Philip Davies MP is urging parents to have their say over plans to scrap school buses across the Shipley constituency.
Philip Davies fears the vital services could be lost after being included on a list of services being looked at by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.
The MyBus primary school services potentially at risk are the P34 service to Trinity All Saints Primary School and St Joseph’s Bingley, the P31 service to Crossflatts Primary School and the P32 service to Cottingley Village Primary School.
The move is part of a shake up by transport bosses who claim the services are no longer cost efficient. In total 17 services are at threat.
Mr Davies said: “I am extremely disappointed to see these local school buses included on the list of those potentially being scrapped. Much of my constituency is difficult to access without a car, and it makes no sense to remove the buses given parents will have no other option but to drive their children to school and not everyone has a car or access to one.
“I know how much my constituents rely on these buses to get their young children to school and I very much hope those people affected will make representation to the consultation setting out why the routes should stay and why they are so important to them.”
WYCA claim many routes are now failing to meet the value for money criteria. It said fares have not increased but contract costs have, meaning the gap between expenditure and income has widened in recent years.
Transport bosses told Mr Davies that the internal leadership board have approved a plan to consult on the withdrawal of the 17 services where the subsidy is more than £4.00 per passenger trip. These services would be withdrawn in July at the end of the academic year.
Mr Davies added: “I will be asking further questions regarding the criteria of the 17 routes chosen as it is clear the Shipley constituency is being disproportionately hit. I have been told by WYCA that ten of the 17 routes at risk are in Conservative held constituencies across West Yorkshire.
“Given there are 22 parliamentary constituencies across West Yorkshire, of which only eight are represented by Conservative MPs, the figures are disproportionate. I want to see more data on usage and will be following the consultation and its findings closely. I do not want to see Labour-led WYCA playing politics at the expense of our young children. We have become used to the Labour council in Bradford ignoring the needs of the Shipley constituency. It now seems the Labour Mayor in West Yorkshire is doing the same.”
The idea of MyBus was to encourage people out of cars and in turn reducing congestion at the school gates as well as getting younger children used to public transport they may use when moving to secondary school.
The consultation runs from January 25 to March 17.