Small bus companies invited to bid for north Birmingham routes

Small and independent bus companies are being invited to bid to run individual bus routes in north Birmingham and Walsall, as the next stage of bringing the region's buses back under public control gets under way.

The regional mayor, Richard Parker, announced on Tuesday that 20 selected routes would be offered through seven contracts. The regional transport authority has designed them as single-route franchises, in which a private operator wins a contract to run one specific line for a set period. The idea is to give smaller firms a foothold in a market that has long been dominated by a few big operators.

"Squeezed out by larger companies"

"We have brilliant, independent bus operators across the region who know our communities well, but they've often been squeezed out by larger companies," Mr Parker said.

"By creating single-route contracts, we're giving local businesses the chance to win, grow, and play a part in delivering a public transport system our region can be proud of."

He added: "Bringing our buses back under public control is all about delivering better routes, affordable fares, and reliable timetables while creating a fairer and stronger economy, especially for the thousands of people who rely on buses for their daily journeys."

How franchising works

Under franchising, the mayor and the combined authority set the routes, the timetables and the fares, and pay operators to run the services. Operators no longer decide for themselves which routes to run or what to charge, so the network becomes directly accountable to the public through the mayor rather than to shareholders.

The change is being brought in across the region in three phases. North Birmingham and Walsall come first. The second phase will follow in Dudley, Sandwell and Wolverhampton in 2028, and the third in Solihull and south Birmingham in 2029.

The single-route contracts announced this week are aimed squarely at family firms and local operators who have struggled to compete with the big groups for work on the region's network, and who might not have the buses or drivers to take on a whole depot.

What it means for passengers

For passengers, the change should not mean a different bus at the stop overnight. Because fares and timetables will be set centrally, the aim is a simpler network in which the same ticket and the same rules apply whichever company is running the bus.

Supporters of franchising argue it allows profitable routes to help pay for less busy ones, and makes it easier to plan a network around where people need to go rather than where operators can make money. Critics have warned that it moves the financial risk on to the public purse if passenger numbers fall.

The combined authority is running a public campaign, Your Bus, Your Say, asking people what they want from the network as the plans develop.