Crunch time for Nexus bus QC

The North East Combined Authority will decide next week whether to proceed with plans for the country’s first bus Quality Contract Scheme. Giving the proposals the green light is likely to set the scene for a bitter battle with Tyne and Wear’s operators

Andrew Forster

17 October 2014

Stagecoach and Go-Ahead on the streets of Newcastle

A Quality Contract Scheme would initially boost patronage, says Nexus, but rising car ownership would then drive a downward trend

In the absence of a Quality Contract, rising concessionary fares reimbursement payments will force cuts to tendered service and discretionary concessionary spending, says Nexus

The report on Tyne and Wear bus policy going to next week’s meeting of the North East Combined Authority runs to more than 900 pages, surely making it one of the longest council transport reports of recent times. The length is an indicator of the high stakes involved: if the seven council leaders decide to pursue a bus Quality Contract Scheme (QCS) for Tyne and Wear, then the conurbation’s bus operators face being stripped of their right to operate services. The PTE, Nexus,...