South Yorkshire takes step towards bus franchising
A step towards bus franchising has been taken in South Yorkshire.
A Franchising Assessment has stated that buses in the region should be taken back under public control with depots and fleet owned by the Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA) as the preferred option for bus reform.
The Franchising Assessment report is subject to approval at an MCA Board meeting on 12 March 2024. If it is approved, the next step is for the MCA to obtain a report from an independent auditor in order to proceed with the Franchising Scheme. Then a 12-week public consultation must be run ensure that local passengers, businesses and transport providers can have their say before the MCA takes the decision as to whether to implement the Scheme.
“Next week’s meeting will allow us to take the next big step towards bus reform and if the MCA Board agree, we will then move to an independent audit; the next stage in the process” – South Yorkshire’s Mayor, Oliver Coppard
South Yorkshire’s Mayor, Oliver Coppard, said: “At next week’s MCA Board meeting, we will be taking a big decision about the future of our buses; the next big step towards radically transforming how buses work in South Yorkshire.
“Because right now our bus services are in a spiral of decline. That’s not just a disaster for our economy, or our environment, it’s denying opportunity to people right across our communities.
“That’s why I have always been committed to radically improving our public transport network; because ultimately if we want people to stay near and go far in South Yorkshire, we need a better public transport system. We are already getting the tram back under public control, and now this is another huge step towards us getting better buses and getting back the world class bus system we once had.
“Having seen the full Franchising Assessment, I believe the assessment shows that bus franchising – taking buses back into public control, so we make all the major decisions not private bus companies – is the best way to do just that; to radically transform how our buses work, and to deliver the services we deserve. Next week’s meeting will allow us to take the next big step towards bus reform and if the MCA Board agree, we will then move to an independent audit; the next stage in the process.
“I want us to have nothing less than a world class, fully integrated public transport system connecting up our buses, trams, trains and active travel routes, so we can give everybody choice and freedom about how to travel and move across South Yorkshire.”