Latest West Yorkshire bus figures show improvement in miles operated
“Through West Yorkshire Bus Alliance, we will continue to work together to build upon these improvements in the numbers of miles operated," said Transport Chair Cllr Kim Groves.
31 October 2019
Figures that pull together the performance of West Yorkshire’s largest bus operators have been published in line with an agreement through the West Yorkshire Bus Alliance.
As part of a commitment to transparency and making improvements the Alliance, which also comprises the Combined Authority and West Yorkshire district councils, has pledged to release the updates every three months. The figures show the number of miles operated, against the scheduled mileage and punctuality of departures from buses’ first stops and along the route.
Over 12 million miles
The latest update shows that across July, August and September, buses ran 98.4 percent of the 4.4 million monthly scheduled miles. That’s a .3 per cent improvement on the same period the previous year and represents an additional 13,500 miles operated. In total over the three-month period West Yorkshire buses ran around 12.6 million miles, the equivalent of around 26 trips to the moon and back.
Over the same three-month period, 92.8 percent of buses left their first stop on time and 84.6 per cent left selected stops along the route on time. These figures represent a .2 percent reduction for first stop departures on the same time last year and a 1.1 percent drop at stops along the route.
Improvement on last year
Commenting on the latest figures, managing director for First Bus in West Yorkshire Paul Matthews said: “We do aim to run every single one of the 4.3 million bus miles scheduled in West Yorkshire each month but sometimes elements beyond our control such as roadworks and traffic get in our way so I am pleased to see the figure achieved is an improvement on last year.
“We have seen a small decline in our punctuality scores, some of which has resulted from major roadworks schemes, including the work on the Headrow in Leeds which has affected 38 of the busiest routes being diverted with temporary stops introduced.
“We are sorry about this, and will be using the West Yorkshire Bus Alliance as an opportunity to work more closely with the Combined Authority and the districts to work out how the disruption caused by these very necessary schemes, which in the long term will improve bus performance, can be kept to a minimum.”
Cllr Kim Groves, Chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Committee said: “Through West Yorkshire Bus Alliance, we will continue to work together to build upon these improvements in the numbers of miles operated in West Yorkshire.
“We will also continue working improve punctuality and reliability by working together to tackle the issues that cause delays and by securing more funds to implement priority bus corridors that improve journey times.
“Buses are crucial to the local economy vital for people without access to other modes of transport and by encouraging more people to use them we can tackle congestion and help combat climate change.”
Partnership
The organisation of the West Yorkshire Bus Alliance, which emerged from the successful Bus18 initiative, is based upon the government’s legal provisions for Voluntary Partnership Agreements.
Its achievements include last year’s introduction of the popular, £2.75 countywide MyDay bus ticket for under 19s and guarantees by Arriva, First and Transdev to provide a free travel voucher to any passengers not happy with their bus journey. Customers whose last bus fails to arrive within 20 minutes of the scheduled time can now get the cost of the taxi fare home reimbursed.