Plans for a pilot corridor for First West Yorkshire’s New Bus for West Yorkshire (NBfWY) concept have been announced by the operator, subject to a partnership framework being agreed with the region’s combined authority.
In partnership with Wrightbus, First is set to produce a design illustration of what the new bus aspect of the proposal could look like, based on the public specification preferences revealed in its recent consultation.
Plans to work with stakeholders to identify a potential corridor for a NBfWY pilot operation have also been revealed, though they are subject to a bus partnership framework being agreed and require greater clarity from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority on its medium to long term bus strategy.
Roll out of further corridors would be dependent on the success of the trial.
First said that if the pilot is successful and the CA’s plans provide a supportive environment for significant investment, the roll out would be phased, with the initial tranches to be completed over five years.
The NBfWY proposal has been made as an alternative to the NGT trolleybus scheme promoted by West Yorkshire PTE Metro. It would involve new buses being introduced across the region’s bus network with some of the features of London’s New Routemaster, a pre-production model of which was used for the consultation roadshow.
An enhanced smart ticketing scheme and road enhancements to improve bus priority are also part of the proposal.
