Switch to franchising allows for some flexibility including council run buses

The long-promised introduction of franchising of bus services in Wales seems to be arriving with the tabling of legislation before the Senedd. Rhodri Clark looks at the evolution of the detailed policy and how it fits in the Welsh Government’s overall approach to bus service provision.

The Welsh Government’s aim that all bus services in Wales should be franchised has seen an overly prescriptive approach over the past few years. Not only has this made a more demanding challenge to implement, but because of the existence of many rural areas where all services are already tendered, and competition between operators is limited or non-existent. What would be gained from franchising, for example, the Pembrokeshire bus services which have been operated for years by the county...

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