The financial risk of bus operation in West Yorkshire should stay with businesses and not local authorities, according to a survey of residents commissioned by a group of operators ahead of the closure of a consultation into proposed franchising in the region.
In the work carried out by Censuswide involving 1,001 respondents, 66% want such risk to sit with operators, the group claims. 60% prefer bus reform to start this year, which would come via the Enhanced Partnership Plus model previously put forward by the industry and its representatives in West Yorkshire.
Key there is the speed of improvements. Enhanced Partnership Plus is claimed to be able to deliver from 2024 against an expected 2026 start for franchising. 30% were in favour of improvements via the latter timeframe and regulatory approach.
A further finding is that 53% of respondents are in favour of continued operation by private companies but with “greater scrutiny and accountability to a public body,” although it is the case under franchising proposals that services would still be delivered by private operators under contract to the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA).
WYCA’s consultation (document here) on bus franchising closes on Sunday 7 January. A decision by Mayor Tracy Brabin on whether it will proceed is expected on 14 March.
The Enhanced Partnership Plus proposal was published by a group of operators, including major players Arriva, First Bus and Transdev Blazefield alongside various SME businesses. It advocates a variety of improvements to buses in West Yorkshire via partnership with WYCA and notes that the approach would see “accelerating public control” of services.
Speaking about the survey work carried out for operators, First Bus in North and West Yorkshire Managing Director Andrew Cullen says: “These results deliver an overwhelming message that the public agrees with operators: Enhanced Partnership Plus, whereby we all work more closely with the Combined Authority, is what people want for West Yorkshire.
“We agree with the Mayor that bus reform is needed, but we strongly believe that there is a better alternative to franchising by choosing Enhanced Partnership Plus, an option that is truly unique to the needs of West Yorkshire.
“This bespoke solution delivers bus reform more quickly, at less cost, and with significantly less risk to the public purse, at a time when local authority budgets are increasingly under pressure.”
The group involved in the polling claim that a majority of respondents were unaware of the predicted £100 million set-up cost that is expected if bus franchising in West Yorkshire goes ahead.
A prospect of franchising has generated concern among SME bus operators there. One has said that thoughts of reregulation have already brought on “unnecessary stress,” while in late 2023, newcomer Yorkshire Buses stated in a communication to passengers a belief that SMEs will “inevitably be squeezed out” under a franchised landscape.
In its Bus Reform Assessment published in October 2023, WYCA noted that engagement with SME operators had proven difficult. It has proposed the deployment of small ‘lots’ of routes alongside larger awards to assist with their entry into a regulated market.
A similar policy forms part of franchising in Greater Manchester, but SME bus operators won very little from the first and second tranches there.
