Big drop in bus usage across West Yorkshire latest figures show
The number of people using the region’s bus network this past summer was 8% lower than Summer 2024.
Last updated 31st Oct 2025
A BIG decline in bus patronage in West Yorkshire “came as a shock” to transport bosses – Councillors have been told.
The number of people using the region’s bus network this past summer was eight per cent lower than Summer 2024.
This meant there were 2.3m fewer bus journeys in the “Quarter 2” three-month period this year than in 2024.
Among under 19s patronage fell by 9.7 per cent.
The figures were discussed at a meeting of West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s Transport Committee on Wednesday.
The committee is made up of Councillors from across West Yorkshire.
During the discussion members said the decline highlighted the need for bringing bus services under public control.
The Authority is in the process of franchising West Yorkshire’s bus services, which will give local politicians a say over bus routes, frequency and fares.
A report to the committee said: “Overall West Yorkshire bus patronage in Quarter 2 2025 was eight per cent lower compared to Quarter 2 2024.
“This is the fourth consecutive quarter of year-on-year decline since Q3 2024.
“Before this, patronage had been growing (associated with post-pandemic recovery) or had remained relatively stable.
“The declines in the adult and under 19 cohorts had the biggest impact on the overall patronage trend; between Q2 2025 and Q2 2024 there were 1.2 million and 700,000 fewer adult and under 19 passenger journeys, contributing 51 per cent and 29 per cent of the overall decline, respectively.”
Wakefield saw the steepest decline – with the number of people using buses in the district falling by over 13 per cent in one year.
The report added: “A range of factors are likely to have contributed to the recent decline in patronage. Service reductions appear to be a significant element; in Q2 2025, the number of scheduled vehicle journeys fell by 3 per cent compared with Q2 2024, equivalent to approximately 37,800 fewer journeys.
“The timing of the national and regional fare cap change at the end of March 2025 is also likely to have some effect.”
It goes on to say a recent survey of bus users found that 10 per cent of respondents reported using the bus less frequently since the fare change.
“Among those who said they were travelling less by bus or has stopped using it (n=225), almost one-third (30 per cent) attributed this to higher fares.
“It is possible that the recent period of decline marks the start of a reversion towards the longer-term pattern of gradual patronage decline that characterised the pre-pandemic decade; total West Yorkshire bus patronage in the year ending March 2024 remained 29 per cent below 2009/10 levels.
“We recognise that this rate of decline is of concern so we will undertake more analysis of the regional and national picture to understand the causal factors.”
Chair of the Committee, Bradford Council Leader Susan Hinchcliffe, said: “How do we increase patronage across a region that has historically relied on cars to get around – which leads to us sitting in traffic for hours on end?”
Simon Warburton, Executive Director of Transport, said the drop “came as quite a shock” and that the authority was collecting more data around the decline ahead of work to introduce bus franchising.
Some members pointed out that the past year had seen a decline in bus reliability in the Wakefield area, and this was likely to have played a big part in the fall in patronage.
Councillor Peter Carlill (Leeds) said: “It is no surprise with Wakefield, as the area has seen incredibly poor service that has only just returned to being a bit more reliable.
“The franchising assessment (carried out by the Authority ahead of the decision to adopt franchising) said there would be a period of decline – it has been more pronounced this year. The assessment said taking public control of the network would help turn around the decline.”
Councillor Matthew McLoughlin (Kirklees) said: “It turns out if you cut bus services then people don’t use them. Funny that.”