Greater Manchester prepares to pioneer bus franchising

Greater Manchester Combined Authority is consulting on its plan to become the first place in Britain to franchise bus services. Andrew Forster extracts some of the detail from more than 1,000 pages of analysis

Andrew Forster

25 October 2019

The franchise sub-areas

TfGM would retain low fare routes such as Stagecoach`s Magic`s, at least initially

Patronage is forecast to fall under all scenarios. The smallest decline is with franchising

Ever since Britain’s bus market outside London was liberalised in October 1986 there have been voices calling for a return to a more regulated regime. The bus Quality Contract powers of Labour’s Transport Act 2000 opened up the possibility but the requirements on public authorities were so onerous that no area came forward with a plan. Legislative changes in 2008 made the process a little simpler and eventually the Tyne and Wear PTE bit the bullet. Yet its proposal collapsed in 2015...