Have Your Say: Bus Franchising Consultation 2025

Have your say on how buses are run in the West Midlands. From 6 January to 30 March, you can have your say on how the West Midlands bus network is operated by participating in a public consultation.

We understand that many residents would like better bus services. You, the people of the West Midlands, deserve a safe, efficient and reliable bus service.

Recently we undertook a thorough assessment of the bus network, which proposed how bringing the network into public control would improve services for passengers.

Now we want to hear your thoughts on this.

Bus Reform Consultation – Transport for West Midlands

About the franchising assessment

The full franchising assessment is broken down into 5 cases: (“We” = West Midlands Combined Authority, for clarification)

Strategic Case

The strategic case details why we believe bringing the network into public control would benefit the passenger. Through bringing buses into public control we aim to:

  • improve customer service
  • provide simple and affordable fares
  • reduce carbon emissions
  • ensure services are financially stable for the long-term
  • enable the WMCA to secure ambitious improvements in the future

Economic Case

The economic case compares the potential costs of the different options we have to deliver the bus network.

This includes weighing up the potential costs and the benefits of implementing them.

Management Case

The management case sets out how the different options for running the network would be implemented and managed.

This includes deciding who employs the staff and who looks after and maintains bus stations and depots.

Financial Case

Taking the bus network into public control would mean we have more control over how public money is spent.

The financial case shows how we plan to pay and cover the costs of running the biggest bus network in the country outside of London.

Commercial Case

The commercial case explores how we would implement bus reform to best meet the needs of the passenger and ourselves.

This includes ensuring strong competition for contracts and making sure the network runs smoothly during any transitional periods.

About the consultation

The consultation consists of two questionnaires, a ‘short’ and a ‘long’ version.

Bus users and the general public only need to complete the short questionnaire, the long one is intended for bus operators and local authorities.

Associated documents can be found on the Bus Reform Consultation page on the TfWM website.

In order to complete the short questionnaire, I recommend that bus users at least read through the West Midlands Buses Franchising Consultation Executive Summary document along with the General Franchising FAQs document, as some of the other documents are a lot more detailed and may be a bit heavy-going for many people.

How to take part

You can complete the questionnaire(s) online at the Commonplace website

Alternatively you can download the Short Questionnaire PDF, and send the completed document by post or email to TfWM.

All submissions must be received by 30th March 2025, at which point the consultation will close.


Discover more from West Midlands Bus Users

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

About WMBU

I'm Stu, and I created West Midlands Bus Users in 2013 to share news, info and opinion with fellow bus users in the West Midlands.
I've been travelling around on buses since my teens, and use them every day as I don't drive.

View all posts by WMBU →
0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

0 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments