While Greater Manchester’s mayor aspires to a higher quality bus service, a trailblazing alliance is achieving impressive results for his counterpart in Liverpool, but neither of them appears to be committing himself to London-style franchising. ALAN MILLAR reports.
There is something akin to a phoney war going on in England’s city regions just now when the question is posed about how their politicians and transport planners might exercise the new powers coming their way as a result of the Bus Services Act 2017.
Their campaign for London-style route franchising has been successful, even if the parliamentary orders to put it into effect have still to be published. Six regions — Greater Manchester, Liverpool, West Midlands, West of England, Tees Valley and Cambridgeshire & Peterborough — have metro mayors elected and vested with powers to bring in franchising without having to seek central government authority.
And one region that chose not to have a metro mayor, but has already tried and failed to bring in franchising — Tyne & Wear — recently appointed a transport strategy director for Nexus, the body that delivers the transport policies of the North East Combined Authority.
Philip Meikle came f…
