West Yorkshire case studiesWest Yorkshire’s Economy as a Business Classroom
Examiners reward students who apply theory to real businesses. The county has clear examples across bus franchising, tourism spending and a tram plan, and we use them in lessons.
Pricing & demandWho sets the fares when buses are franchised?
West Yorkshire Combined Authority said on 12 March 2026 that regional leaders had approved bus design, technology systems, a new bus depot in Wakefield, a depot electrification programme and next steps in contracting for its franchised Weaver Network. Under franchising the authority controls fares, routes, timetables, vehicles and depots, following the Mayor’s 2024 decision. After bus companies asked for more time the tender deadline was extended, so first services start in May 2027, not April, with the whole network under public control by the end of 2028. The release says first-round contracts vary in size to help smaller firms, and gives no fares or contract values.
Why might an authority that controls fares, routes and timetables change demand for buses, and what would you need to know to judge whether it works? Practise this in AO2 Application.
Interpreting numbers73 million visitors and £6.26bn
West Yorkshire Combined Authority said on 1 August 2025 that tourism in 2024 drew 73 million visitors, up 3%, with visitor spend up 7.8% to £6.26bn and 54,000 jobs supported, up 2.6%. That is about £86 a visit by our arithmetic, and about 4.7% more per visit than the year before by our arithmetic. The page we read doesn’t say whether spend is adjusted for inflation or how visitors are counted.
Why might spend rising faster than visitor numbers not mean better value for visitors, and what would you want to check? Step by step in AO3 Analysis.
Strategy & stakeholdersTrams or buses for mass transit?
Railnews reported on 9 April 2026 that a leaked government review by the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority concluded buses would be cheaper than trams for West Yorkshire’s mass transit scheme, which revives the Leeds Supertram plan first published almost 30 years ago. The Mayor had promised work on the ground by 2028, but an audit has since pushed the project back into the later 2030s, and the Combined Authority says preparatory works, not full construction, will begin by 2028. The review said the case for trams over buses had not been made. The article gives no cost figures, and we haven’t checked what has happened since.
Should a region build trams when a review says buses would be cheaper, and who gains or loses? A real judgement for AO4 Evaluation.
Sources: West Yorkshire Combined Authority, 12 March 2026 and 1 August 2025; Railnews, 9 April 2026. The £86 and 4.7% figures are our arithmetic. The bus release gives no fares or contract values, the tourism page doesn’t say whether spend is adjusted for inflation, and the tram article gives no costs and relies on a leaked review.
