(21 Jul 2024, 7:25 am)Storx wrote https://www.northeast-ca.gov.uk/news/tra...-the-buses

Seen this was posted the other day and one real big highlight is they're now doing an 'assessment' which is expected to take 2 YEARS and 8 MONTHS...

Looks like this won't be in until the end of the decade and since the operators have pretty much shut down, can't see much success coming any time soon. Maybe and just maybe it might have been a good idea for the councillers to keep their mouths shut until the assessment was done rather than overcommitting. Any sensible company isn't going to invest any real money in an area they might lose next year, 5 years, 7 years or whenever they decide to 'take control'.

Uncertainity is the worst thing for any company to plan around.

At least we have some new electrics coming to the region, and the infrastructure part of the BSIP funding should help improve things for some passengers.
There’s also the North East Bus Charter (https://www.northeast-ca.gov.uk/passengercharter) to hopefully hold operators accountable to minimum standards, so you’d hope the operators won’t give up completely.