At a meeting on Friday 11 January 2019 West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport confirmed its backing for a new West Yorkshire Bus Alliance, which is expected to include Arriva, First and Transdev.
The bus operators and the Combined Authority have made a series of commitments, including further progress towards carbon-free services, journey planning, affordable fares for people of all ages and more free WiFi.
Lasting through to 2021, the alliance will be based on legal provisions recently introduced by the government for Voluntary Partnership Agreements defined by the Department for Transport.
The West Yorkshire Bus Alliance has arranged for its objectives to be; putting customers at the heart of services, keeping buses moving and ensuring a sustainable bus network.
The new West Yorkshire Bus Alliance will build on the Bus 18 initiative, which saw the introduction of the ‘go anywhere’ MyDay ticket for the under 19s, the investment of £23m in new, cleaner buses and £1m into alleviating bus congestion hotspots and more flexibility around the need for under 19s to prove their age to get cheaper fares.
At the meeting Dwayne Wells, Head of Commercial for Arriva said: “We are delighted to take Bus18 forward.
As an alliance we have a huge target, which is to increase patronage by 25% and our commitment, alongside other operators and West Yorkshire Combined Authority will see both an increase in investment in bus services and resources.”
