Tackling congestion brings £3.6m reward

West Yorkshire will receive more than 2m and South Yorkshire more than 1.6m through the Department for Transport's Urban Congestion Performance Fund.

The money will be used to further tackle congestion. It brings total reward funding for the two areas to more than 7.5m since the scheme was started.

Coun Ryk Downes, chairman of Metro, the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive, said: "The frustration of congestion is something that we all experience at times so I am pleased that we have been awarded this funding for beating our congestion target and making people's journeys a little quicker and a little less frustrating.

"This extra money will enable us to continue our investment in congestion-beating schemes including more priority for buses, further enforcement of priority measures better information and initiatives to encourage greener modes of travel."

The 60m Congestion Performance Fund was set up to help England's 10 largest urban areas to tackle causes of congestion on their major routes.

All 10 areas will receive 19.7m between them for beating their targets.

The latest awards come after statistics showed that congestion had fallen by an average of 5.5 per cent across the 10 areas.