Buses Bill

[Barney]

RE: Buses Bill

(21/05/2016 20:19)Dentonian Wrote:  The big problem would be if one Mayor wants to Franchise and the other doesn't. Thinking about it, Wigan-Southport will be a major problem as it passes through West Lancashire which presumably has no plans for Devolution or an Elected Mayor. The Cheshire examples knutstransport mentions shouldn't be much of a problem, as relatively little mileage is in Greater Manchester, so with Cheshire East not being devolved, the status quo will presumably apply. I would think the only likely problem would be with single fares within GM. The 200 is already an administrative nightmare, as it is funded by Cheshire East, National Trust, MAplc and TFGM, albeit I assume the former is the lead authority.

I can't think of any scenario where franchising isn't adopted by any elected mayor once the bill becomes law. It has been put forward by a Tory government as an admission that bus deregulation outside of London hasn't worked and Labour and the Lib Dems have been campaigning for years for a change to the law on bus service provision.

In truth, the number and significance of cross-boundary services is minimal