Councils may be set to take control of buses
Final decision with GM mayor as 9 out of 10 authorities back move
COUNCIL leaders have taken an historic step toward reform of the bus system in Rochdale and across Greater Manchester.
At a special meeting on Tuesday to consider whether the combined authority should take control of the network, nine out of 10 council leaders voted in favour of adopting a franchising model.
It means post-pandemic passengers could be riding on services managed by leaders, with capped fares, consistent timetables and the historically elusive capacity to integrate ticketing across buses, trains and trams.
If reform jumps the final hurdle - the green light from Mayor Andy Burnham - there would also likely be a uniform livery across all services, akin to the pre-thatcher days of Manchester’s iconic orange buses.
Earlier this year, following a review of the proposal in light of the pandemic, transport chiefs had recommended leaders pursue a franchised system, stating that under all but the ‘least likely’ economic scenarios modelled, it would provide best value to the taxpayer.
That recommendation was then approved before scrutiny ahead of Tuesday’s Greater Manchester Combined Authority meeting, where the 10 councils - except Bolton - voted in favour of the proposal.
The final decision now lies with Mayor Andy Burnham, who is expected to make an announcement this week.
If it receives the mayor’s stamp of approval, Greater Manchester would become the first place outside of London to have a regulated system since the 1980s.
Rochdale Council leader Allen Brett said he was ‘ very supportive’ of the plan for reform.
As a member of the original Passenger Transport Authority, he recalled a family member having to ‘take the phone off the hook’ due to the number of calls after deregulation.
He added: “Parts of Rochdale are very rural, areas that need a bus service. So yes, you can get to Newhey by Metrolink, but then how do you get from Newhey tram stop up to Ogden, a beautiful part of the conurbation?”
Citing similar difficulties for access to Littleborough and places in Middleton and Heywood, he called for a ‘ proper bus service’.
Eamonn Boylan, chief executive of the GMCA, described a consultation which had taken more than 12,500 responses from the public and stakeholders.
He said they were confident ‘franchising was the best option to pursue’ - and that the economic case was ‘strong’.
Many bus operators, though, are strongly opposed to a franchising model.
But Mr Boyle said alternative partnership models - in which the bus firms retain more control - had been considered ‘in detail’ but that franchising was preferable, even taking into consideration the uncertainties created by the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said partnership would not provide the ‘platform for investment and fundamental structure and market change required’ to deliver Greater Manchester’s ambitions.
And further delay of the decision, he said, would postpone reform and therefore reduce GMCA’S ability to plan for the future and recovery from Covid-19.