Streetwise:West Mids mayor sets transport plans in motion

Not everyone was in favour of the having metro mayors but, love them or hate them, they’re here to stay. At least until the next big change of Government policy. In the West Midlands, former John Lewis boss, Andy Street, has the job, elected as a Conservative, despite the area’s historic Labour leanings. But, as Peter Plisner has been finding out, that hasn’t stopped the new mayor getting on with the job

Talk about transport with any of the new metropolitan mayors and one of the hottest topics for debate will probably be bus franchising. It seems that, ever since Margaret Thatcher’s 1980s Government deregulated the buses, there have been calls for some form of re-regulation. Let’s not forget that transport ministers at the time were happy to provide the climate for a free-for-all, as long as it didn’t include the streets of London. Since then, local authorities have looked...

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