GREEN schemes in Bradford are at the forefront of a £62 million transport plan for West Yorkshire.

Electric car charge points and congestion-busting electronic signs providing real-time information for drivers are just two of the high-tech measures being installed in the district by 2017.

Eight signs carrying electronic traffic messages will be installed along four key routes in the district - Leeds Road in Shipley as well as Wakefield Road, Manchester Road and Leeds Road in Bradford, at a total cost of £248,000.

A researcher at the Bradford Institute of Health Research is being paid to look into how changes in people's behaviour affects air quality.

Bradford's low emissions strategy, which was the second of its kind in the country, is acting as the inspiration for a similar West Yorkshire-wide strategy.

And five electric vehicle charge points, costing a total of £50,000, are being installed at three major institutions - the University of Bradford, the Bradford District Care Trust and Airedale General Hospital.

The transport upgrades form part of the latest three-year plan by transport authority Metro, in conjunction with local authorities.

Councillor Val Slater (Lab), executive member for transport at Bradford Council, said: "A lot of the work has been done on what you might call sustainable technology and looking at reducing emissions."

Every three years, a new raft of projects are announced for Metro's Local Transport Plan.

The first phase, for 2011-2014, included a number of major schemes in the Bradford district, such as turning Saltaire roundabout into a signalised junction, putting bus lanes along Woodside Road in Low Moor and installing low-emission LED street lighting in nine areas of the district.

But a Conservative councillor has called for the results of traffic schemes like these to be made public so people can judge whether the district is getting value for money.

Councillor Simon Cooke said there needed to be greater scrutiny of the results of such schemes "if we are gong to spend a lot of money - and it is a lot of money".

Cllr Cooke said it wasn't clear whether the aim was to reduce congestion or to reduce emissions.

He added: "My big concern on all this is it's very unclear as to whether or not it is working."

A report into the plan will be discussed by the Council's Environment and Waste Management overview and scrutiny committee on Tuesday, October 28.