The fog begins to clear
‘Draft guidance’ may not seem much to hang your hat on, but in relation to the Labour government’s plans for franchising, it’s a start.
First impressions count, and from what I have read in the 56-page document which landed on my desk today (9 September), the runes seem to paint a picture of a government which is anxious to avoid local authorities plunging themselves deeper into debt to achieve what is seen by many bus operators as political ideology.
As I have summarised HERE, the draft guidance seems to create escape route for councils which have run the numbers on franchising and found they would bankrupt themselves with its many costs. On Louise Haigh’s watch, the decision to franchise brings with it a responsibility for collating and issuing service registrations, administering BSOG, and living up to a slew of box-ticking right down to training drivers in managing antisocial behaviour.
Those councils blanching at the thought of franchising have been strongly encouraged to manage down the expectations of ideologues, and shrink franchising areas down to manageable corridors, and always have to demonstrate that a much simpler Enhanced Partnerships wouldn’t do the trick. In that respect, some operators may regard this as a win.
The small print also has the words ‘Service permit’ writ large within it, so even if the council does begin the arduous task of franchising, there’s a chink in the armour which small independents in particular can exploit. OK, creating profitable services which avoid the major passenger corridors (which will almost certainly be the core of any franchised area) isn’t easy, but the ingenuity of operators who know their patch never fails to impress me.
The draft guidance is, it must be said, littered with ‘wherever possibles’ and other get-outs which avoid a mandate, but does heavily focus on the franchiser’s responsibility to run the whole system, including the infrastructure…and deliver results. I’m among many cynics who doubt that council transport planners have a magic wand not possessed by bus operators, and that modal shift and passenger growth won’t be achieved by painting all buses the same colour and sharing ticketing arrangements.
However, huge amounts of focused marketing with a database unobtainable by operators might make a difference; and better bus stations, bus lanes, priority traffic lights and workplace parking levies definitely will. In the deregulated market, these things are not priorities for many local authorities, but under franchising demands, might suddenly assume greater importance.
We are where we are. But never has the development of dialogue with your local authorities mattered more.
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