Public services for
people not profit

Add your voice to the Greater Manchester Bus Consultation

Our buses in Greater Manchester aren't working. This consultation is our biggest chance to tell the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham loud and clear: we want and need better, publicly controlled buses.

If we can win in Greater Manchester, it will set a precedent for the rest of the UK to follow.

Please fill out the consultation now, with your personal stories and thoughts too, to show your support for better buses.

You can fill out the shorter questionnaire in full here.

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Subject

Dear GM Consult,  I am sending my response to the consultation below. Many thanks. 
*Q12.  The Strategic Case sets out the challenges facing the local bus market and says that it is not performing as well as it could. Do you have any comments on this?
I support a better, publicly controlled bus network because: 
The bus market is not working well for residents of Greater Manchester. We have lost 8 million miles of bus services since 2010, which is 11% of the service, despite fares increasing two years in a row.(<a href="http://bit.ly/2OXm5R0">http://bit.ly/2OXm5R0</a>) The North West's bus network has shrunk more than any other region. 
Meanwhile, bus company shareholders in the North West have received an average £18.4 million in dividend payouts a year for the past ten years.(<a href="http://bit.ly/2VX9e2P">http://bit.ly/2VX9e2P</a>)
I strongly support the franchising scheme, which means public control of our buses. The Local Government Association showed recently that 69% of residents think local councils should be the main decision-makers on bus services. (http://bit.ly/31fmK2E)
 I need a better bus network to take part in society: to get to work, the hospital, shops, public services and my loved ones. 
 *Q13.  The Strategic Case says that reforming the bus market is the right thing to do to address the challenges facing the local bus market. 
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">To what extent do you agree or disagree with this? </li>
</ul>
X Strongly agree
 Tend to agree
 Neither agree nor disagree
 Tend to disagree
 Strongly disagree
 Don’t know
 
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Why do you say this?</li>
</ul>
I support taking control of our bus network, to give local authorities control of our bus routes, fares, and ticketing, so that the network as a whole can join up to make an integrated bus network that is more accountable to our community. Right now, this system works only for bus company shareholders.
We need buses that are clean and green and accessible and bus companies have not delivered on both fronts. 
I support region-wide standards of pay, conditions and pensions for drivers to be negotiated with Unions representing drivers, which represent over 8,000 workers in the region, so that drivers are respected for their hard work. ‘Deregulation in Britain resulted in a ‘race to the bottom’ (Transport for Quality of Life, Building a World-class Bus System for Britain, es.5). 
 
*Q17. The Economic Case concludes that the Proposed Franchising Scheme provides the best value for money compared to the partnership options because it would:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">offer a ‘high’ ratio of benefits to the cost to GMCA, one which is broadly comparable with the partnership options, </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">provide the most economic value (Net Present Value), and </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">create the best platform from which further economic value could be delivered. </li>
</ul>
Do you have any comments on this? 
Currently, public money makes up 40% of bus companies revenue, yet we have no control over fares, the vast majority of routes and timetables. And 10% of that public money is leaked as dividends. 
Public control means we take all the fare revenue and give bus companies contracts, halving their profit margins, so that public money is used for buses over shareholders. (Transport for Quality of Life, Building a World-class Bus System for Britain, es.7). 
Public control also means that profits from busy routes can be used to pay for socially necessary routes, rather than just bus company profits. Research showed that 95% of people in GM supported the idea of subsidising bus routes which are unprofitable but necessary for the public good. (<a href="https://www.abellio.com/news/people-manchester-we-want-better-bus-service">https://www.abellio.com/news/people-manchester-we-want-better-bus-service</a>)
We can finally get a better bus network.
 
*Q30. The Financial Case concludes that GMCA could afford to introduce and operate the Proposed Franchising Scheme. After completing the Assessment and in advance of this consultation, GMCA has proposed how it would fund the introduction of a fully franchised system. Do you have any comments on these matters? 
We think the outlined costs, with the vast majority coming from local authorities, and a total of £14 council tax increase for the average household spread over 6 years to 2025, are a price worth paying.
These costs will mean we can get a better bus network, run for the public over shareholders, with much better value for the public money we currently give to buses (<a href="http://bit.ly/2oRIlkr">http://bit.ly/2oRIlkr</a>) *Q45.  To what extent do you support or oppose the introduction of the Proposed Franchising Scheme? 
X - Strongly support
 Tend to support
 Neither support nor oppose
 Tend to oppose
 Strongly oppose
 Don’t know 
Why do you say this? 
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">The alternative that is on the table, the Voluntary Partnership, leaves all the power in the hands of the bus companies.  Changes will only be made to the extent that they deem it in their interests. We need a system that puts the interests of GM’s people first.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Franchising is the only option that allows cross subsidy from popular/profitable routes to less busy/unprofitable routes.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">The additional expenditure over that for the Voluntary Partnership is not large: £25M (£122M vs £97M) over the 5 year implementation period.  That’s just £5M per year, or £500k per council area, or £4.34 per household per year. (source: TfGM Franchising paper, executive summary, page 23).</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">The economic assessment indicates a better return from franchising in terms of economic, social and environmental benefit than from either partnership model.</li>
</ol>
Buses are hugely important to our lives and we have a huge opportunity to transform them so that they work for us as citizens, over shareholders.  Thank you for reading.

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Add your voice to the Greater Manchester Bus Consultation

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