Plans are underway to bring bus services in the west of Scotland back under local control. Reforms could replace the current deregulated network with a franchise system, giving local public bodies such as Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) control over fares, routes and ticketing. SPT has warned that it could take seven years to implement the changes and will require an extra £45m of funding each year. In the meantime, contracts will be negotiated with bus firms to operate services, under Bus Service Improvement Partnerships (BSIPs).
Bus operator, McGills, has warned that the proposed franchise system would create a “funding black hole for taxpayers”. Deregulation, introduced by Margaret Thatcher in 1986, was intended to reduce fares and improve services. However, critics claim that bus companies benefit from picking profitable routes at the expense of others, leading to complaints of fewer services, poorer punctuality and rising costs. Bus use in the west of Scotland has fallen by a third in the past decade, resulting in 70 million fewer bus journeys, according to SPT.
Under the franchise system, approved routes and timetables will be set by a public body such as SPT, which will also receive fares. Loss-making routes will be subsidised by more popular routes. A franchise system already exists in Manchester, London and will soon be introduced in Liverpool. SPT has acknowledged that it could take up to seven years for a scheme like Manchester’s Bee Network to be operational in the region.
Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, is an advocate of the franchise system, arguing that it makes services accountable to the public. He has stated that penalties can be imposed against operators who consistently run late or fail to operate. Burnham added that the fares paid will be returned to the network, rather than bus companies, thereby encouraging low fares and greater use of public transport
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More