By Bill Heaney
Bus services in the west of Scotland are set to be brought back into local control under radical new plans, but only if West Dunbartonshire Council gives the green light to a plan which will cost £millions to implement and run.
The current deregulated network could be replaced with a franchise system like the ones in London and Manchester.
This means fares, routes and ticketing would be controlled by a local public body such as Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT).
However, SPT has said it could take seven years to set up and would need at least £45 million in extra funding every year.
Dumbarton MSP Dame Jackie Baillie MSP, right, said: “I fully support the news that SPT will explore options for bus franchising, including the prospect of local bus services being brought back under public control.
“Areas such as Dumbarton, the Vale of Leven and Helensburgh often suffer from the desire of private transport operators to satisfy shareholders and put profit before public need.
“Many are crying out for improved and more reliable services.
“Scottish Labour has long campaigned for local bus services to be brought back into the public domain and I am delighted that SPT are paving the way.”
In the meantime, Bus Service Improvement Partnerships (BSIPs) will be introduced, where contracts are put in place with bus firms to run services.
These allow a local transport authority like SPT to impose a minimum frequency for services and a cap on fares. But they cannot set routes or the actual fares.
SPT predict this will require at least 200 more buses across the region and a multi-million pound subsidy. The authority predicts they could be put in place within 12 months.
Reform recommendations were approved at an SPT meeting earlier. It said it would consult widely on the recommendations over the next few months.
However, residents in anti democratic West Dunbartonshire do not have much faith in council consultations or public empowerment since recent petitions with as many as 1,500 signatures against matters such as the closure of Balloch Library and the wrongful sacking of a GP at Dumbarton Health Centre have fallen on deaf ears. There is also the serious matter of bullying which could cost the council around £1 million in compensation.
Under the planned franchise system, bus firms would have to bid for contracts within an approved network.
A public body, such as SPT, would set the precise routes, the timetable, the frequency and take in fares.
It means that routes with lower patronage are subsidised by busier, more popular routes.
But bus operator McGill’s has warned that introducing a franchise system will create a “funding black hole for taxpayers”.
Deregulation, which was introduced by Margaret Thatcher in 1986, was meant to drive down fares and improve services amid competition, but has led to complaints about fewer services, punctuality and higher costs.
Bus use plummeted
Critics say bus firms cherry-pick the profitable routes, and leave the rest.
According to SPT, bus use in the region has plummeted by a third in the past decade – equating to 70 million fewer bus journeys.
And despite the fact that the bus network is shrinking, with fewer bus routes being served, fares have risen much faster than the cost of living.
SPT’s chairman, Councillor Stephen Dornan, said it was a “bold and ambitious plan” which “sets a strong approach to tackle a declining bus market”.
“It gives us opportunities to build for growth, and deliver a network that is attractive, accessible, and affordable to both passengers in our communities who rely on the bus to get around and those who we need to get ‘on board’ by offering an attractive alternative to the private car,” he said.
“However, any franchising option will take time and investment to establish so we need to look at doing something now to halt the declining bus market.
“BSIPs, which also require suitable investment, offer the best opportunity for a significant, interim improvement while we work to establish the world-class local bus franchise model the people of the west of Scotland deserve.”
Inevitable, he called for extra funding from the Scottish government.
A franchise system is in place in London and Manchester and is also being introduced in Liverpool.
SPT has warned it could between five and seven years for a franchise system like the Bee Network in Manchester to be in operation. The initial set-up costs will be £15m.
But Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester, told BBC Scotland News it makes services accountable to people.
“If the bus sails right past [as it often does according to evidence given at the recent public meeting in Bellsmyre re school travel services], or doesn’t turn up at all, there’s nothing you can do to get come-back against those operators, and hold them to account for the travelling public,” he said. “That’s what deregulation means.
“Now there is something I can do.
“They may suffer financial penalties if they don’t turn up on time, and that’s a world of difference.”
Mr Burnham argues that another benefit is that money spent by passengers – the so-called “fare box” – comes back to the network, not the bus companies, if more people use the bus.
“We take the upside of that, and we use that upside to keep the fares low,” he said.
“And because the fares are going lower, even more people might use it and you create a virtuous circle, rather than a spiral of decline that we’ve had in this city for four decades prior to the Bee Network.
“The evidence from Greater Manchester is clear – putting buses back under public control improve services. It makes you able to recycle the proceeds into keeping fares low and, critically, it makes the people the bosses of the buses.”
Bus operator McGill’s has previously warned that bus franchising could create a £100m annual black hole for Scottish taxpayers and said it would take legal action if it went ahead.
On Friday its chief executive Ralph Roberts said: “The bus users of Strathclyde consistently tell us that their number one issue in using buses is congestion, which affects service reliability, journey times and cost of travel.
“The biggest priority for SPT should be to push local authorities to manage their infrastructure under the powers they already have which will allow bus users to make more consistent, quicker and cheaper journeys.”
Andrew Carter, chief executive of the economic think tank Centre for Cities, said bus franchising could improve access to Glasgow city centre for about 300,000 people.
“It will lead to better routes, better pricing and simpler fares for passengers,” he said. “It’s one step towards reversing decline in bus travel and getting the economy firing again.”
He added that Greater Manchester had seen an 8% increase in bus passenger numbers.
Transport Scotland said all local transport authorities were now able to consider partnership working, franchising and local authority-run services which sit alongside their ability to subsidise services.
A spokesman said: “We welcome SPT’s decision to explore all available bus powers as part of their Strathclyde Regional Bus Strategy.
“It is the decision for each local transport authority to determine which powers are suitable to improve services in their specific area.”