Arriva to introduce contactless payments to Wakefield buses as company defends its local service

Contactless payments, new vehicles and cheaper tickets for young people are among plans being rolled out by bus operator Arriva on services in Wakefield.

The company has defended its local record following criticism from councillors and public bodies this year.

One senior councillor recently claimed that services were "declining" in parts of the district, while a report in April suggested that young people were being held back in the jobs market because of the network.

Arriva says that in Yorkshire, buses were more punctual in 2017 than ever before and that has invested in more late-night transport in response to customer feedback.

Arriva Yorkshire's area general manager, John Croxford

Arriva's area managing director, Jon Croxford, said that the rise of Uber and changes to people's working patterns had resulted in a "challenging time" for the bus industry in recent years.

But he insisted that the firm had responded by making things better for passengers.

He said: "It's quite possible for bus companies to react to that in a way I'd perceive to be quite negative.

"By that I mean significantly reducing the number of services, whacking up the fares and squeezing costs and trying to survive that way.

"I'm quite proud of the way in Arriva Yorkshire we've managed to preserve our network over these last three quite turbulent years for the industry.

"We felt the way to success is to make buses the mode of choice and to continue to invest in quality.

"The fact that we were more punctual and reliable last year than ever before - people wouldn't necessarily think or know that, because their perception will be based on their last bad experience. And fair enough, that's what we'd all do. But the reality is most of our services are delivering."