Quote from: ellspurs on Yesterday at 05:05:45 PMhttps://www.route-one.net/news/west-midlands-bus-franchising-process-set-to-start-in-2025-mayor/I note with interest from that article the following:
Go-Ahead'll be around soon, the saviours of everything and such other nonsense.
QuoteIn a bold statement, the Combined Authority claims that Transport for the West Midlands (TfWM) "is covering about half the running costs of bus services" already. Further detail on how that figure has been arrived at has been requested from TfWM.Now I'm under the impression that the main reason why bus services are being heavily subsidised (through central Government funding streams that are allocated to the WMCA/TfWM) is because the Government pretty much destroyed the bus industry in 2020 with the introduction of the Covid pandemic lockdown. (Whether you agree or disagree with the actions taken is a whole other kettle of fish)
WMCA says it has spent over £75 million on bus subsidies in 18 months. The current package is in place until the end of 2024. TfWM is currently in talks with the government and operators over a continuation to prevent service cuts or fare increases from that point.
Bus usage had been in some decline prior to 2020, and following the end of pandemic restrictions, while usage has been increasing, passenger numbers are still not quite what they were.
In the same period of time, inflation has increased, along with energy and fuel costs, yet bus fares steadfastly remained the same, until last year.
The talk is of "taking back control" of bus services, but I think the reality is that no matter whether they stay as commercially-operated or publicly-operated, there will still need to be subsidy support, or there will have to be an inflation-matching fare increase (ie, "huge") just so that revenues can match operating costs.
What I think we will likely see as well is a reduced network of bus services, with those that currently rely on subsidy being withdrawn and replaced with 'demand-responsive transport' (DRT) schemes instead. Which sound like great ideas on paper, but actually end up costing more to operate, with the only beneficiaries seeming to be the tech companies selling and providing the software and apps to run them, but are nothing more than glorified taxi services.
It's also interesting that Andy Street began the commissioning of this report in 2023, which will be published in July 2024, and I dread to think how much this has already cost the taxpayer. Andy Street starts this, and Richard Parker will take all the credit.