(19 Jul 2025, 10:21 am)Superman wrote Ben is sticking by his manifesto promise of not to increase local taxes or implement a 'Mayor style' tax to pay for such a project. I think that isn't an unreasonable position.
All of the Labour Metro mayors are jumping on franchising, as its hugely emotive and wins votes, but they either aren't being honest about how it works or they are not clever enough to understand the actual costs. I suspect the latter.
A review of the financial position of the Bee Network in Manchester suggests it is currently costing around £100m more per year to operate the exact same network. So guess where that is going? Bus operators are laughing all the way to the bank. DfT grants are currently bailing Manchester out. We all know the government bails London out and always has, but it's the capital city, so it has to look good, so to speak. Multiply that position across the country in 4-6 years time and the DfT/Gov wont be able to help everyone. Franchising will then either be cut back to providing a worse network than now or will need to be funded locally. Neither will be acceptable.
I think the solution is simple really. The local authorities own the routes but instead of the bus companies getting paid to operate services they pay the local authority to operate routes. The company then keeps any profits they make. Think of it as similar to sport or movie rights what TV channels pay for you can give them profitable routes like the 36, but to get the 36 they have to operate less profitable routes as well. That’s just one idea, it would obviously need to be done by government but I think that’s one solution. Yes the big companies like Stagecoach and Go North east might kick up a fuss to try get things to change but they would likely go along with it to stop smaller companies getting a foothold.