The tram project would see two lines, one connecting Leeds city centre to Bradford city centre and another one from St James’s Hospital in Leeds to the White Rose Centre.
According to WYCA, the scheme would improve local transport for 675,000 people and benefit West Yorkshire’s most deprived communities.
There was previously an attempt to build a 17-mile (28km) Supertram system in Leeds in the early 2000s, but it was axed by the Labour government in 2005 when costs began to rise.
A proposed electric bus route powered from overhead wires, known as New Generation Transport, was then promised.
However, that was also scrapped after a planning inspector ruled it was “not in the public interest”.
Alan Lamb, Leeds City Council’s Conservative group leader, said the new delay to plans for a tram system “feels like history repeating itself”.
“It’s a huge delay. Costs will go up substantially and it puts the whole scheme in jeopardy,” he said.
“I think they’ve put a nail in the coffin of mass transit in West Yorkshire. It’s like Leeds Supertram and HS2 all over again.”