Glasgow City Council backs bus franchising plans

Strathclyde Partnership for Transport’s (SPT) is currently consulting on plans for the bus network across Glasgow and surrounding areas, and has made five recommendations.

These include franchising — which could allow SPT, or a similar body, to set routes and fares then contract bus operators to run them — and bus service improvement partnerships (BSIPs), which involve private and public sector commitments to improve the network.

Small-scale municipal bus companies to provide “socially necessary services” are also recommended, but SPT suggests voluntary partnerships with bus providers should be ruled out.

Campaigners in favour of public control have said BSIPs would delay the process, while bus operators First Group are opposed to franchising.

Glasgow City Council has now agreed its response to the consultation, which supports work on franchising but “somewhat opposes” ruling out voluntary partnerships.

The council “neither supports nor opposes” the recommendation on BSIPs, but does say they are “not likely to be a long-term strategy towards delivering a bus network which meets the requirements of the public”.

It is clear any BSIP should be “short-term and time-limited” and “progressing franchising is the primary aspiration… over the medium-term”.

BSIPs should not delay franchising work and “should funding or resources require to be prioritised, then work to progress franchising should take precedence”, the response adds.

Voluntary partnerships should “still be a short-term option”, the council suggests, as the Glasgow City Region Bus Partnership has achieved “improvement for bus passengers in recent years”, including capped fares and tap on tap off technology on some services.

“It will take time for any other bus governance intervention to be implemented, particularly when there is currently no certainty over funding availability for these bus governance changes,” the response adds.

“GCC would argue it is in the best interests of bus passengers to continue the Glasgow City Region Bus Partnership and positive dialogue and partnership working within that, whilst other options are being explored by SPT.”

It has been estimated that taking the franchising process to the point of implementation could cost around £15m and take five to seven years.

Glasgow’s response notes that the “funding context on bus franchising” has changed in recent years, with the Scottish Government pausing the Bus Partnership Fund for 2024/25 as well as removing capital funding for SPT.

It also strongly supports investigating municipal bus services, but adds the full cost is unknown and it does not currently have the funding available to take this forward.

It has requested a “more active and collaborative role in the next stages of the work” and believes SPT’s plans can “better link with Clyde Metro as an overarching and integrated public transport concept in the city and region”.