£134m shake-up on buses goes up a gear
GREATER Manchester is to push ahead with work to take control of the region’s bus network in a groundbreaking move that would cost more than £134m.
Bosses on the Greater Manchester Combined Authority are expected to sign off a public consultation into bus franchising next week.
The move will put them head-tohead with private bus companies who have previously hinted they are prepared to launch legal action. Manchester council’s deputy mayor, Sir Richard Leese, said reregulating the region’s buses would see a better deal for passengers.
Town halls would co-ordinate the bus network and contract bus companies to run the services, with any profit being reinvested back into the buses.
Sir Richard said residents would benefit from more routes, integrated services and capped fares.
He said: “It will give passengers a far, far better deal and it’s really important for the economy of Greater Manchester, and for the environment. And it will help us get far more people out of private cars and into higher quality public transport.”
An independent audit has now been completed which concluded that the combined authority and Transport for Greater Manchester could afford to finance the plans.
The cost of switching to a regulated service, from now until 2024/25, is estimated at £134.5m.
It would see the lion’s share of funding – £78m – coming from the ‘earn back’ funding Greater Manchester gets from government under the devolution deal. A further £11m is already accounted for from this year’s mayoral precept rise, and £5m more is expected to be brought in through business rates. But each of the ten local authorities would have to contribute a one-off payment totalling £17.8m.
This would leave £22.7m of funding yet to be found.
Officers say it could be raised through a further increase in the mayoral precept, adding up to a £18.20 rise for ‘average’ residents over the five years, or £14.20 for Band B. If approved, the public consultation will start on October 14 and run through to January 8.