West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority is a statutory body under the legal provisions of the Transport Acts 1968 and 1985. Together with the Executive, its duty is to 'secure or promote the provision of a system of public transport which meets the needs of the area'.

The Authority funds the Executive to help implementation of its policies and raises its money through a levy on the district councils. The districts receive part of that cost from Government grants and raise the remainder from the Council Tax.

Although the Transport Act 1985 removed the direct powers of PTAs and PTEs to operate bus services, they continue to play vital co-ordinating and promotional roles for local public transport. The importance of this looks set to increase as the Local Transport Bill currently before parliament proposes a stronger role for Passenger Transport Authorities in developing integrated transport strategies for their area which could be expanded to reflect current travel-to-work patterns.