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Transport committee to hear franchising consultation report ahead of Mayoral decision on bus reform

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Transport committee to hear franchising consultation report ahead of Mayoral decision on bus reform

The Combined Authority’s Transport and Infrastructure Committee will meet next week to review findings of the bus franchising consultation which concluded in November last year.  

At its meeting on January 24, the Committee will consider recommendations including whether to recommend to Dr Nik Johnson, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, to choose franchising as the best way to reform the region’s bus network.  

Mayor Dr Johnson is planning to decide on whether to introduce bus franchising in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough early next month. 

The Combined Authority’s statutory bus franchising consultation – a key step towards reforming the bus system in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough – saw more than 1,600 responses. Residents, businesses, statutory consultees and stakeholders took part in the consultation, which ran between Wednesday 14 August and Monday 25 November 2024, to have their say on the future of local bus services.   

The consultation found there was substantial support for franchising from the wider public and some stakeholders, alongside some concerns raised.  

Forty-two per cent of responses strongly supported franchising, with a further 21 percent tending to support, putting support at 63 percent of responses. Eighteen percent of responses neither supported nor opposed, while seven percent tended to oppose and a further seven percent strongly opposing.  

The Combined Authority has considered all the feedback and this is reflected in the Consultation Response.  

 A number of suggestions have been developed for future bus reform. These include offering longer mobilisation periods for contracts to allow more competition from small and medium sized bus operators, and continuing to engage stakeholders during the implementation phase through to ongoing operation, should franchising go ahead.   

The consultation also showed how important buses are for communities across the region, its key role in supporting economic growth and the challenges that would be faced by further decline in services.  

Everyone was invited to participate in a consultation which set out to be both comprehensive and inclusive in its approach. As well as running online, the consultation was held via face-to-face drop-in events in busy locations across the region, such as town centres and bus stops in Huntingdon, Ely, Peterborough, Northstowe, Wisbech, Cambridge and St Neots.   

More than 30 face-to-face events were held so that people could talk to members of the consultation team in person and ask any questions.   

The consultation compared two ways to reform buses – a franchising solution and an Enhanced Partnership approach.  Under a franchised network, the Combined Authority would contract bus operators to run services on its behalf but have control over the routes, frequency, fares and overall standards of the region’s buses.  An alternative Enhanced Partnership solution, while producing benefits over the current bus service, provides less control over the routes, frequency and overall delivery of the services.  

Cllr Anna Smith, Deputy Mayor and Chair of the Transport and Infrastructure Committee, said: “As a committee, we’ve been scrutinising and debating papers on bus reform every step of the way, and this report marks a really important moment in that journey. I’m looking forward to our discussion, and to hearing what members have to say. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has participated in the consultation, as well as the team who have worked so hard to analyse the responses so quickly.” 

You can read the committee report and papers here at agenda item 7.