- West Yorkshire is one of thirty-one places across the country chosen to receive new funding to level up their local bus services through the Government’s £1.2 billion bus transformation programme.
- The new funding is part of a £7 billion package which includes £5.7 billion to level up local transport services across England’s eight city regions; and over £37 million for light rail services across the North and Midlands.
- Together this package will help to level up transport outside of London – delivering lower, simpler fares to help tackle cost-of-living pressures.
Cllr David Hall has welcomed £70 million of new funding for West Yorkshire to deliver vital improvements and level up local bus networks – delivering cheaper, more frequent, and more reliable journeys for passengers.
This funding is part of a £7 billion package from the Conservative Government, made up of £1.2 billion of funding for areas who will prioritise improving their bus services for local residents; £5.7 billion of transport funding to England’s eight city regions; and £38 million for light rail operators across the Midlands and North.
Including earlier awards, just under two thirds of England's population outside London will benefit from new investment to make their buses more frequent, more reliable, easier to understand and use, cheaper, or greener. Improvements will also include integrated ticketing and more bus lanes to speed up journeys.
Other areas which are willing to show similar levels of ambition will continue to be eligible for funding. In the meantime, a further £150 million is being provided across England to maintain service levels as patronage continues to recover after the pandemic.
The announcement of this transformational funding comes on top of the confirmation that £5.7 billion will be delivered across England’s eight city regions through the City Regional Transport Settlements – giving mayors and their communities long-term certainty to deliver transformational improvements to local transport networks including upgrades to local tram, bus, cycling & walking and rail networks.
The money will help deliver, among other things, a new mass transit network in West Yorkshire, improvements to rail services in the Tees Valley, a flat fare on buses in Greater Manchester and bus rapid transit corridors in the West Midlands. Letters have been sent to the metro mayors outlining the funding.
This funding builds on further confirmation that tram and light rail operators across the Midlands and the North will also benefit from almost £38 million of Government support. This money will be used to ensure light rail services continue to run and millions of passengers can continue to get around as the country emerges from the pandemic.
Commenting, Cllr David Hall said:
Bus networks form the spine of local transport networks – but for decades too many communities have been let down by poor bus infrastructure.
That is why I am delighted West Yorkshire is receiving £70 million of new funding to boost our bus services – transforming our local transport network to deliver cheaper, more reliable and more frequent services for passengers.
This will mean that passengers across Kirklees will get a better deal, with local transport network they can truly rely on.
Commenting, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:
Buses are the most popular way of getting around in this country – but for too long people outside of London have had a raw deal.
The investment we’re making today to ramp up the bus revolution will drive down fares at a time when people’s finances are tight and help connect communities across England.
Further Reading
- The Conservative Government is delivering £5.7 billion worth of City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements across eight regions to improve transport links for communities. Our £5.7 billion boost to eight English city regions will ensure that over five years to transform local transport networks through London-style integrated settlements – improving passengers’ everyday journeys (HM Treasury, Autumn Budget and Spending Review, 27 October 2021).
- The Conservative Government have committed to transforming bus services, including with £1.2 billion for transformational bus deals to level up bus services across England. The £1.2 billion of new funding will deliver London-style services, fares and infrastructure improvements across the (HM Treasury, Autumn Budget and Spending Review, 27 October 2021).
- The Conservative Government will boost light rail services across the Midlands and North with £38 million of funding. £38 million of support has been pledged by the Conservative Government to boost light rail services across the Midlands and North, as part of the £150 million package announced by government to support vital bus and light rail services across the country and truly levelling up transport across the whole of the UK.
- The Conservative Government have committed £525 million to help deliver 4,000 zero emission buses, delivering cleaner and greener local transport links. We have confirmed £525 million by 2025 to help deliver 4,000 new British-built electric or hydrogen buses – including £150 million of new funding in 2021-22 to speed up the transition (HM Treasury, Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021, 27 October 2021).
- The October 2021 Spending Review announced that a further £150 million would be available to support the ZEBRA scheme. The commitment of a further £150 million took the total funding available for the scheme to £270 million in the financial year 2021 to 2022, from the initial allocated £120 million (DfT, Guidance, 28 October 2021).
