Will private operators still set fares?

No. Fares will be set by North East combined authorities, which will bring them down.

Bus fares in urban areas outside of London (which is regulated) continue to go up. Our fares have gone up by 55% above inflation in the last ten years, which is a joke.

Will private operators still be responsible for timetables, routes and bus stops?

No. All timetables, routes, and bus stops will be regulated by the North East combined authorities under public control.

Why hasn’t this happened before? Why is this so important now?

Kim McGuinness, North East Mayor, was given the power to regulate the network through the Bus Services Act. It’s one of the biggest powers Kim has as our regional Mayor.  

We’re not campaigning for publicly owned buses…yet. It was made illegal to set up new municipally owned bus companies in 2017.  We’re campaigning to bring our buses back into public control! 

It’s more important than ever that you show your support for a regulated bus network that works for you.

The North East could follow other cities and regions in creating the world class bus system that North Easterners deserve.

How do I have any more of a say? How is regulating, or franchising, more  accountable? How will we be able to make operators do any of this? 

Private operators will have to compete and re-apply for contracts every five to ten (or more) years and will only have their contracts renewed if they meet high performance standards for safety, reliability, customer satisfaction, and cleanliness. 

Buses right now sometimes just don’t turn up and we hear stories of buses going !poof! into thin air on our ‘real time’ travel apps. Right now, a bus operator can cancel or change a service with 70 days’ notice, but what if you’ve bought a yearlong travel card, and how do you get to work or the hospital? With regulation, North East councils can ask operators to stick a pre-decided timetable and hold them to account if they don’t.

This is backed up by a report by IPPR: ‘Franchising also allows greater democratic accountability over fares, services and routes, and makes smart-ticketing and data-sharing more viable.’

Your service would effectively be controlled by your council. You could use existing democratic processes to get your voice heard by those who represent you and make sure that the bus services are providing what you need.

Regulation also means more competition, accountability and ultimately efficiency, as bus operators compete to run different routes, as it’s done in London, for the duration of a contract and if they don’t meet standards, then the contract is offered to another operator.

Who pays for it?

Regulating the network, according to research by Transport for Quality of Life, has the power to generate savings of £340 million annually. This is due to the capturing of excess profit, as bus companies are commissioned on a contract basis to deliver specific services which is far more cost efficient. 

The efficiency that comes from one body designing the network, as is done in London and Manchester, allows local authorities to expand the network and use extra money for more evening and weekend services. The North East could introduce a simple smartcard ticketing scheme with a daily cap on spend, and reduce fares. Regulation also allows profits from busy routes to subsidise other needed but less busy routes.