A consultation asking parents and carers in West Yorkshire
to have their say on how they want the future of secondary
school bus services to look has started today.
The West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) wants to hear
from as many people as possible, to ensure their needs
are put at the heart of a new sustainable travel to school
strategy for secondary students across the region.
A seven-week public engagement will run until June 11, with any
resulting changes to services not expected to be introduced until
September 2026 at the earliest.
Mayor of West Yorkshire said: “It is
vital that travel to school is safe, reliable and
affordable for children and their parents.
“We are committed to listening to our communities to learn
more about what shapes their travel choices – including whether
they walk, use public transport or car to get to school.
“We want to hear from you, particularly if you are a school
student, or a parent or carer with a child in secondary school.”
A consultation brochure sets out options, including the
opportunity to introduce a new, sustainable travel to school
policy.
It also includes a survey that asks for details of how
children currently travel to school, the level of
support for proposed objectives and has an opportunity to provide
feedback on students' experiences of travelling to and from
school. The survey results will then be published later this
year.
The new strategy will be developed by the WYCA alongside
its plans to create a fully-franchised West
Yorkshire-wide public bus network by 2028.
Click here to view the
consultation page and have your say.
Notes to editors
- WYCA currently helps local authority partners fulfil their
legal duty to provide free home to school transport for eligible
pupils.
- It also provides additional services for fare paying pupils
at a cost of nearly £19m per year.
- WYCA has arrangements in place for around 328 buses,
which carry on average 20,000 pupils per day, and forms around 29
percent of the total spending on extra bus services across the
region.
- The existing arrangements for school bus services in the
region were last formally reviewed by WYCA's Transport
Committee in July 2019.
