in 2022-23, an increase of 45% compared with 28,797 the previous year when services were still recovering from the Coronavirus pandemic.
  
  
• The overall social benefit of services managed by D&BCIC in 2022-23 is estimated at around £5 per passenger trip, an overall total benefit of over £200,000, using the standard Department for Transport appraisal guidelines which factor in benefits such as reduced isolation, reduced congestion and environmental impacts.
  
  
• DalesBus provides access to the Dales for those without a car available, relieves social isolation, encourages healthy exercise, relieves congestion and pollution from excessive car transport and expands markets for local businesses. But for many years now it has survived hand to mouth with little long-term funding.
  
  
• We very much hope that North Yorkshire Council’s new Local Transport Plan will recognise the importance of Sunday bus services to the physical and mental health of the residents of North Yorkshire and to the promotion of sustainable tourism, and include financial support for the DalesBus network. 
  
  
• We welcome the National Park’s recently agreed Statement on Public Transport, but more than words are needed, and positive action is needed by both the National Park Authority, North Yorkshire Council and surrounding local authorities to ensure that long term funding is provided to secure and develop public transport provision in the area, including the DalesBus network. 
  
  

D&BCIC, together with our partner organisations Friends of the Dales and the Friends of DalesBus, is already seeking funding for the 2024-25 financial year.  We would be delighted to hear (via [email protected]) from any individuals, organisations or companies who might be interested in providing financial support, sponsorship or assistance with fundraising. Donations can also be made on our Local Giving page.

In the meantime, we’d like to thank everyone who helped support the DalesBus network in 2022-23.