What are the current issues with bus services?

The number of people using bus services in West Yorkshire has been falling despite efforts by Metro and bus operators to improve the quality of buses and the punctuality of services.

Bus services in West Yorkshire are run by privately-owned bus companies who can choose which bus routes to run, when and how often. They can also decide how much to charge in fares.

Bus services have to make profits and dividends for the operators' shareholders. When their costs increase, operators have to generate more passengers, pass on those increased costs to passengers by increasing fares or try to make their operations more efficient - usually through cutting out less profitable routes.

In recent years we have repeatedly seen this cycle with fares rising above inflation and services being cut and the number of fare-paying passengers falling. Operators' right to change or withdraw services at two months' notice, without fully taking account of the wishes of local communities, means that the West Yorkshire bus network is not as stable as customers would like.

As well as bus fares rising significantly in recent years, each operator has its own fares and tickets making things confusing for passengers. These tickets can only be used on each company's own services, which can make it difficult for passengers to change between different buses or between bus and other types of transport.

What is our vision for bus services in West Yorkshire?

Metro and the five West Yorkshire District Councils have published the West Yorkshire Local Transport Plan which sets out a 15-year strategy for the development of West Yorkshire's transport system from 2011.

Developing a strategy for improving bus services is an important part of the this Plan. Our vision is to have a fully integrated local bus network which is easy to understand, reliable, accessible to all and which offers an attractive alternative to car travel. The improvements that we would like to see include:

• simple fares and fully-integrated tickets that could be used on all public transport services in West Yorkshire;
• a single brand for bus services in West Yorkshire to make it easier for people to understand the public transport network;
• significantly reducing the number of service and timetable changes that take place;
• reliable bus services which arrive on time;
• high frequency services on main routes;
• high-quality commuter express services;
• better connections with rail services;
• better connections for rural and isolated communities including demand-responsive services where appropriate;
• consistently high standards of customer service with trained customer-focused staff;
• consistent quality low-emission buses, fully accessible, with CCTV and equipped with real-time monitoring equipment linked to public displays;
• higher quality passenger information - which will be easier to keep up to date thanks to fewer service changes;
• a standard compensation policy for passengers if things go wrong.

We believe that these are the priorities for improving bus travel in West Yorkshire.

How can we deliver this?

Metro is developing proposals for a 'Quality Bus Contract scheme' (QBC) to help deliver this vision for improved local bus services. Introduced by the Transport Act 2000, Quality Bus Contracts allow Metro to specify what the local bus network should be and how it should be operated.

A Quality Bus Contract Scheme would mean that Metro would be responsible for deciding where buses run, how often they run, what fares and tickets are available, what quality standards buses run to and what happens if things go wrong. Metro would make these decisions based on local needs and priorities and affordability. Bus operators would then have to bid to run bus services on Metro's behalf. This is similar to the public transport system that operates in London and most European cities.

Metro is aware that moving to a London-style public transport system carries some significant risks, not least of which is costs. Under a QBC Metro would be responsible for taking on the risks associated with running local bus services. If for instance, fuel prices increased dramatically, this extra cost would have to be funded either through more public subsidy, fares would have to go up, or services changed. Metro would ensure that where difficult decisions have to be made, those decisions are made on the basis of local issues and opinions and that the decision-makers would also be accountable to voters.