Following a consultation period, West Yorkshire Combined Authority has approved plans to move to a franchised bus regime in the region
Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin has succeeded in her desire to see bus services in the region move to a franchised regime following the recent consultation, promising ‘the biggest shake up to public transport in the region for decades.’
The move was recommended to go ahead following the publication of consultation responses by West Yorkshire Combined Authority at a meeting in Leeds on 14 March. The Mayor says that the current deregulated system has seen a decline in patronage over many years and the increasing use of public funding used to support services, and believes that despite the action the Combined Authority has taken through its Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP), services in the region remain ‘too infrequent and unreliable’ to meet passengers’ needs. A Transport Focus survey placed West Yorkshire bottom for customer satisfaction, the Authority added.
The Mayor said: “I’m delighted to announce that we are taking back control of our buses in West Yorkshire, empowering the public to hold me to account for better services. For too long, buses have been run in the interests of private companies, not passengers. Franchising will help us build a better-connected bus network that works for all, not just company shareholders. But we know that change will not happen overnight. The hard work we’ve been doing to improve the bus network continues while we work at pace to bring this new way of running the buses to our 2.4 million residents.”
As in Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire plans a phased introduction, with the first franchised buses expected to be operating in parts of Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield from March 2027.
In the meantime, the Combined Authority says it will continue with its BSIP, which it says has seen “the introduction of the £2 ‘Mayor’s Fares,’ increased frequencies on key routes, investment in bus stations and shelters and new bus services launching across West Yorkshire,” with more improvements expected to be announced in May.
Responding to the news, Managing Director of First Bus in West Yorkshire Andrew Cullen said: “Our highly experienced teams of drivers and colleagues in engineering, operations and network support are focused on doing what’s best for our customers in West Yorkshire day in, day out and helping them to love and use the bus.Going forward, we want to continue working with WYCA to deliver more improvements to bus operations for our communities, building on our investment in West Yorkshire’s largest zero-emission bus fleet.
“We are reviewing the detail underlying the decision and, in the meantime, look forward to understanding WYCA’s next steps, following the Mayor’s recommendation to proceed with the proposed franchising scheme.”
