Connectivity

Transport no longer being a barrier to people accessing jobs, businesses choosing to invest or residents improving their health.

Aim

An overall approach to connectivity that takes the view that transport should not be a barrier to people accessing jobs, to businesses choosing to invest in West Yorkshire, and to improving the health of our residents and visitors. Improvements in transport are a catalyst for change across all these objectives.

What success will look like

A connectivity pipeline of future transport interventions covering bus, rail, cycling, walking, and mass transit and demand responsive transport / future mobility solutions. The pipeline looks at the needs for connectivity to 2040 and has been created to:  

  • Enhance productivity by connecting all of our important places with a focus on our disadvantaged and peripheral groups/communities – for an inclusive economy 
  • Respond to the region’s carbon reduction target - for a sustainable economy 

The pipeline will demonstrate integration and fit between rail, bus, bike, walking, digital demand responsive transport, mass transit and other innovative solutions. 

Progress on a pipeline will help make the case to Government for funding – and help unlock the government's £4.2 billion infrastructure fund linked to the devolution deal.

Strengths

  • A strategy led, evidence led approach to identifying our connectivity challenges and solutions
  • Consistently applied across the whole West Yorkshire geography
  • Recognises the wider travel for work area of the Leeds City Region
  • Responds to West Yorkshire partner councils’ local plan and growth aspirations
  • National Infrastructure Commission provided expert challenge to the approach and methodology  
  • Strong evidence base – with input from West Yorkshire (and North Yorkshire) partners
  • Spatial plans will show which transport mode (or modes) is understood to provide the most appropriate solution for a particular geography
  • Interventions address cross-boundary connectivity gaps

Challenges  

  • High car dependency and traffic congestion impacting on economic performance  
  • Disadvantaged and peripheral communities excluded from economic opportunity  
  • 89% of Transport CO2 emissions from road transport, particularly private cars
  • Some of the worst air quality in the country – caused by vehicle emissions
  • Low levels of physical activity

Policies and strategies

  • West Yorkshire Transport Strategy 2040 (adopted by WYCA in 2017)
  • West Yorkshire Bus Strategy (adopted by WYCA in 2017)
  • Leeds City Region HS2 Growth Strategy (adopted in 2018)
  • WY Local Plans
  • Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans – Tranche 1 completed and adopted by WYCA in 2020, Tranche 2 commencing in 2020/21
  • Future Mobility Strategy – being finalised for consultation in 2020
  • WY Rail Vision – being finalised for consultation in 2020
  • West Yorkshire Carbon Emission Reduction Pathways (CERP) study – underway 2019-20 – being finalised for consultation in 2020

Who’s helping make this happen

  • Transport Committee
  • Local Authority partners

What we are doing to make this happen

With a particular focus on communities identified as having the greatest economic need we’ve analysed 24 corridors and identified a long list of potential transport investments within each corridor. These corridors has been collated into 10 Corridor Case for Change reports which cover:

  • Five Towns to Leeds
  • Wakefield to Leeds
  • Calder Valley and Bradford
  • Leeds to Bradford:
  • South and East Leeds
  • Leeds to Huddersfield
  • Airport, Airedale, Wharfedale
  • East Kirklees to Wakefield
  • West Kirklees to Calderdale
  • North Yorkshire to Leeds

The evidence and outputs of the Case for Change reports are being integrated with other workstreams to investigate:

  • Mass Transit technology and route options
  • Bus Network Reviews
  • Rail Vision and Capacity Study
  • Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans
  • Future Mobility Strategy
  • West Yorkshire District Local Plans
  • And to produce a connectivity plan and long term investment programme for the whole of West Yorkshire.

How this will meet our priorities

Boosting productivity:

  • Connect people in areas of socio-economic need with economic opportunities
  • Enable access from new developments to economic opportunities and labour markets

Tackling the climate emergency:

  • Reduce transport emissions in line with target to become net zero-carbon by 2038, with significant progress being made by 2030
  • Address local Air Quality Management Area constraints
  • Improve physical and mental public health

Enabling inclusive growth:

  • Deliver access to excluded communities
  • Deliver access to further education and healthcare opportunities within the corridor

Delivering 21st century transport:

  • Increase the number of destinations people in deprived communities can reach
  • Address areas of congestion
  • Address discrepancies in public transport frequency

Securing money and powers:

  • Progress on a pipeline will help make the case to Government for funding – and help unlock the government's £4.2bn infrastructure fund linked to the devolution deal

Page last updated: 26/08/20