York Rougier Route Consultation
York is consulting on a proposed City Centre Sustainable Transport route, also known as the Rougier Route.
The consultation runs from 19th November 2025 to 12th January 2026. It is available on the Our Big Conversation website.
It follows a consultation on York’s Local Transport Strategy in which York residents said they wanted bus priority routes.
The Rougier Route serves 29 bus routes and over 1,000 buses a day. Some of the bus timetables are based on city centre speeds of 3.4mph.
Bus journey times from Blossom Street to Peasholme Green have increased from 16 minutes in 2019 to 21 minutes in 2025.
In the background information to the consultation, City of York Council notes that:
- 25% of York households don’t have access to a car
- 22% of York’s population is under 19
- York’s Local Plan envisages 13,000 new homes
57% of trips in central York are less than 3 miles.
The Rougier Route
The Rougier Route is shown on the map above.
Currently, traffic on it is 46% private cars and 15% taxis. Buses make up 8% and cycling 18%.
The objective is to free up the route for buses.
The details of the proposal are:
- Rougier Street and George Hudson Street to get a bus lane south
- Lower Micklegate: bus gate in both direction, so only buses, emergency vehicles and cyclists can go through it
- a one-way loop on Tanner Row > Toft Green > Micklegate > George Hudson Street
- new restrictions for private cars in the Bishophill area
The scheme should remove much of the private motor vehicle traffic using Ouse Bridge.
Videos
A video featuring Executive Member for Transport Kate Ravilious explains the proposals.
There’s also an animation that features the detailed route proposal.
Next Steps
After the consultation has finished, a decision will be taken by the Council Executive in early 2026 to launch an 18-month trial.
The trial, under an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order, will start in Summer 2026.