The new government is pushing ahead with a bus franchising revolution, but there are potential pitfalls that must be avoided
Franchising has already arrived in Greater Manchester
There’s a buzz around buses right now, and it is all about franchising. We’ve seen the first application of the franchising legislation used in Greater Manchester to bring buses back under public control in September 2023. The new Labour government set out an ambitious legislative programme in the King’s Speech which included the Better Buses Bill with proposals for additional powers for service delivery in England. In principle the proposals set out by Labour are similar to those enacted in Scotland under the Transport Scotland Act 2019. And it’s likely that similar proposals for bus reform in Wales will follow soon.
The Better Buses Bill (and overall greater public control for our public transport system) revolves around three elements: Franchising, Enhanced Partnerships and Bus Service Improvement Partnerships.
Franchising is front and centre stage and is popular with elected mayors in combined authorities. The government is proposing that franchising powers be extended (and accelerated) to many other English local authorities. Franchising will not be the answer to every transport challenge. In England existing legislation will continue to support Enhanced Partnerships between councils and operators alongside Bus Service Improvement Plans, both of which continue to deliver positive changes for many bus users.
The Transport Scotland Act 2019 introduced similar powers with its own equivalent of Enhanced Partnerships and Bus Service Improvement Partnerships, but importantly provided the ability for local authorities to (re)enter the bus market by establishing municipally owned bus companies – which the new Labour government has promised to do in England.
No ‘one size fits all’ approach
The good news is that a new regulated bus market will not attempt to be a ‘one size fits all’ approach. Sensible policies will prevail and follow the principle that the market for buses is inherently local and requires solutions that are tailored carefully to the needs of local users.
Arguably the most positive success stories from deregulation after 1986 happened when local bus companies focused firmly on the markets they knew well, helping to stave off the overall decline in bus use.
Care is required as the ambitious new reform plans are interpreted by each local authority with their own set of circumstances, led by politicians with differing aspirations for local transport and wildly different financial pots available.
At present of course we find ourselves in a relatively simple starting position. With the exception of London and Greater Manchester, all parts of Great Britain are still delivering bus services under the basic legislation which dates back to the 1985 Transport Act. It is therefore primarily the role of local authorities to fill gaps in the commercial bus network, although that is likely to start changing rapidly as more combined authorities in the north of England begin the process of franchising their bus services.
So, what will franchising look like?
A fundamental part of the franchising process is the definition of the franchise area, which currently looks likely to comprise the whole of the relevant combined authority, a situation which we might expect to be replicated as and when more local authorities choose to explore the franchising option. The need to define hard and fast boundaries for the franchise area will create potential challenges where neighbouring franchise areas share boundaries or where the franchise area needs to interact with a particularly ambitious Enhanced Partnership.
The biggest challenge is likely to be simplifying complex fare structures which seem to have become an inherent part of the deregulated commercial market. More uniform fare structures must be implemented and the bewildering range of alternative ticketing options considerably simplified as well as creating opportunities for better value multi-modal travel.
We can already see simplified fares in London and Greater Manchester. London has always led the charge when it comes to a single ticket range and an equitable fare regime. This will be all well and good when Greater Manchester is the only franchising authority surrounded by authorities and operators still providing services under deregulated arrangements. But what happens when the next combined authorities begin their transition to franchising? Greater Manchester will find itself sharing a boundary with West Yorkshire to the east and Merseyside to the west. Each of those combined authorities will more than likely have their own aspirations for simplified ticketing and an affordable fare regime. We may even find ourselves with buses in large parts of the north of England painted in very similar liveries, with reported aspirations that Merseyside and even Warrington will have buses in similar colours to Greater Manchester’s Bee Network. Does this mean that we will find ourselves swapping one form of complexity and confusion for another when we try to explain to passengers why their “go anywhere” bus pass is only valid on some of the yellow buses, but not all?
The biggest challenge is likely to be simplifying complex fare structures
None of this of course is insurmountable and many of the boundaries have already been designed to mirror typical travelling patterns. But as more and more councils begin to roll out alternative delivery models, which might well include directly running buses themselves, these complexities will start to proliferate. And it’s not just the ticket range itself. Even where authorities are able to agree on some form of harmonisation, and let’s not hold our breath, it will be necessary to agree some sort of revenue sharing and put in place systems which are able to carry out that reconciliation in an equitable manner with onboard equipment capable of handling different products. It will be critical for authorities to integrate comprehensive solutions into their long-term plans to ensure equipment compatibility and that systems are properly configured.
Where boundaries involve adjoining franchising authorities trying to reconcile these differences will involve only a few stakeholders. Bus operators in franchised areas most likely will simply be fulfilling the requirements of their contracts, and with suitable collaboration the franchising authorities will be able to specify suitable equipment and procure harmonised back office systems. But what about where a franchised authority adjoins an authority which is pursuing a looser relationship between council and operators? In these situations the number of stakeholders will quickly multiply and it will be difficult to avoid a patchwork quilt of local ticketing initiatives alongside potentially very different approaches to marketing, information, vehicle standards, and so on. This is likely to become particularly difficult in the south of England where there are already many local transport authorities pursuing their own local agendas.
Interurban bus services
However the biggest potential casualty in the growing patchwork quilt of bus service delivery might well be our interurban buses. This would be hugely ironic as they have proved to be very resilient in the face of falling bus patronage, with a number of examples where operators have achieved growth. In a world with a proliferation of hard boundaries around franchise areas, the process of exempting or licencing cross-boundary services, which could travel across multiple boundaries, will become increasingly onerous for the commercial operators who provide them.
Deregulated operators have been able to operate without being restricted by public sector boundaries, and this flexibility must be preserved
At the same time, it’s by no means clear that local authorities will have the capacity or appetite to pick up the planning and financing of such services alongside the challenges of their own local networks. To secure the future of one of the most successful aspects of the deregulated market, it’s essential that Better Buses Bill in England, along with efforts to improve bus services in Scotland and Wales, addresses the real challenge of maintaining flexibility. Deregulated operators have been able to operate without being restricted by public sector boundaries, and this flexibility must be preserved.
Careful of the patchwork approach
Avoiding unintended consequences from this patchwork approach to reforming bus service delivery in England and Scotland requires careful, detailed, and pragmatic decision-making. So too for Wales where the vision is for a majority franchised bus network integrated with a nationalised rail system, albeit overcoming boundary issues with its neighbour.
Whatever transpires, let’s not forget that our number one priority is attracting brand new bus passengers. And, lots of them. Let the bus revolution begin!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Neill Birch is business development director for public transport at SYSTRA UK & Ireland.
This story appears inside the latest issue of Passenger Transport.
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The post There’s a buzz around franchising first appeared on Passenger Transport.