Bus reregulation in the West Midlands looks increasingly inevitable after the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) decided to progress with an independent audit of a franchising assessment. A public and stakeholder consultation will follow later in 2024.
Following the decision, recently elected Mayor Richard Parker again criticised the deregulated model. He claims that bus services in the West Midlands “are failing” and that WMCA “is paying an additional £50 million in subsidy every year to private operators, and yet they increase prices and cut services year-on-year.”
After narrowly defeating incumbent Andy Street in May’s mayoral elections, Mr Parker made no secret of his desire to franchise buses in the region with an aspiration of the first such services starting in 2027. A decision by Mr Parker on whether that proceeds could come as soon as March 2025.
In a report to the WMCA board on 19 July, Director of Integrated Service Pete Bond highlighted that a formal assessment of franchising concluded how reregulation is “the most cost effective and efficient way of delivering bus services across the region as opposed to the current deregulated system.”
A further decision by the board is required before the consultation process can commence. Mr Bond’s report notes that should franchising be adopted, depot ownership by WMCA “is considered essential” to increase competition, and that a lack of competition thus far “has been responsible for much of the market failure.”
One-off transitional costs of bus franchising in the West Midlands have been calculated as £22.5 million, not including depot and fleet acquisition.
Mr Parker adds that the approach to bus services in the conurbation “has to change” and has underlined how one of his primary campaign pledges was to reform that delivery mechanism.
The decision to progress to independent audit represents what he calls “a major step forward towards delivering just that,” adding: “Our internal assessment has shown that franchising is the best option for the region.
“Now we will clarify these findings, with a view to rolling out the first publicly controlled buses on our streets from 2027.” In a bizarre claim, Mr Parker previously alleged that public transport in the West Midlands “is barely 9-5.”
