New bus depot strategy set to improve 'failing' West Midlands network

Transport bosses said a bus depot strategy, which will go before the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) board next month, would help lift barriers which prevent some bus companies from operating in the region.

After his election, West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker announced he wanted to overhaul the current bus network, which he described as ‘failing’ and create a franchise model.

WMCA said it pays around £50 million a year in additional subsidies to private operators on top of more than £100 million a year they and the Government already provide to support some bus services, £2 fares and other concessions.

But Mr Parker said the extra cash has not prevented fares from rising and some services being cut.

A paper on the bus depot strategy is due to go before WMCA board on November 15. It was originally meant to be discussed last month but the meeting was cancelled.

The report said: “The need for a bus depot strategy to remove barriers of entry for bus operators to the region.

“This is required to deliver under any operating model including a de-regulated market or under a franchised model.

“This will help to support competition as bus fleets adapt to zero emission models where infrastructure can lock out competition on a permanent basis unless the infrastructure is owned and managed through the Local Transport Authority (LTA).

“Depot ownership is a key mechanism to drive competition in the regional bus industry and assist in managing costs for contracted socially necessary services or under a franchised market.

“There are no financial decisions in this report directly as the report is to agree on the strategic approach and should be noted that each depot site will then be taken through the relevant governance with its own individual business case.

“The assumption for funding the depot acquisitions is capital borrowing and where possible they will seek to be self-financing through income.”