National Bus Strategy: West Yorkshire Combined Authority Responds

Cllr Kim Groves, Chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Committee, responds to the Government's bus strategy

15 March 2021

Responding to the Government’s bus strategy, Cllr Kim Groves, Chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Committee, said: 

 “Buses are critical to the economic and social well-being of West Yorkshire’s communities and will have an even bigger role to play as we seek to accelerate our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic while also tackling the climate emergency. As part of our Connectivity Infrastructure Plan we have shown how improving frequencies, linking to areas of economic growth and investing in vehicles and bus priority measures, could lead to an additional 24 million bus journeys by 2033.   

“It is now widely accepted that deregulation has not delivered the bus service our region needs. The Government’s emphasis on partnership between local government and bus operators is a positive step and we have already set out how we want to strengthen our work through the West Yorkshire Bus Alliance to deliver better deals on fares, consistent standards across services  and improved travel information. We continue to review the case for franchising. 

“The dramatic fall in passenger numbers through the pandemic has create huge economic pressures and we will need long-term funding in local control to recover and then dramatically grow the number of people using bus services in the coming years.”