West Yorkshire’s bus operators have been warned if they do not come up with ways to improve services for passengers they will be forced to bid for contracts.

The West Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority (WYITA), which is responsible for running the district’s public transport through Metro, has set a March deadline for operators to come up with their final proposals for a partnership scheme.

They want the recently formed Association of Bus Operators in West Yorkshire (ABOWY) to present its plans before the WYITA board meeting on Friday March 23.

If the board is not satisfied, they will make bus companies bid for franchises set by Metro under the Bus Quality Contracts scheme.

Metro chairman Councillor James Lewis said: “We want to see details of ABOWY’s proposals on ticketing and how they are going to change the current situation where passengers are forced to pay premium prices for journeys that involve travelling on more than one company’s buses.

“This is an issue more and more people are complaining about.

“MetroCards provide passengers with this multi-operator option but ABOWY’s members have always insisted, through the West Yorkshire Ticketing Company, they are priced significantly higher than operator-only tickets, are not transferable and are not available for specific local areas.

“ABOWY’s members are penalising passengers for wanting choice, flexibility and a good deal, and they are also making fares and tickets harder for passengers to understand.”

The Competition Commission’s recent investigation into the bus industry showed at least 50 per cent, but possibly as many as 98 per cent, of West Yorkshire bus services were being affected by a lack of competition in the industry. Metro has calculated in West Yorkshire this could equate to as much as £25 million as a result of higher fares and poorer services.

Keith McNally, the chairman of ABOWY, said if WYITA and Metro got bus operators to withdraw their own bus tickets that are restricted to their own services it would see many commuters and leisure travellers lose their discount and have to pay the higher all operator (Metrocard) price.