The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) has opened a bus consultation that will assess the viability of taking back control of its buses through bus franchising.
Bus services in the region have been been deregulated since 1986, with private operators responsible for setting routes, timetables, service standards, fares and tickets and running services to make a profit.
Were SYMCA to take over operations, as a public body, it could reinvest any profit back into improving the system instead of paying dividends to shareholders and funding separate business initiatives.
Equally, SYMCA would be responsible for any revenue shortfall should costs exceed the fares revenue.
Under bus franchising private operators would bid for contracts to run bus services and be held to account for running a good quality, punctual and reliable service.
Gaining control of the bus franchises would give SYMCA powers to decide:
- Routes
- Times service quality
- Ticket options
- Fare cost
- Bus improvements
- Public transport interconnectivity
However, the government has set out a number of steps SYMCA must follow before it can introduce bus franchising.
This includes commissioning an assessment looking at different options for running bus services that concluded that bus franchising is the best option to deliver SYMCA’s strategic objectives.
The consultation period will be 12 weeks and will close at 11:59 on 15 January 2025.
Achievements and innovations in public transport planning will be celebrated at the third annual CiTTi Awards, which will be held on 26 November 2024 at De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms in London. Visit www.cittiawards.co.uk to learn more about this unmissable event for the UK’s transportation sector – and to book your table!
