Bus reform could be on timetable

FOR thousands of bus passengers in West Yorkshire, unreliable services and expensive tickets are all too familiar.

But that could all be about to change under a proposed overhaul of public transport across the region.

The county is electing its first-ever mayor on May 6 and whoever takes the hotseat will no doubt focus much of their energy on the disjointed and unreliable services in our towns and cities.

Property manager Julia Brown described the “horrible” Carlton to Leeds service she used daily before the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Coming home, it could take anything up to two hours after 5pm,” she said.

“It would have been faster for me to walk.”

Dylan Telford, a 20-year-old chef from Stanley, also uses the bus to get to work and often spends up to two hours a day on public transport.

He said: “In an ideal world, I’d like more buses more frequently.

“The issues aren’t enough to make me hate buses, but I’d like to just see a bit more money going into them.”

That’s exactly what could be happening very soon. The West Yorkshire Mayor will be given a £38 million annual budget for several responsibilities and a number of candidates have spoken about their desire to bring buses back into public control.

Franchising of bus services is a system that has been used to great effect in London, while Greater Manchester is also in the process of bringing its bus services back into public control. Sheffield is “exploring all options” too.

“That would be a great reform,” said Dylan. “If they are brought back into public control, that would be a lot better. The fares could be regulated. I think it would be really, really good.”

One of the core benefits would be to see bus companies held accountable for poor services.

A number of the Mayoral candidates have also promised to link West Yorkshire’s disjointed public transport services under one ticketing system.

Meanwhile, Debbie Thompson’s main gripe with the bus services is that neither she nor her son can use their free bus passes before 9.30am. It often means she has to reschedule appointments.

■■Matt Robinson, Conservatives ■■Tracy Brabin, Labour ■■Stewart Golton, Lib Dems ■■Andrew Cooper, Green Party ■■Bob Buxton, Yorkshire Party ■■Wajid Ali, Reform UK ■■Therese Hirst, English Democrats