Chiefs agree school bus service axe
A HUDDERSFIELD school bus service is one of 11 publicly funded services across West Yorkshire set to be cut this summer, after they were deemed too expensive.
The services affect pupils at 17 primary schools – 11 in Bradford, five in Leeds and one in Kirkheaton, near Huddersfield, the S13 service.
The West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA), which runs the services, said in most cases the buses were carrying only a very small number of pupils. The move will save around £530,000 a year.
The buses will continue to run until the end of the academic year, but will not resume when schools reopen in September.
Speaking at a regional transport meeting, where the decision was rubberstamped, WYCA’s director of transport, Dave Pearson, said inflation and rising costs had fuelled a review of the services.
He said a lot of the services had been an “expensive solution” to a “not very well-used problem”.
Mr Pearson said: “A lot of primary schools, by their very nature, are within a relatively small walking distance of the catchment areas they serve.
“In some of these areas, the children using the services are within a mile of the school.
“If we had unlimited resources, it might justify putting a bus on that carries, 30, 40 or 50 pupils.
“But in most of these cases they’ve been carrying, three, four, five or six pupils.”
However, Bradford Conservative councillor Peter Clarke, said the news was “disappointing”.
Steeton Primary School, which sits in Clr Clarke’s Craven ward, is among those affected by the move, with the P23 service among those cut.
He said: “I understand resources are scarce, but in very rural areas I think a more pragmatic approach needs to be taken.”
A further six school services which had been at risk of the axe have been retained.
In some of these cases, routes have been changed or services have been linked to other buses to reduce public costs.
Protests from parents and a lack of alternative commercial bus services on some routes have contributed to the decision to retain others.