NTA

WYCA has won the Transport Team/Partnership category of the National Transport Awards.
Announced on Thursday �8 October, the award was for WYCA�s work on the Tour de France Grand D�part in July 2014.

Responding to the announcement, West Yorkshire Combined Authority Chair Cllr Peter Box said: �I�m delighted that all the work by the Combined Authority and it partners to ensure that 3 million spectators were able to travel smoothly and safely to the largest event Yorkshire has ever hosted has been recognised through this award.�

Planning & preparation

�The Grand D�part meant a great deal of planning and preparation for a wide range of Combined Authority staff as well as colleagues from our partner organisations such as TdFHub2014 Ltd, local bus and train operators, Local Transport and Highway Authorities, Government Agencies and Statutory Bodies such as the Highways Agency and Network Rail.

�And over the weekend itself it meant a huge turnout from our teams to ensure visitors were able to enjoy their weekend while at the same time providing information and advice for people going about their everyday business.

�As well as showcase the county to the world, Le Tour showed just what we can achieve across West Yorkshire and the Leeds City Region when we work in close partnership with a shared goal.��

Unprecendented

Although the Tour de France route in Yorkshire was lined by 3.3 million spectators and staging the event meant the closure of over 300 miles of main and side roads for over eight hours while at the same time giving those spectators access. The county�s transport network coped with this unprecedented demand without significant disruption and the phrases �traffic chaos� and �transport misery� were notable by their absence from the thousands of column inches written about the event.

WYCA and its partners on a Highways and Transport Strategic Board brought together a team of senior highways, rail, bus, aviation and Police colleagues to work closely with event coordinators to plan the travel.

Rail operators increased capacity on their services in the area over the event weekend and bus operators overcame the difficulties posed by the closure of many roads.�

Most visited

Research following the event showed that over 90% of spectators to the Yorkshire stages were aware of the travel advice issued. More than half of those polled accessed their information online or through social media and that the most visited pages of www.letour.yorkshire.com were those relating to travel information with over 7.5 million page views in race week.

When the Awards shortlist was announced, WYCA Transport Chair Cllr Keith Wakefield said victory for the Combined Authority would be �well deserved recognition for the hard working teams and our partners.�

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