Thank you for your question in relation to the Mayors Big Bus Chat. We are sorry for the delay in responding to your question. We received many in-depth responses that we really value and wanted to make sure took the the time to fully consider our response. Please rest assured that despite the delay, your feedback has been included and considered in all of reporting.

Thank you for your comment. There are currently no plans to introduce car parking charges at park and ride sites. Park and ride is a different bus offer compared to commercially run bus services and would not be able to subsidise bus services elsewhere. The mayor has pledged to support local businesses and tackle the climate emergency and is encouraging investment in the development of technologies that will contribute to a green recovery. Our local councils have all pledged to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2038 and we will consider your comment as part of our plans to reach this goal.

Thank you for your question, I'm sorry for the delay in getting back to you. We have contacted First Bus who run the service and their response is below:

All our buses have a dedicated area for wheelchair users; other passengers are required to give up the space for wheelchair users. 

All users of mobility scooters who are prospective passengers must obtain prior approval of the respective operator and obtain a standard “permit for travel” prior to their scooter being carried on any bus. Users should contact their operator directly for an assessment and to obtain the permit. Once the permit is granted, this is valid on all operator’s buses. 

Users should put their mobility scooter in the designated wheelchair space, reversed up to the backrest. 

So in terms of the question asked if you could both travel on the same bus, unfortunately not as both users need to use the wheelchair priority space…unless the wheelchair user is able to fold their chair and sit in an accompanying seat. 

Thank you for your question. 

The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme determines the criteria for bus passes. This includes passes relating to age criteria. 

We do have some power to introduce extra concessions for passes provided in West Yorkshire. But this is something we would have to reimburse operators for, and central government do not provide any extra funding to cover the costs. 

We do regularly review our concessionary travel scheme and the possible enhancements we could introduce. But at the moment, there are no plans to introduce a 60+ free travel pass in West Yorkshire.

Thank you for your comment. Printed timetables are available on request at travel centres and there is no plan to change this at this time. At the moment we don't have small pocket timetables.

Printing was suspended during COVID, but this has resumed. Any customer who wishes to have access to a printed timetable can access them on the WYMetro website or by asking travel centre staff to print one for them.

Thank you for your comment. As you may be aware bus patronage has still only returned to approximately 80% of pre-covid usage, so the Bus Recovery Grant has been supporting the continuation of services. This funding was due to expire in October, which would have meant over 100 service reductions and 30 full service withdrawals. 

The Mayor and other key local leaders have successfully lobbied government for an extension of this funding which they have confirmed.

Whilst this secures the majority of services, unfortunately some bus operators are still making some reductions. They have advised that the extension of BRG does still not make their current network viable so they have made the commercial decision to adapt the network. However services 46 and 47 will be retained.

Thank you for your comment. As you may be aware bus patronage has still only returned to approximately 80% of pre-covid usage, so the Bus Recovery Grant (BRG) has been supporting the continuation of services. This funding was due to expire in October, which would have meant over 100 service reductions and 30 full service withdrawals. 

The Mayor and other key local leaders have successfully lobbied government for an extension of this funding which they have confirmed.

Whilst this secures the majority of services, unfortunately some bus operators are still making some reductions. They have advised that the extension of BRG does still not make their current network viable so they have made the commercial decision to adapt the network. However services 86 74, 46 and 47 will be retained.

Thank you for your question. The Bus Recovery Grant that was used to support commercial bus services during the pandemic has been extended until April 2023 which will ensure services are not reduced further during this time. As bus services are commercially run we have no influence in competition between private companies.

Thank you for your question.

As a matter of policy, the Combined Authority will not arrange or subsidise school bus services that are transporting children to a school in a neighbouring authority.

There are, however, operators who are willing to provide what we refer to as a ‘parent to pay’ service, but it would be based on parents, collectively, meeting the full cost. 

There are two such operators on our Approved List, Yelloways and Coach Travel Services, which it we would advise you to contact. Please find their websites below:  

https://www.yelloway.co.uk/ 

https://ctsbus.co.uk/

Thank you for your comments about smaller buses. At the moment, Bus Operators make the decision about which vehicles are used on which routes. One of the major costs of running bus services is paying drivers which is something you would have to do regardless of the vehicle size.

The Combined Authority is currently in the process of writing a new Park and Ride Strategy to understand how the successful model developed in Leeds can be rolled out across other locations in West Yorkshire.

As part of this Bus Service Improvement Plan, the Combined Authority will work with the Local Authorities to identify suitable locations and expand the number of Park and Ride schemes across West Yorkshire.

Thank you for your comment. I'm sorry that there was a train strike on the day we held the Huddersfield Bus Station drop-in event. The event was organised before the strike dates were announced. We had multiple other drop-in events throughout the engagement period which people from Stocksmoor could have attended. If none of those drop-in events were suitable we had a number of ways residents could share their views, including: filling in our online survey, emailing us, calling us, sending us a letter, filling out our online polls, sharing a story, or joining either of the online webinar events we held.