Campaigners urge West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin to bring bus network under public control one year on from pledge

Passengers presented the Mayor with a giant bus map showing the eight steps needed to deliver her pledge.

Mayor Tracy Brabin responded by ticking off the first three of the eight stages outlined by the activists.

The move came ahead of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority Annual General Meeting.

The AGM marks a year since the new West Yorkshire Mayor initiated the legal process needed to make a decision on bringing buses into public control.

Tracy Brabin’s flagship policy in her 2021 election was “to bring buses back under public control” so that they “start putting people before profit."

After Freedom of Information Requests showed that no progress had been made in the mayor’s first 6 months in office, the Better Buses for West Yorkshire campaign, Unite Community, and the Yorkshire TUC now believe there has been movement.

Matthew Topham, Campaign at Better Buses for West Yorkshire, said: “We’re delighted to see the Mayor celebrating the progress she has made to date.

“The cost of living crisis shows more than ever that we need all the powers available to us to put passengers over profit and get money back in people’s pockets.

“Public control would unlock new powers to save councils money, from integrating tickets to increasing efficiency by axing duplicated services and integrating timetables.”

The most recent report to the WYCA Transport Committee showed that the first 3 key steps of the public control process, which consists of 8 stages, are now progressing.

The steps ticked off by the mayor included: developing the compelling case for change, setting objectives, and options generation and refinement.

“I’m sick and tired of unreliable services and the constant route cuts. Private companies have been treating buses in Roundhay as cash cows for years, paying out tens of millions in dividends in the last decade,” said Kevin Patterson, Chair of Leeds and Wakefield Unite Community.

“This progress towards a decision on bringing buses into public control gives me peace of mind that better buses, with communities like mine prioritised over the interests of overseas shareholders, are just around the corner.”