So great to have public transport back in public hands.
Well the bus prices in Manchester went up last week so I’m not entirely sure how it’s going to help me, a bus user. But I will hold judgement for now to see if anything really changes.
So moving to a franchise system where private companies contract with the council to run services. Like the trains. It’s communism, I tell ye!
Sorry for my ignorance. How does the franchising system actually work?
I’m aware the bus companies will still be providing the buses and staff etc.
What role does this give to TfGM?
The cynic in me sees the massive depression we are about to hit and taking back control as a way to protect these companies. I am all for public control due to the subsidies we already pay these companies.
The title of this post is inaccurate. All that’s happened is Greater Manchester won its judicial review with the bus companies objecting to franchising. This still needs to be implemented and the biggest remaining barrier is funding – it will need funding from the Government to make this feasible.
The buses are not under public control yet. But Greater Manchester can proceed with its plans to implement franchising – basically control the routes, prices and joint tickets.
It basically means that GM can suspend the deregulated bus system (where companies can freely chose which routes they want to service, what prices they charge and how often they run – in practice there are 5 big companies and they chose to run services on popular profitable routes only) and instead bus companies will only provide services under franchises (they will sign contracts with the GM transport agency to run buses, at a specific cost and which routes – GM can get companies to run buses on less popular routes in exchange for access to popular routes).
Franchising – if it happens – will allow Greater Manchester to run an integrated bus system, much like most European cities and in the UK London. Bus deregulation was a shit decision forced on the rest of the country by the Conservatives in 1985. Fortunately the Conservatives allowed this to be undone from 2017 but it’s still taken 5 years just to get to this point for Manchester.
I really hope the Conservatives and Labour can work together to make sure this happens for Greater Manchester.
6 comments
So great to have public transport back in public hands.
Well the bus prices in Manchester went up last week so I’m not entirely sure how it’s going to help me, a bus user. But I will hold judgement for now to see if anything really changes.
So moving to a franchise system where private companies contract with the council to run services. Like the trains. It’s communism, I tell ye!
Sorry for my ignorance. How does the franchising system actually work?
I’m aware the bus companies will still be providing the buses and staff etc.
What role does this give to TfGM?
The cynic in me sees the massive depression we are about to hit and taking back control as a way to protect these companies. I am all for public control due to the subsidies we already pay these companies.
The title of this post is inaccurate. All that’s happened is Greater Manchester won its judicial review with the bus companies objecting to franchising. This still needs to be implemented and the biggest remaining barrier is funding – it will need funding from the Government to make this feasible.
The buses are not under public control yet. But Greater Manchester can proceed with its plans to implement franchising – basically control the routes, prices and joint tickets.
It basically means that GM can suspend the deregulated bus system (where companies can freely chose which routes they want to service, what prices they charge and how often they run – in practice there are 5 big companies and they chose to run services on popular profitable routes only) and instead bus companies will only provide services under franchises (they will sign contracts with the GM transport agency to run buses, at a specific cost and which routes – GM can get companies to run buses on less popular routes in exchange for access to popular routes).
Franchising – if it happens – will allow Greater Manchester to run an integrated bus system, much like most European cities and in the UK London. Bus deregulation was a shit decision forced on the rest of the country by the Conservatives in 1985. Fortunately the Conservatives allowed this to be undone from 2017 but it’s still taken 5 years just to get to this point for Manchester.
I really hope the Conservatives and Labour can work together to make sure this happens for Greater Manchester.