Parents and carers asked to take part in school bus consultation
A consultation asking parents and carers in West Yorkshire to have their say on how they want the future of secondary school bus services to look has started today.
23 April 2025
The West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) wants to hear from as many people as possible, to ensure their needs are put at the heart of a new sustainable travel to school strategy for secondary students across the region.
A seven-week public engagement will run until June 11, with any resulting changes to services not expected to be introduced until September 2026 at the earliest.
Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin said: “It is vital that travel to school is safe, reliable and affordable for children and their parents.
“We are committed to listening to our communities to learn more about what shapes their travel choices – including whether they walk, use public transport or car to get to school.
“We want to hear from you, particularly if you are a school student, or a parent or carer with a child in secondary school.”
A consultation brochure sets out options, including the opportunity to introduce a new, sustainable travel to school policy.
It also includes a survey that asks for details of how children currently travel to school, the level of support for proposed objectives and has an opportunity to provide feedback on students' experiences of travelling to and from school. The survey results will then be published later this year.
The new strategy will be developed by the WYCA alongside its plans to create a fully-franchised West Yorkshire-wide public bus network by 2028.
Click here to view the consultation page and have your say.
Notes to editors
• WYCA currently helps local authority partners fulfil their legal duty to provide free home to school transport for eligible pupils.
• It also provides additional services for fare paying pupils at a cost of nearly £19m per year.
• WYCA has arrangements in place for around 328 buses, which carry on average 20,000 pupils per day, and forms around 29 percent of the total spending on extra bus services across the region.
• The existing arrangements for school bus services in the region were last formally reviewed by WYCA’s Transport Committee in July 2019.