MEMBERS of the public will be asked which areas of West Yorkshire are most in need of new bus routes as part of a £25m investment in new services.

West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin has today announced two major bus pledges.

There will soon be a £2 cap on single journey bus fares in the region, and multi-operator DaySaver tickets available through the MCard app and smartcard will be reduced from £5.50 to £4.50.

The changes will be introduced from September, if approval is granted by the Department for Transport.

Ms Brabin also announced a £25m fund that will be used to introduce new bus routes across West Yorkshire. She told the Telegraph & Argus that a consultation on where that money should be spent would take place in the Summer.

The cash will come from a £70m grant awarded to West Yorkshire by the Department for Transport.

£2 fare cap on single bus journeys from September

West Yorkshire Combined Authority submitted its Bus Service Improvement Plan to the Government earlier this year, saying £168m was needed to transform local bus services.

However, when Government announced the funding, it only included £70m for West Yorkshrie.

Referring to the shortfall in funding at a press conference today, Ms Brabin said: "We had a transformational plan that we sent to Government, but we didn't get the full amount.

"Now we have to manage with the funding pot we have.”

Speaking of the latest bus announcements, she said: "I promised to make buses cheaper and greener, and by reducing fares we help with the cost of living crisis.

"The first and most important thing we can do is to re-introduce routes. We need to do as much as we can to improve the network, so we'll be going out to the public in the summer to ask them what routes they want to see. "

Asked whether the fund will go towards replacing lost routes or introducing entirely new routes, Ms Brabin said: "It is all open for discussion. Things have changed because of Covid, and there are new communities that may not be served by a bus route.

"The problem has been that bus companies are run for a profit. The idea that a bus can be a social lifeline has not been a priority."

She said her inbox was inundated with emails from people distressed that much-needed routes were being cut by bus companies struggling financially after the pandemic led to passenger numbers plummeting.