COUNCIL officers are to ask bus drivers to drive at no more than 20mph in York after hearing claims of aggressive bus handling.
The move, if successful, could encourage more people to leave the car at home, according to one passenger.
But First York, which provides most of the city’s bus services, says it is “surprised” the speed-cutting issue has been raised and says it has already taken measures to improve its drivers’ performance.
The controversy comes as the executive member for city strategy Coun Steve Galloway considers proposals to impose 20mph speed limits on all traffic in some residential streets in the city.
Dee Bush, a Beckfield Lane resident, claimed she had been on buses where passengers had been knocked about during their journey.
“They (the drivers) have been aggressively accelerating and braking, resulting in the passengers being left flying about,” said Ms Bush.
“If we are serious about reducing traffic congestion, a 20mph regime could be the way to encourage people to use the buses.”
Coun Galloway pledged that council officers would suggest the speed limit proposal to the bus company at their regular meetings with First York.
But he said: “I suspect the bus drivers will be only too delighted to get up to 20mph on certain parts of the network.”
Bill Woolley, director of city strategy, said the council would tell the bus company about the claims of aggressive bus driving Ms Bush registered to speak “on behalf of the elderly” on proposals for a set of criteria to decide whether roads in York should have a 20mph limit at a city strategy executive member decision meeting at the Guildhall.
Check is kept on standards
BUS drivers in York are already being kept in check by state-of-the-art equipment, the city’s main operator said.
A spokesman for First said he was “surprised” the council was discussing a speed restriction. He said: “Our fleet of more than 100 buses in York have been installed with DriveGreen, a revolutionary new piece of equipment, much like a miniature traffic light, which immediately shows drivers if they have made an unnecessary driving manoeuvre. More importantly, this data is then sent back to base to allow the driver and their managers to ‘score’ a journey and therefore make improvements to driving.
“Early indications are that our drivers have been improving in York.”
He said fuel was also being saved and said First would hold more talks with the council about driving standards.
Monday, 7 December 2009
Friday, 4 December 2009
Richard Brodie goal against Rushden and Diamonds fires York City to seventh successive win
YORK City’s defensive effort won praise from manager Martin Foyle after a fourth clean sheet in five games helped them to a 1-0 victory at Rushden and Diamonds.
The victory at Nene Park last night kept the Minstermen in third place in the Blue Square Premier, and Foyle said: “We were sound defensively and looked accomplished as a group of players back there.”
A key figure in City’s recent run of form is on-loan Mansfield centre-back Luke Graham, and Foyle is keen to extend his stay at Bootham Crescent.
He said: “Luke Graham is due to go back to Mansfield after the Wrexham game (on Saturday), but I want to see if there’s any chance of keeping him.
“I am going to try because the initial understanding was it was for a month’s cover.
“We thought Djoumin Sangare would be back, but it’s taken longer than we thought and Luke has done absolutely fantastic for me.”
A 72nd-minute Richard Brodie header won the game for City and Foyle said: “It wasn’t a classic, but we came here hoping to get three points, so we’ll go home happy.
“I thought it was a tired display from both sides and the weekend games probably took a lot out of the players, with three or four of our lads looking tired.
“Our front two were not on fire, but you can’t expect them to do it week in, week out.”
Meanwhile, on-loan City winger Craig Nelthorpe scored an 85th minute winner for Barrow at Altrincham last night.
The victory at Nene Park last night kept the Minstermen in third place in the Blue Square Premier, and Foyle said: “We were sound defensively and looked accomplished as a group of players back there.”
A key figure in City’s recent run of form is on-loan Mansfield centre-back Luke Graham, and Foyle is keen to extend his stay at Bootham Crescent.
He said: “Luke Graham is due to go back to Mansfield after the Wrexham game (on Saturday), but I want to see if there’s any chance of keeping him.
“I am going to try because the initial understanding was it was for a month’s cover.
“We thought Djoumin Sangare would be back, but it’s taken longer than we thought and Luke has done absolutely fantastic for me.”
A 72nd-minute Richard Brodie header won the game for City and Foyle said: “It wasn’t a classic, but we came here hoping to get three points, so we’ll go home happy.
“I thought it was a tired display from both sides and the weekend games probably took a lot out of the players, with three or four of our lads looking tired.
“Our front two were not on fire, but you can’t expect them to do it week in, week out.”
Meanwhile, on-loan City winger Craig Nelthorpe scored an 85th minute winner for Barrow at Altrincham last night.
Yorwaste in York reveal how diamond rings thrown on rubbish tip were recovered
THE adage diamonds are forever proved to be the case for one relieved York man after he accidentally put his wife’s collection of rings in to a black bin bag and threw them in a skip.
It looked as though the five diamond rings were lost for good after they were inadvertently scooped up, put in to a rubbish bag and dumped at the Yorwaste recycling facility at Hazel Court, near the couple’s home.
The gaffe provoked a frantic early-morning search by the woman and several Yorwaste staff, who incredibly managed to find the rings and reunite them with their owner.
The identity of the couple remains a mystery, but Steve Arundel, Yorwaste’s household waste recycling centre manager, remembered the incident well.
He said: “Luckily the bags were brought in at the end of a shift and were on the top.
“If it had been at the end of the day there would have been no chance.”
“She came before the site had even opened because she was that desperate to find them.
“It is certainly never dull working at the household sites as there is always someone that needs our help in one way or another.”
The story was revealed by Yorwaste as the company celebrated exceeding City of York Council recycling targets, and follows reports last month of a similar case in New Jersey, in the United States, in which garbage workers reportedly sifted through ten tonnes of rubbish before finding a wedding ring and engagement ring accidentally binned by their owners.
Bridget Pericolo, 77, had put the rings in a cup that her husband Angelo then threw out with the rubbish.
When he realised, he phoned the local sanitation supervisor and visited the dump with workers who dug through rubbish until their found the right bag.
Yorwaste is approaching the half-way stage in a ten-year contract with City of York Council to manage the sites at Hazel Court, Beckfield Lane and Towthorpe. For 2008/09, Yorwaste said its recycling performance topped 68 per cent across the three sites, up two per cent on the previous year and also two per cent above the council-imposed target.
It looked as though the five diamond rings were lost for good after they were inadvertently scooped up, put in to a rubbish bag and dumped at the Yorwaste recycling facility at Hazel Court, near the couple’s home.
The gaffe provoked a frantic early-morning search by the woman and several Yorwaste staff, who incredibly managed to find the rings and reunite them with their owner.
The identity of the couple remains a mystery, but Steve Arundel, Yorwaste’s household waste recycling centre manager, remembered the incident well.
He said: “Luckily the bags were brought in at the end of a shift and were on the top.
“If it had been at the end of the day there would have been no chance.”
“She came before the site had even opened because she was that desperate to find them.
“It is certainly never dull working at the household sites as there is always someone that needs our help in one way or another.”
The story was revealed by Yorwaste as the company celebrated exceeding City of York Council recycling targets, and follows reports last month of a similar case in New Jersey, in the United States, in which garbage workers reportedly sifted through ten tonnes of rubbish before finding a wedding ring and engagement ring accidentally binned by their owners.
Bridget Pericolo, 77, had put the rings in a cup that her husband Angelo then threw out with the rubbish.
When he realised, he phoned the local sanitation supervisor and visited the dump with workers who dug through rubbish until their found the right bag.
Yorwaste is approaching the half-way stage in a ten-year contract with City of York Council to manage the sites at Hazel Court, Beckfield Lane and Towthorpe. For 2008/09, Yorwaste said its recycling performance topped 68 per cent across the three sites, up two per cent on the previous year and also two per cent above the council-imposed target.
Top jobs at City of York Council under threat
SOME of the top jobs in York look set to go under a massive shake-up at cash-strapped City of York Council.
This afternoon, the authority’s chief executive Kersten England revealed plans to merge the current six directorates into four.
The move could see two of the six directors’ jobs being made redundant, and up to 34 managerial jobs out of 360 across the council, saving £1.2 million to £1.6 million a year.
The proposals are part of the More for York drive, which is aimed at saving the council £15 million over the next three years.
Full details of the proposals will be presented to councillors on December 15. One option is to reduce the number of directorates from six to five, but Mrs England is advocating a reduction to four.
The six current directors, who would be competing for the four remaining jobs, are Sally Burns, Pete Dwyer, Ian Floyd, Bill Hodson, Heather Rice and Bill Woolley.
Mrs England said: “Reductions will fall more heavily at the more senior level because I want to maintain levels at the front line.
“I want a smaller, tighter leadership team so that we can work together.”
Labour leader David Scott, whose party has proposed such managerial cuts in the past two budgets, said the council could have saved £2 million if it had implemented the moves earlier.
Council leader Andrew Waller said the ruling executive would examine the proposals carefully before making a decision on December 15.
This afternoon, the authority’s chief executive Kersten England revealed plans to merge the current six directorates into four.
The move could see two of the six directors’ jobs being made redundant, and up to 34 managerial jobs out of 360 across the council, saving £1.2 million to £1.6 million a year.
The proposals are part of the More for York drive, which is aimed at saving the council £15 million over the next three years.
Full details of the proposals will be presented to councillors on December 15. One option is to reduce the number of directorates from six to five, but Mrs England is advocating a reduction to four.
The six current directors, who would be competing for the four remaining jobs, are Sally Burns, Pete Dwyer, Ian Floyd, Bill Hodson, Heather Rice and Bill Woolley.
Mrs England said: “Reductions will fall more heavily at the more senior level because I want to maintain levels at the front line.
“I want a smaller, tighter leadership team so that we can work together.”
Labour leader David Scott, whose party has proposed such managerial cuts in the past two budgets, said the council could have saved £2 million if it had implemented the moves earlier.
Council leader Andrew Waller said the ruling executive would examine the proposals carefully before making a decision on December 15.
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