Combined authority approves plans for £5m new Heckmondwike Bus Hub

A new bus station will be built on the existing hub site, currently little more than a few bus stops around a traffic island, to improve bus reliability in the area and encourage more people to ditch their cars and use public transport.

At a meeting of West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s place, regeneration and housing committee yesterday (Monday) members voted to move the scheme forward to its next stage – the production of its outline business case.

In total the scheme will cost £4,970,541, with work starting this summer.

The project will involve replacing the existing traffic island and four surrounding bus stops with a new building with waiting area, offices, accessible toilet provision and a changing places room.

The facility will be low carbon, and will include a “green roof” and improvements to the public space around the station.

Funding will come from the Transforming Cities Fund – a pot of cash awarded to West Yorkshire as part of the devolution deal in 2020.

Members were told that work on the hub will likely be completed by June 2023, and that the scheme was supported by bus operators.

A report on the project said: “The scheme aims to address declining bus use, encouraging more people to travel by bus in and around Heckmondwike and contribute to tackling the climate emergency.”

All schemes that go to the combined authority include details of its “benefit cost ratio”. Using criteria from the Department for Transport, this model looks at how much value for money the scheme will provide.

The report to members said the Heckmondwike bus scheme was “low value for money”.

When concerns were raised about this, officers said the DFT’s model tends to show a bias towards improving journey times for motorists, rather that improving facilities for cyclists, pedestrians and public transport users.

Fiona Limb, Transforming Cities implementation lead, said: “The focus is on journey time improvements rather than amenity and facilities improvement. When it comes to bus stations schemes, they don’t score very highly.

“While you need corridor improvements to reduce journey times, you also need the facilities to make users feel welcome.”

The same value for money issue was raised during discussions on another scheme – a project to reduce car traffic at Leeds City Square.

On that item James Bennett, programme manager, added: “In the DFT measures motorists have been valued higher than pedestrians or cyclists.”