Schools Minister Lord Adonis met pupils who use a Metro My bus yellow bus to travel to and from Morley’s Fountain Primary School during a fact-finding visit last week.
Lord Adonis, whose responsibilities as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools include School Transport, travelled on the morning service to see how the system worked and heard from Fountain Primary pupils Hannah and Alex what they like about travelling to school by yellow bus.
Accompanied by philanthropist Sir Peter Lampl, who has a special interest in schools, and Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman, Lord Adonis then travelled to Metro’s Wellington House headquarters, for a meeting with Metro Chairman Councillor Stanley King and key members of the My bus team to hear more about the scheme.
After the visit Lord Adonis said he had been impressed by what he had seen and told Chairman, Councillor Stanley King that he should be proud of what Metro has achieved through My bus.
“Friday’s visit was a useful opportunity to show Lord Adonis, Sir Peter and Mr Sheerman the scheme in action, and then sit down with them to tell them what My bus has achieved” said Metro’s Director of Corporate Service Sheena Pickersgill.
“We were able to report that across primary schools an average of 68% of My bus pupils formerly travelled to school in a car and that without the daily school run, those pupils’ parents are, on average, saving 54 minutes and driving 30km less every week.
“Metro has always believed that with its record of reducing peak time traffic and improving school gate safety, My bus is a model for West Yorkshire and across the UK, and we are currently looking at how we can introduce elements of the scheme to school transport throughout the county” continued Mrs Pickersgill.
“I hope after seeing the results for themselves, Lord Adonis, Sir Peter and Mr Sheerman went away with a similar conviction.”
Fountain Primary School headteacher Tony Mallard said that there had been a significant reduction in the number of cars arriving at the school since the introduction of our My bus service last year.
“As well as reducing school run traffic around the school, My bus is also helping to develop the confidence and independence of those pupils travelling on it, he said.
