Secretary of State for Transport Lord Adonis has highlighted Metro’s freecitybus service in Leeds as an example of good practice he would like to see introduced across the UK.
In a speech to Transport professionals yesterday in which he listed examples of easy interchange between forms of travel, Lord Adonis said, “In Leeds, passengers can walk outside the rail station and straight onto a free bus service running around the city centre.”
He named Leeds freecitybus among “models of good practice for emulation nationwide”.
Metro Chairman Councillor Ryk Downes said “I am pleased to see that Lord Adonis has recognised the success of the Leeds freecitybus which since it was introduced by Metro and Leeds City Council in 2006, has carried over 5.3 million passengers.
“Of course in West Yorkshire, Metro its local authority partners and the services’ sponsors have already followed up the success of the Leeds service by introducing extremely popular freebus services in Huddersfield, Wakefield and Bradford.
“Between them the four Metro freebus services have carried over 7.6 million people,” continued Councillor Downes.
“Passengers have told us that thanks to the frequent, reliable, free links provided by the freebus services, they are choosing to use public transport rather than their cars, which means the services are helping to reduce congestion in our towns and cities.”
Freebus services run every few minutes in Bradford, Huddersfield, Leeds and Wakefield connecting rail and bus stations, colleges and universities, businesses and main shopping areas.
Details of freebus services in West Yorkshire
30 June 2009
