East Yorkshire Mayor Outlines Vision For Integrated Public Transport

Hull and East Yorkshire Mayor Luke Campbell has defended his progress on public transport after being challenged over the lack of discounted youth travel in rural and coastal areas.

The Mayor of Hull and East Yorkshire has set out his vision for the region's public transport network, following concerns that rural and coastal communities are being left behind by a fragmented system.

Mayor Luke Campbell faced direct questioning from a member of the public regarding the progress made during his first year in office, specifically concerning the lack of affordable and reliable bus services for young people across the region.

The resident challenged the Mayor by highlighting that other areas of the county have already implemented beneficial systems. They pointed out that under the Mayor of West Yorkshire, many people under the age of nineteen receive heavily discounted fares through the MCard system, while South Yorkshire has introduced capped welfare for young people.

The member of the public stressed that many young people in rural and coastal parts of East Yorkshire currently struggle to access education, jobs, apprenticeships, healthcare, and social opportunities. They argued that young people find it hard to access college, take part-time jobs, see friends, attend clubs, or support dependants because existing services are limited, unreliable, or too expensive.

The Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority is a newly formed legal body led by the directly elected Mayor. It was established to take high-level decisions away from Westminster and place them directly into local hands.

The authority officially assumed full statutory responsibility for transport on March 30, 2026, following a Level 3 devolution deal. However, because turning around an entire transport network overnight is incredibly complex, the executive board opted for a phased transition rather than an immediate takeover.

Through an Inter-Authority Agreement, day-to-day transport operations have been devolved back to local councils for the 2026/27 financial year. This temporary framework acts as a legal bridge, allowing local councils to keep running operations on the ground while the combined authority builds its internal team and infrastructure.

Responding to the concerns about discounted travel and when East Yorkshire might catch up with neighbouring regions, Mayor Luke Campbell said:

"We can do all that, what South Yorkshire is doing, what West Yorkshire is doing, but they're much more established than we are, and they weren't doing that in their first year as a combined authority, but it's certainly exactly where we want to head towards.

I'm just waiting on a report at the moment to find out how much we are subsidizing local companies and also looking at integrating one bus to get across the region for that. And I need to see how much that's going to cost as well, because I believe that's into the millions as well, which will determine exactly what route we're going to head down in transport, but we are certainly working towards getting to that better place of transport connectivity, cheaper fares and better reliable service, that's for sure."

The combined authority has been granted sweeping strategic transport powers, including access to a multi-million-pound integrated transport budget. Its core responsibilities include creating a unified, region-wide Strategic Transport Plan and utilising the legal authority to introduce bus franchising.

This franchising model would operate similarly to systems in London, allowing the Mayor to control routes, timetables, and fares instead of private operators.

The explicit end goal for the region is to mirror Andy Burnham's "Bee Network" in Greater Manchester. Mayor Campbell has been vocal about using these franchising powers to end the current commercial system, which he described as broken, and eventually bring fares, routes, and service quality under unified public control.

To keep the buses running smoothly while contracts are finalised, the authority has structured a careful takeover timeline. Most operational public transport functions are scheduled to transfer to the combined authority by October 2026, with a complete transition and full control finalised by March 2027.

Outlining his ultimate priorities for the network Mayor Campbell said:

"We want to create a a reliable, affordable, and great service for the residents in transport.

Connectivity is key, and it's a massive priority of  ours to get it right, to make travel easy to school, to to work, to hospital, to go and visit friends and socialize. It's a key priority for us to do that.

So, yeah, it's definitely something we can do working towards it now. We got one one person currently in working in transport, is our director, and we are heading right down that path where we can deliver a great service for every everyone in this region, which I can't wait to get going with."