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03
Oct
North Yorkshire bus franchising: What happens now?
Mayor David Skaith decision on bus franchising on Friday does not commit to a franchise policy for the region’s buses — but it is a first step towards the model.
Instead, Mr Skaith has issued a formal Notice of Statutory Intent to Prepare an Assessment of a Proposed Franchising Scheme, with up to £3.5m allocated to carry out that work.
The assessment will consider whether franchising could produce better outcomes for passengers, communities and businesses and inform any future decision.
The work will also allow York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority to consider the results of the Department for Transport-funded Rural Bus Franchising Pilot Study, which is expected to report at the end of October.
David Skaith, Mayor of York and North Yorkshire signs a Notice of Statutory Intent to Prepare an Assessment of Proposed Franchising Scheme.
Under franchising, the public authority would have significantly greater control over how the bus network operates.
Government guidance says franchising is not compulsory and local transport authorities must decide whether it is the right approach for their area.
The combined authority already has devolved powers to introduce bus franchising as part of the York and North Yorkshire devolution arrangements.
The authority approved its latest Bus Service Improvement Plan, which sets out ambitions for a more reliable, integrated and accessible network, including better rural connectivity, affordable fares and improved evening and Sunday services.
In his statement following Friday's vote, Mr Skaith said the existing bus network was not working for too many residents.
He said:
Bus services across York and North Yorkshire just aren’t working for our residents.
Too many people are cut off from training, jobs, leisure and being able to get where they need to go.
We need to move away from a system that allows private operators to extract profit from our region, so we can reinvest that to support more services.
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