Consultant sets the questions to frame bus franchising debate

Bus franchising could deliver better services but authorities should challenge the presumption that it is the best way forward, says a new report that has informed the forthcoming Buses Bill. Andrew Forster reports

The questions that local authorities should ask themselves before pursuing bus franchising are set out in a new report on England’s local bus market commissioned by the DfT from consultant KPMG. With the Chancellor offering Greater Manchester bus franchising powers as part of the area’s devolution deal in November 2014, the DfT asked KPMG provide “an understanding of the costs and benefits, and commercial consequences, of a more ‘mosaic’ pattern emerging in the bus...

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