The new service will enable thousands of residents to have the choice of travelling by bus for health appointments, hospital visits, to visit shops and restaurants and to get around the local area.
At least £334,000 of funds secured by Wakefield Council has been used to set up the new service for the next three years.
Coun Matthew Morley, Cabinet Member for Planning and Highways at Wakefield Council, said: “We are really pleased to be able to offer this service, as it’ll help many residents, and it’s a much-needed addition to our district’s public transport network.
“Having a regular bus service was always part of our vision for City Fields, as we want to give residents the option of using a more sustainable type of transport and to be less reliant on cars.”
West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) which oversees public transport in the region, has worked with the Council to set up the service that will be run by Arriva.
Coun Peter Carlill, Deputy Chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Committee, said: “It has been fantastic to work in partnership with Wakefield Council and Arriva Yorkshire to develop a new bus service in Wakefield.This new service will bring long-term benefits to the people of Wakefield – making it easier and quicker for them to travel around the city.
“It will help us in our ambition to create a brighter, stronger and better-connected West Yorkshire where people and businesses can thrive.”
Dwyane Wells, Head of Commercial at Arriva Bus Yorkshire said: “We’re excited to be working with our partners to launch another new bus service! We’re proud operators of Wakefield’s bus network, and we’re looking forward to welcoming City Fields residents on board the new service.
Buses will operate up to every half hour in each direction from Monday to Saturday, and every hour on evenings and Sundays. Therefore, there will be a combined frequency of up to four buses an hour into the city centre.The timetable for the new 103 service will be available shortly on the Metro website at Bus Timetables | Metro (wymetro.com)
The funding has come from housing developers through conditions to planning permissions, and is linked to the Wakefield Local Plan, which sets out the direction of planning for the district.
This money will support the first three years of the bus service to enable it to become established and to develop a level of support to help it continue beyond that time.
City Fields will in time become home to as many as 20,000 residents.
Passengers using the service will benefit from the £2 Mayors Fares initiative, which caps a single fare at £2 per journey in West Yorkshire.A fun day hosted by Arriva to celebrate the new service will take place on Thursday, 31 August at 11am-2pm, at the Miller Homes site ‘The Woods’ which is on the corner of Nellie Spindler Drive and Tree Top Drive.
Activities include face painting and summer crafts.
There will also be opportunity to see one of the buses that will be serving the new route.
