Plans to bring the local bus network back under public control have taken another step forward today.
North East Mayor Kim McGuinness has announced that options for bus reform will be discussed at Cabinet in July. A report will recommend that the Mayor and Cabinet progress with the next step of the formal process – preparing a Franchising Scheme Assessment (FSA).
An FSA is a complex statutory legal process and is currently expected to take two years and eight months.
This is reflective of lessons learnt from other regions which have undertaken the process as well as the unique urban, rural and coastal geography of the North East CA. Acceleration opportunities will also be sought whenever possible.
The Government has announced in the King’s Speech that it will bring forward legislative changes to accelerate bus franchising which may potentially be of relevance.
In the short-term, improvements are already being rolled-out across the region’s public transport network using the region’s Bus Service Improvement Plan funding – with the North East Combined Authority Cabinet due in July to formally allocate £101.2m on a wide range of schemes which include affordable fare schemes and improvements to local bus services.
North East Mayor, Kim McGuinness, said: “Our bus system needs to work better for local people. I said I would greatly improve public transport in my manifesto and I will make this a reality.
“Bus travel is incredibly important to residents – it's by far the largest form of public transport in our region, responsible for 106 million journeys in 2022/23 but passenger levels have been in a steady decline for decades and are still much lower than pre-covid levels.
“We need to recognise that the existing system is broken and things need to change if we are to grow bus use and improve things for passengers. Local people need our bus system to be more reliable - to trust buses will turn up on time - and affordable, so that cheap tickets help people reach new opportunities for work or education.
“I hear from residents about the issues they face every day and it’s not good enough - the bus system is simply not working for the vast majority of passengers.
“I'm determined to deliver a high quality, integrated network so that once again public transport is something we can put our trust in, and something we can all be proud of.”