West Yorkshire considers enhanced bus partnership with operators
West Yorkshire Combined Authority is working with operators to consider building on the success of its West Yorkshire Bus Alliance with a more formal partnership which could help deliver deals on fares to help encourage more bus travel; guarantees of consistent standards across different operators; better integration of customer travel information; and devolution of bus funding to the Combined Authority to support services more efficiently.
The Combined Authority is also setting out the results of a review of the region’s core bus network which identifies opportunities to improve services and grow the number of people travelling by bus.
The review shows that improving frequencies, linking to areas of economic growth and investing in vehicles and bus priority measures, could lead to an additional 24 million bus journeys by 2033.
“The bus service is relied upon by people across West Yorkshire to connect them with work, education and leisure and we have worked with operators to ensure buses have been available through the pandemic,” says Kim Groves, chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority transport committee. “We will continue to consider the case for franchising and will press the government to give local areas the freedom and funding to pursue the options we believe are appropriate to meet local needs, including public ownership. An enhanced bus partnership represents an opportunity to deliver for passengers as that wider work continues.”