FAQs

The West Yorkshire Network Navigation project will build on the existing Leeds Core Bus Network and expand elements introduced in Leeds to the wider West Yorkshire districts of Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, and Wakefield. 

The scheme aims to deliver: 

• new core bus network maps, updated bus stop flags, coloured features on shelters and road-side display information at up to 4,000 bus stops and shelters
• new battery powered real time screens at up to 500 bus stops across the four districts 
• West Yorkshire Core Bus Network maps showing Core Bus Networks across West Yorkshire
• over 40 West Yorkshire Key Corridor maps showing stops and services along Core Corridors
• 4 District Centre maps showing where to catch services from in the district centres of Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield and Wakefield
• 4 town centre maps showing where to catch services from, and where services go to outside of the centre, for secondary centres of Dewsbury, Brighouse, Pontefract and Keighley. 
• A map for North Kirklees showing in greater detail the connections between the important centres for this location.
• Tactile Maps - The Combined Authority worked with the RNIB to produce a Braille map showing the network overview and city centre stops for Leeds, and similar versions are proposed for the four districts.

 The intention is to help those who are unfamiliar with where the buses run to see, at a glance, frequent services which can take them where they wish to go. Once at a bus stop, the information they have previously seen will be confirmed by information on the bus stop to provide additional confidence. 

For an example of how this will look, information is linked here showing the maps produced for the Leeds Core Bus Network Project.

The Core Bus Network is a network of bus stops with frequent services that run at least every 15 minutes or better. These are Core services. The network also includes Connecting bus services that run at a frequency of 30 minutes or better. These are represented differently on the maps with the Core Network, where you can expect a 15 minute or better service frequency, being a series of solid colours on the map and the Connecting Network being a series of dashed colour lines. In essence these are a series of ‘London tube maps’ for the highest frequency bus services in West Yorkshire. 

A map featuring all bus services operating within the West Yorkshire districts can be found at most WY Metro travel centres, interchanges and online along with detailed timetable information (Bus Maps and Guides).

We are helping people get around the West Yorkshire using Core 'turn up and go' services. We want to help you understand where the bus network currently provides a high frequency service, between our main centres, so that you can plan journeys more easily. The West Yorkshire Network Navigation project will have no impact on bus operations and bus frequency. All other services will run as usual and for more information, please see our Bus Maps and Guides.

The maps will be displayed at shelters across West Yorkshire and in key locations where they will be of value in helping people navigate the network.

The real time units' locations were chosen based mainly from Bus Operator boarding information. This helped us identify locations where there were high number of passengers boarding buses, so that the screens can provide the greatest possible benefits. We then made sure that the locations were suitable for real time units to be installed; that there was sufficient space.

The West Yorkshire Network Navigation project has been provided money as part of a bid to government to improve transport and places across West Yorkshire. The Department for Transport provided this opportunity to bid for money with certain requirements on how this money was spent. 

For example the money had to be spent on things which resulted in changes – maps, shelter upgrades, real time units and the like. It had to be spent on areas connected to transport or key centres. It could not be spent on areas which are considered the usual business of the Combined Authority, for example providing money to bus operators to run additional services. 

The project sits alongside the wide range of programmes in bus travel and other areas that we are delivering as a combined authority and fits with our organisational ambition of making the bus network easier for our customers to navigate. 

If you require more information or need extra support to share your views, you can get in touch via:

• Telephone: 0113 245 7676 (MetroLine)
• Post: Freepost CONSULTATION TEAM (WYCA) (no stamp required)
• Email: yourvoice@westyorks-ca.gov.uk