There is a growing expectation — expressed in public by some, in private by others — that when the bus industry, and the world, finally emerges from the global pandemic it will be into some kind of contracted service regime.
Our contributor Ernest North this month is far from alone in wondering if commercial bus operation came to an end in late March with the declaration of the first national lockdown. Since then, services have been sustained with survival funding from the UK and devolved governments, with separate special arrangements for school transport, but at some point that will come to an end.
The emergency arrangements cannot go on indefinitely. At very least they will need to be formalised and turned into longer term funding with accountability for how the money is spent. As taxpayers, we should expect no less.
The Labour-led Welsh government may be ahead of the other administrations in spelling out what it expects from bus service providers, but politicians of different stripes — the prime minister included — were making favourable noises about London-style franchising before the pandemic arrived.
The apparent collapse of commercial service operation is likely to be accelerating the move,…
