YP Letters: Failing Leeds bus system in need of new regulations

The recent article highlighting a fall in bus passenger numbers comes as no surprise. Even the ‘regular’ First Bus services – a bus every 10 minutes – are so unpredicatable here in Leeds that people will use private transport.

West Yorkshire Metro have made matters even worse by changing the bus shelter timetables.

The old timetables 
showed the expected times 
of every bus; the new ones 
now contain large gaps in the times and inserted into the 
gaps are unhelpful phrases 
such as “...and then approximately every 13 minutes until...”

In many cases you need a calculator to work out when the bus is due. People haven’t got time to hang around at bus stops in the hope that a bus may eventually turn up.

Additionally, the new timetable no longer contains details of how long a journey takes to the destinations displayed.

Regular fares increases will have led more people to abandon buses in favour of their cars.

While the main priority of the bus operators is to satisfy their shareholders, bus use will continue to deteriorate.

The system needs to be re-regulated.