Hundreds respond to bus franchise consultation

Hundreds of people have had their say on plans to move bus services in the West Midlands to a franchise model.

Members of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) were told 388 residents have replied to the consultation since it launched on 6 January.

It will run until 30 March and transport chiefs claim thousands of passengers, residents, businesses and organisations will take part before it ends.

The franchising scheme was outlined by the region's mayor Richard Parker shortly after he was elected.

Under the model, Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) would set bus fares, timetables and routes, while awarding contracts to private bus operators to run those routes.

The WMCA currently provides an annual subsidy of about £50m to private operators.

The authority said the move to a franchise model would cost £22.5m over three years.

The decision to start the consultation was taken in December but some WMCA board members at the meeting on Monday said, while they agreed the current system needed reform, they wanted to understand all the risks connected with the franchise model.

In response, Mr Parker said: "We're only doing this for one reason and that is to improve services to our residents and the connectivity they can benefit from."

He said 80% of people who used public transport were bus passengers but claimed the network was "failing too many people".

"There are many hurdles we need to jump yet and this is the start of the process and not the finish," he added.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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