‘More buses, more often’ is the promise for residents in and around Keighley as Transdev’s The Keighley Bus Company teams up with West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) to deliver improvements to local services.
The operator says it is running twice as many trips on its most popular routes to drive Keighley’s business recovery from Covid-19, as a result of a pioneering joint network plan developed in partnership with Metro, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s (WYCA) travel network. The improved service aims to attract around 10,000 more customer journeys a week to the town’s bus services.
The bus firm said it has been encouraged by progress made so far in attracting people back to its buses since lockdown restrictions lifted, with busiest routes on its Keighley network reporting customer numbers reaching over 90% of pre-covid levels.
It’s now hoped the successful launch of Keighley’s buses could provide a template for future partnership working in West Yorkshire to deliver wider improvements from the £830 million awarded to the region as part of West Yorkshire’s Bus Service Improvement Programme.
Transdev CEO Alex Hornby said: “We’ve now introduced a better bus service for Keighley, following our first positive network review in West Yorkshire since pandemic travel restrictions were lifted. We’ve analysed current travel patterns in and around the town as well as emerging trends post-lockdown – now we’re bouncing back with more buses, more often.
“What we are most proud of is the pioneering approach of planners from both Transdev and WYCA sitting in the same room to plan the most effective network. These improvements show our commitment to Keighley’s recovery and for us, this is just the beginning. We want to build on the multi-million-pound investment by Transdev in new, Euro VI ultra-low emission buses, by working with our partners at WYCA to support businesses and the local economy.”
Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, Leader of Bradford Council and Chair of the Transport Committee at West Yorkshire Combined Authority, added: “This is good news for the people and businesses of Keighley, and it’s great to see this progressive approach in adding more services where they are needed and in line with people’s changing travel patterns. Keighley residents need to be able to rely on regular buses for getting to work, school and college and for leisure so this is a really positive result from our constructive partnership working with The Keighley Bus Company. Good transport will be key to a strong post-pandemic economic recovery.”
The changes to the Keighley bus network started from Sunday 15 May.
