Bus inefficiency to be penalised
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• Bus companies will be penalised if they operate an ineffective service, warns the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority which subsidises the non-commercial routes it tenders out.
Last month the PTA set up a working group of five councillors after receiving more than 1,000 complaints in five weeks. If operators are found to consistently run a poor service the authority will withold a pecentage of the subsidy it allocates to them.
It provides subsidies for about 45 West Yorkshire operators and 84% of the 725 routes in the area.
In severe cases the PTA says it will report erring operators to the Traffic Commissioner for further action.
The group is inviting residents to report to it when they are let down by buses in West Yorkshire — which is served by six major firms and more than 50 smaller operators.
"We are not going to pay for services we are not getting," says councillor Mick Lyons, chairman of the WYPTA. According to Lyons most of the complaints are against buses not turning up, or being late, but other incidents include cases of bad driving.