Our vision for the future of transport in West Yorkshire
Our vision for transport goes beyond getting people from A to B. It’s about getting all of us – our people, our communities, our businesses – to where we want to be as a region.
Our Ambition for a Leading Transport Network for West Yorkshire
Life doesn't happen all in one place. To get the most out of it, we have to go where the opportunities are. Whether those opportunities are for work, business, leisure or family commitments. Making that easier, faster and more affordable is what our Integrated Transport ambition is all about: bringing life's opportunities, within easy reach for everyone in the region.
We believe West Yorkshire – with its unique blend of cities and towns – each with their own distinct strengths and character, along with vibrant rural communities and stunning natural wonders, is a truly special place to live and work.
The reality is though, that some places are harder or more expensive to get to than they should be right now. Travel information and fares are too complicated as well. This must change. Restricted travel means restricted opportunities. But we believe this is a place of unlimited opportunity and no one's life outcomes should be limited by where they live.
The journey has started to give the people of West Yorkshire the transport network they deserve. The Mayor has made the decision to bring buses back under public control and committed to ‘spades in the ground’ on a Mass Transit system by 2028.
Ultimately this is about freedom: freedom of movement and of choice. We understand that cars are still a vital part of everyday life but we believe no one should have to drive to thrive. Our mission is to make walking, cycling and taking public transport a more appealing and affordable option.
That's why the Mayor's West Yorkshire Local Transport Plan matters. We want to create a leading transport network and a region where business can flourish. We want a transport system that connects more people to more jobs, more customers to more businesses, and a region where national and international businesses will choose to invest. In August 2024, we engaged with the general public and stakeholders on the vision and objectives of the Local Transport Plan. Find out more about this consultation.
Rail
As a growing, prospering region, we have to increase capacity, reliability and accessibility on our local rail networks.
This is a significant part of our plans, along with designing better ways for rail journeys to integrate seamlessly with other parts of our transport system. Making it easier to make journeys using trains, buses, walking and cycling and new kinds of transport we'll be building in the future.
Trains play a really important role in making our local network cleaner, greener and better connected to longer-distance destinations. Hundreds of thousands of people rely on rail travel in our region for getting to their places of education, social and leisure destinations and of course, for work. So, we're committed to making the trains work for them.
Bus
We need to make buses a more appealing and accessible travel option for everyone. If we’re to tempt people out of their cars, cut congestion and improve our air quality, we must make sure our buses are good enough to be an attractive and practical option for getting around our region.
Lots of people rely on our buses already, for getting to work, education or for social and leisure reasons. But we can do better.
We believe we need to change the way local buses are run to achieve our ambitions for better buses in West Yorkshire.
A decision was made on the 14th of March 2024 by Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, to bring buses back under local control in the biggest shake-up of our region’s transport network in decades.
Franchising, or local control, puts the public at the heart of our bus network, ensuring buses truly serve the needs of our communities.
Mass Transit
Even with all the improvements we have planned for our trains, buses, walking and cycling routes and roads, we still won’t have completed the transport network West Yorkshire wants, needs and deserves. Not without the addition of something new, ambitious and transformative.
That’s why we’re exploring ‘mass transit’ options: new forms of transport, not currently used in West Yorkshire, that could transform our public transport network and make it even more accessible.
There are many kinds of mass transit – the most common to see in other cities is trams. Because large sections of the routes don’t have to share road space with other vehicles, it can be more regular and reliable, creating much more capacity.
The addition of a new mass transit system to our transport network is key to delivering our vision of a truly connected region: lowering our carbon footprint, connecting people and places and helping the economy to thrive.
Walking & cycling
We've introduced lots of new routes designed to help us all get around West Yorkshire on foot and by bike more easily.
We're making access to town and city centres, schools and shops easier, safer and a much nicer experience for those using more physically active forms of travel. We're ambitious though and want to make many more places even more accessible for this kind of sustainable travel. Because if more of us can become less reliant on cars, we can restore more streets and neighbourhoods that have become dominated by through traffic, to vibrant, pleasant environments for residents and businesses.
Two thirds of all our journeys are over short distances, so getting this right has the potential to hugely reduce our reliance on other transport, saving money and making the region cleaner, greener, healthier and wealthier.
So, if you walk or cycle to where you're going, you'll see we're working to make it easier, safer and more appealing than any other way to make short journeys.
Cars and Private Transport
A lot of our transport plans are aimed at tempting people out of their cars by providing genuinely appealing alternatives that are comfortable, affordable and convenient. We don't want to force people out of their cars or make our region impractical to get around by car though.
In fact, we're actively embracing changes to motoring – investing in a robust network of Electric Vehicle (EV) charging facilities, for example. And we aim to make journeys that must be taken by car or motorcycle easier, safer and more enjoyable. Our plans will lead to less congestion, faster journey times and far fewer serious accidents.
The only way to do this is to provide genuinely attractive alternatives that reduce unnecessary car journeys that could be made by other means of transportation. Travelling by car, motorbike and private transport will always be an option in West Yorkshire – we simply want to make sure no one feels it's their only option.
