Labour is delivering better buses for our community.
After 14 years of the Tories, Britain’s buses are broken - but this Labour government is taking action to fix them. In Britain, bus operators can cut services and raise fares without asking the people who use them. This has left many communities with little control over their buses. Labour wants to change this by giving everyone the power to decide on their bus routes, fares, and services.
Labour plans to save and boost bus routes across England, making buses better and faster. Buses are super important to Wakefield and Rothwell, but the Tories' broken system has let many communities like Wakefield and Rothwell down.
We’ve already started improving Britain’s buses, but the new Buses Bill will be the biggest change yet. Labour wants to give local leaders more power to manage bus services, so communities can have more control.
Mayor Tracy Brabin has already announced plans to take back control of our buses in West Yorkshire through bus franchising. This means she will be able to set the routes, fares, and schedules instead of private operators.
Bus companies will bid for contracts to run services planned by the mayor. Its not a simple process to return control back to communities after 40 years of failed deregulation. It took Mayor Andy Burnham 7 years to get the fantastic Bee Network up and running in Greater Manchester, but thanks to changes made by this Labour government and the hard work and determination of Mayor Brabin we hope we could see this in place in Wakefield and Rothwell much sooner.
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"Mayor Tracy Brabin has already announced plans to take back control of our buses in West Yorkshire through bus franchising. This means she will be able to set the routes, fares, and schedules instead of private operators".
What Labour has done so far:
1) Funding Package: Announced £1 billion to support and improve bus services, with £955 million until 2026.
2) Fare fares capped until 2026: Set a £3 maximum fare to keep bus travel affordable, helping millions of people.
3) Consultation: Asked for ideas on how to speed up the franchising process to get better buses faster.
4) Empowered communities: Made new rules to expand franchising powers to all LTAs, making it easier for them to manage bus services. This means local authorities can decide on routes, fares, and schedules, making buses better for everyone.
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The Bus Bill: a revolution in local transport.
The Buses Bill, will soon reach the House of Commons and will revolutionise the bus network in the largest overhaul to local transport powers in 40 years.
Franchising allows Local Transport Authorities to take back control of local bus services providing control over the routes, fares and service levels, with private operators bidding for contracts to operate franchises.
The package of measures would also reverse the ideological ban on local authority owned bus companies, prohibited in law since 2017, giving local authorities more flexibility on how to approach fixing local services. It will also strengthen local partnerships putting passengers at the heart of local bus services.
The Bill is in addition to recent funding of £955 million to support local bus services. The investment will enhance popular routes, protect rural services and increase bus use for shopping, socialising and commuting. It will help prevent service reductions on at-risk routes and improve punctuality, to bring an end to the current postcode lottery of unreliable services.
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