Campaigners criticise WECA delays over bus franchising

Two buses passing each other
-Credit: (Image: Bristol Live)


Campaigners and councillors have criticised a lack of urgency over bus franchising for the Bristol region. After years of delays, a report will finally be discussed by council leaders on the West of England Combined Authority (Weca) committee on Friday, September 20 – but it comprises just eight pages and only asks them to give the go-ahead for a study that will not report back until 2025/26.

Campaign group Reclaim Our Buses says the bus system is in “crisis” and that Weca’s stance is “only making the situation worse”. Bristol city Cllr Toby Wells (Green, Knowle) told Weca’s overview and scrutiny committee on Monday, September 16, that the combined authority’s bus strategy, published in 2020, promised to investigate franchising but that little had happened since.

He said: “Now we have a report coming to the committee which is eight pages long and says effectively nothing at all other than agreeing that bus franchising, alongside some other options, is something we should do another study on. And we won’t see the outcomes of that study until the 2025 financial year, so at least another nine months before the public gets to see any outcomes.”

READ MORE:'Council leader can't be serious about transport' as locals slam Bristol's proposed transport changes

READ MORE:Bristol e-scooter trial review ahead of Tier-Dott contract decision

Cllr Wells asked Labour metro mayor Dan Norris: “So what have you and your combined authority been doing in all that time when you’ve said you’ve been working on bus franchising when actually we don’t see anything at all?” Mr Norris replied: “I’m always very guarded and careful about these things and I’ve always talked about 2024 as a year – it will happen some time this year, it will come through.

“But I’ve never ducked the fact that I don’t think bus franchising is a silver bullet, and other people are saying this too as we look into this. Officers got a little bit over-ambitious about [the report being published in] early 2024.

“They shouldn't have said that because it was never going to be possible to do it that quickly, frankly, and we will need fuller reports because we have particularly unique challenges in our region.” He said the West of England did not have money from an existing mass transit system, such as the trams in Manchester, which was vital for investment into buses, and that the three councils that comprise Weca – Bristol, South Gloucestershire and Bath & North East Somerset – had frozen their money for subsidised routes.

Mr Norris said the region was also lacking a transport executive, which was essential to operate a franchising system. He said: “I would love to have done the report the year before last, never mind this year.

“As we’ve done preliminary investigations we’ve discovered it's very complicated, very intense. We need to take into account whatever it is the new government is going to say and that’s not yet clear either.

“So we’re going to have this report later this year and we will have a further report next year because we are going to have to take into account all the variables that are not yet clear.” In a statement after the meeting, Reclaim Our Buses West of England said the report, which recommends the region’s leaders approve £500,000 for a study into bus improvement options, fell “far short of the decisive action needed”.

It said: “After years of delays, an eight-page document – which is essentially a budget proposal – falls short of addressing the core issues affecting bus services across the West of England. Weca first promised a report on bus franchising in 2020, with a target delivery date of 2022/23.

“However, after repeated delays and reassurances that the report was ‘coming soon’, we were finally told to expect it by September 2024. When the ‘report’ was finally delivered, it did little to provide clear or actionable solutions to the ongoing bus crisis.

“Despite the pressing need for reform, the most recent paper suggests further investigation into options beyond franchising, such as enhanced partnerships or public ownership, rather than making a firm commitment. The public will now have to wait until 2025 – nine months from now – before seeing any meaningful information is released, despite franchising being part of Labour’s mandate and included in the manifestos of the three major parties in the region – the Greens, Labour and Liberal Democrats.

“Reclaim Our Buses strongly believes that franchising is the only viable long-term solution. The paper’s lack of a clear commitment to franchising is particularly frustrating given the growing evidence that enhanced partnerships fail to hold private operators accountable.

“Without the authority to make meaningful changes, any alternative to franchising will leave the region stuck with the same unreliable and expensive services. The West of England’s bus system is in crisis, with routes being cut, fares rising and services becoming less reliable.

“Weca’s passive approach and continued delays are only making the situation worse.”