Colonel William A. Phillips

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The Bus Services Act 2017 (c. 21) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It provides for local transport authorities to create partnership schemes to improve bus services in their areas, and to introduce advanced ticketing schemes. The Act also provides for mayoral combined authorities to partially re-regulate bus services by creating franchise schemes similar to the one operated by Transport for London. It, however, prohibits local authorities from reversing complete bus deregulation, which had taken place following the Transport Act 1985, by forming a company for the purpose of providing local services.

Franchising schemes

Greater Manchester

See also: Bee Network

The Mayor of Greater Manchester announced on 13 December 2017 that, following regulations laid down by the Secretary of State for Transport under the Act coming in to effect the following week, Greater Manchester would become the first city-region to start the process of bus franchising by requesting data from bus operators.[1]

On 24 June 2019, Transport for Greater Manchester proposed that a bus franchise system was the region's preferred option.[2] The Greater Manchester Combined Authority accepted the assessment on 28 June 2019 and instructed independent auditors to provide a report as required by the Act.

Following on from the audit, the GMCA announced a public consultation on the combined authority's plans for its franchising scheme on 7 October 2019, with the consultation running for three months and closing in January 2020.[3] The consultation closed on 8 January 2020, with more than 8,000 responses with the results and a final decision on the scheme planned for publication by March 2020.[4] In June 2020 the GMCA announced that 83% of consultation respondents supported the proposed franchise scheme,[5] however the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on bus services prompted them to carry out an additional consultation running from 2 December 2020 until the 29 January 2021.[6][7] In March 2021 the GMCA announced that 82% of respondents to the second consultation supported the franchising scheme.[8]

On 25 March 2021 Andy Burnham announced the decision that buses in Greater Manchester would be franchised following nine of the ten local authority members of the GMCA voting in favour of the scheme.[9]

Franchised services will be introduced in three phases over two years, starting with Bolton, Salford and Wigan on 17 September 2023,[10] with subsequent areas being franchised over the course of 2024.[11]

Legal challenges

The plans to franchise bus services in the Greater Manchester area were criticised by both Rotala[12] and Stagecoach Group, with Rotala taking the case to judicial review, a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. Rotala operator Diamond Bus North West launched a website which stated that £20 million has already gone on consultants towards the bus franchising proposals.[13]

In March 2022 the franchising system was judged by the courts to be lawful,[14] with both Stagecoach and Rotala stating they were disappointed by the decision.[15]

Justice Julian Knowles stated in his decision that he was not "persuaded the impugned decisions were either unlawful or irrational".[16] Stagecoach accepted Mr Justice Knowles’ decision and did not seek leave to appeal, however Rotala later appealed against the decision of the courts.[17] On 25 July 2022 the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.[18]

Liverpool City Region

In October 2023, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority announced that it would use the Act's powers to bring buses under public control, becoming the second combined authority to do so. Regulated services are expected to start operating from 2026.[19]

West Yorkshire

The West Yorkshire Combined Authority held a statutory consultation on introducing a franchising scheme between October 2023 and January 2024, with the Mayor, Tracy Brabin, announcing on 14 March 2024 that a franchising scheme will be introduced. Franchised services are expected to start in Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield in March 2027.[20]

Bus Open Data

The Bus Services Act required the Department for Transport to work with operators to provide open data systems for bus timetables, fares and vehicle locations in England.[21][22]

This requirement was implemented by the Bus Open Data Service[23] with a requirement for operators to provide AVL, timetable and basic fare information by January 2021[24] and local authorities to provide stop data by December 2020.

Implementations

A small number of websites have included Bus Open Data information including:

  • Bustimes.org - A website which has implemented timetable, stop, fares and vehicle location data[25][26]

Criticism

Despite providing fare, time and vehicle location, the Department for Transport has ruled out including key accessibility information on bus stops, stations and vehicles despite the Bus Services Act making specific provision for open data, 'for the purpose of facilitating travel by disabled persons'.[27]

References

  1. ^ Burnham, Andy (13 December 2017). Mayor sets out major transport overhaul (Speech). Urban Transport Group. Leeds. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  2. ^ Illingworth, James (24 June 2019). "Buses could soon be back in OUR control under 'London-style' transport network - we'll be able to set our own timetables and ticket prices". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  3. ^ Topham, Gwyn (8 October 2019). "Manchester to consult on bringing buses under public control". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  4. ^ Richardson, Alice (9 January 2020). "Thousands have their say on new system of bus franchising". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  5. ^ "Consultation shows support for Greater Manchester's proposed bus franchising scheme" (Press release). Greater Manchester Combined Authority. 19 June 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  6. ^ "Greater Manchester continues bus franchising consultation". 20 November 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  7. ^ "Greater Manchester launches consultation on bus reform proposals in light of new report on Covid-19" (Press release). 2 December 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  8. ^ "Greater Manchester Leaders move to decision on bus franchising for the city-region" (Press release). 12 March 2021. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  9. ^ Griffiths, Niall; Blosse, Benjamin (25 March 2021). "Greater Manchester takes control of its buses in historic move after Andy Burnham green light". Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  10. ^ "Government funding boosts city-region's transformational transport vision" (Press release). Greater Manchester Combined Authority. 4 April 2022. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  11. ^ "Statement from the Mayor of Greater Manchester on the bus franchising Judicial Review Appeal judgment" (Press release). Greater Manchester Combined Authority. 25 July 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  12. ^ "Operators slam Manchester franchising". Buses. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  13. ^ "Respond to the consultation today - A Better Way". www.yourbuses.co.uk. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  14. ^ "Greater Manchester bus franchise decision was lawful, judge rules". BBC News. 9 March 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  15. ^ "Disappointment as court rules in favour of franchising". Bus & Coach Buyer. 9 March 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  16. ^ "Greater Manchester Buses South Ltd v Greater Manchester Combined Authority & Anor [2022] EWHC 506 (Admin) (09 March 2022)". www.bailii.org. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  17. ^ Timan, Joseph (25 March 2022). "Operator appeals court ruling allowing buses to be brought under public control". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  18. ^ "Rotala Plc (R on the application of) v Greater Manchester Combined Authority". Court of Appeal. 25 July 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  19. ^ "Liverpool City Region's buses to be brought under public control". BBC News. 6 October 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  20. ^ "Buses to be brought back under public control". BBC News. 14 March 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  21. ^ "Bus Services Act 2017: bus open data (HTML)". GOV.UK. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  22. ^ "The wild world of British buses is on the brink of a major shake-up". Wired UK. ISSN 1357-0978. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  23. ^ "Bus Open Data Service". www.bus-data.dft.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  24. ^ "Bus operator requirements". publish.bus-data.dft.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  25. ^ "Data sources – bustimes.org". bustimes.org. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  26. ^ "BusTimes.org – bus timetables, route maps and vehicle location in the West Midlands". West Midlands Bus Users. 21 February 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  27. ^ "Bus Open Data: A data revolution but an accessibility fail - The Transport Network". www.transport-network.co.uk. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_Services_Act_2017