Bus fares in Keighley are being capped at £1 from this weekend as part of a push to get more people to use them.
And the number of services on some routes has been boosted, with West Yorkshire’s Mayor saying: “ “It is no point in making fares cheaper if there are no buses.”
From Sunday (3rd September), Transdev services on the Keighley Town Network will have a maximum £1 fare as part of a push by West Yorkshire Combined Authority to get more people on buses.
And a number of services, including ones linking Keighley and Shipley, will run every 20 minutes – up from their current half-hour frequency.
It is the first step of a £4m scheme by WYCA to boost services and bus usage in hotspot areas.
Changes include:
- All passengers on the Keighley Town network will benefit from a £1 flat fare.
- Passengers on the number 60 Aireline service will benefit from a new 60A service, running hourly on Monday to Saturday daytime from Shipley to Leeds via Calverley Lane in Rodley, replacing part of the previous 508 route. Combined with existing 60 services, this means buses between Shipley and Leeds increasing from half-hourly to every 20 minutes.
- The K3 service will run every ten minutes and the K7 will run every 12 minutes.
West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin launched the new fares and services at Keighley Bus Station on Friday afternoon.
Keighley is the first area to benefit from the bus boost, with extra services in Halifax and Huddersfield expected to be announced in the coming months.
Ms Brabin said: “The focus is making sure people get around and get to places when they want to.
“This is a really great day, it will mean an extra 1,100 journeys every month.
“The £1 fare will put money back into people’s pockets. A lot of people in the area don’t have cars and rely on public transport. I’m a commuter myself, and what we’ve had so far hasn’t been fit for purpose.”
Referring to the extra services that are being introduced, she added: “It is no point in making fares cheaper if there are no buses.”
Bradford Council Leader Susan Hinchcliffe, chair of WYCA’s Transport Committee, said: “We’ve put a lot of WYCA money into this, and Transdev have been a really good partner. Without them we wouldn’t have been able to introduce this £1 fare.
“For people in Keighley it means cheaper fares during the cost of living crisis as well as more frequent bus services. It means more people will be able to get the bus to work and college, and will make lives easier and cheaper.”
“I hope it will increase the number of people using buses.”
Keighley MP Robbie Moore said: “It is fantastic to see national government funding being used to help with the rollout of a new £1 bus fare for Keighley, which will make travelling around our town more affordable than ever before and marks yet another good news story for our area.
"The new £1 fare is backed by record investment from our government in our bus services through its Bus Service Improvement Plan, with the government providing an extra £200 million package of support earlier this year on top of £830 million of government investment in transport across the West Yorkshire region under the government’s City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS).
"Great news, and really pleased to see cheaper bus travel being rolled out across our town.”
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