Metro Chairman Cllr Ryk Downes has welcomed today's announcement that plans to improve bus services along the busy A65 route into Leeds have been given the go-ahead and almost £20m of government investment.

The A65 Quality Bus scheme is a partnership between Metro, Leeds City Council and First, that will provide new bus priority lanes, signal priority for buses at junctions, better buses and shelters, and real-time information displays.

Benefits

Benefits from the scheme will include improved bus journey times of up to 6 minutes in peak periods, a projected increase of 9% in bus use, and safety improvements for pedestrians and cyclists.

"As a regular user of buses along this route, I am fully aware of the delays they can experience and the knock-on effect those delays can have so I very much welcome this scheme which will improve reliability and therefore passenger confidence in services along the A65 corridor," said Cllr Downes.

"This scheme will also mean quicker journeys for people travelling to and from Leeds city centre, saving up to six minutes each way during peak times," he continued. "Six minutes per journey may not sound much but it means commuters could save an hour's travelling time per week.

"And making bus services along the A65 more attractive will encourage more people out of their cars, curbing growing congestion and the economic and social costs that come with it."

Work on this two-year scheme is scheduled to start this spring.

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