National Parks for All – Seven Days a Week
In the last of our Better Transport Week blogs, Ruth Bradshaw from Campaign for National Parks explains the Green Route to National Parks campaign and how you can help.
The arrival of longer summer days means many more opportunities to get out and explore our beautiful National Parks. But those of us who rely on public transport can sometimes find our options limited by the scarcity of bus services available, particularly if we want to visit at weekends. Unfortunately public transport access in National Parks is often at its most limited on Sundays and public holidays despite the likelihood of these being the most popular day for visiting.
At Campaign for National Parks, we believe everyone should be able to experience these special places without having to rely on a car. Making it easier for visitors to travel by public transport will also encourage those who have a choice to leave their car at home, and that really matters. The congestion and dangerous parking resulting from high levels of visitor car use to National Parks poses a threat to their precious landscapes and wildlife. It’s also a significant cause of carbon emissions – around 30 per cent of the total carbon emissions of England’s National Parks are generated by visitor travel.
That’s why our Green Route to National Parks project is focused on securing good bus services seven days a week. To help us make the case for this, we’re currently gathering evidence on people’s experiences with Sunday bus services in National Parks (or the lack of them) to supplement we’ve already gathered for Exmoor and Dartmoor, thanks to the Naturesave Trust. More than half (52 per cent) of those who responded to our survey last year said the lack of bus services makes it impossible for them to travel around the National Park on a Sunday, and over a quarter (28 per cent) said the limited bus services make it difficult. If you’d like to tell us about your experiences of Sunday bus services in National Parks, please complete our short survey.
It’s not all doom and gloom though. There are already lots of places in National Parks that you can visit by bus on a Sunday, particularly over the summer months, when many operators put on services aimed specifically at visitors, sometimes using open top buses which make the journey as much a part of the day out as the destination. We want as many people as possible to use these services, not only because they’re a great way to visit National Parks but also to demonstrate that the strong demand for Sunday bus services and help support the case for having more of them. So, as part of the Green Route project, we’ve also produced a guide highlighting some of the National Park locations that are easy to visit by bus on Sundays
Services featured in the guide include:
- The AD122 Hadrian’s Wall Country Bus in Northumberland National Park linking Hexham and Haltwhistle rail stations to various popular spots including The Sill Visitor Centre and Housesteads Roman Fort
- Bus no. 599 in the Lake District running daily all year round between Grasmere and Bowness serving Windermere where you can connect with the train service and Windermere Lake Cruises
- The Trans-Peak route through the heart of the Peak District National Park, between Derby, Matlock, Bakewell and Buxton
- Traws Cymru bus service T4 in Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) passing close to the base of Pen y Fan, the highest mountain in Southern Britain
- The Sherpa’r Wyddfa (Snowdon Sherpa) providing easy connections to the start of the most popular walking routes up Yr Wyddfa (Mt. Snowdon)
- The four bus services which provide access to some of the most spectacular and varied coastline in Britain along the Pembrokeshire Coast National Trail
- The Exmoor Coaster, an open top bus service which runs between the seaside resort of Minehead and the traditional fishing village of Lynmouth over the summer months
- The Transmoor 171/172 Country Bus linking some of the amazing bronze age archaeology on Dartmoor including Fernworthy stone circle, Grimspound and the Hurston Ridge stone rows
- Bus X1/X11 which connects Lowestoft and Norwich to Acle on the edge of Halvergate Marshes in The Broads, a great spot for walks and wildlife watching.
The guide includes information on a number of discounts and special offers for visitors arriving car-free, such as those offered by Moorsbus in the North York Moors and the New Forest Tour. There are details of special fares too, such as the Dales Rover ticket which allows unlimited travel on Sundays on all Dalesbus services in the Yorkshire Dales, and many connecting buses and the South Downs Discovery Ticket offering unlimited travel across the National Park, both of which are only £10 per adult. So now there are lots of incentives to spend your Sundays exploring National Parks by bus this summer.
Ruth Bradshaw is Head of Policy and Research at Campaign for National Parks.
