(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.

Legally they can’t go much faster than that. Andy Burnham first presented his plans recommending franchising to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority on 28th June 2019. There were several legal hoops to jump through, including a judicial review requested by Stagecoach and other bus companies (said request being made in March 2021). The review found in favour of franchising in March 2022. Rotala appealed and the original ruling was upheld in July 2022. The law was set up by the Tories to be deliberately cumbersome to encourage authorities not to bother, given it all costs money. It was never going to be a quick process as Kim herself said when she was elected. The hope is that the Better Buses Bill about to go through parliament will remove some of the legal hurdles which will, in theory, make the process much easier and allow the combined authority to speed up the process. They can’t assume it was pass, though (even though it definitely will), so have to proceed as per current legislation.