Bus services across the county and potential changes to how they are delivered will be looked at in detail by Somerset Council’s transport team.
The Council has been awarded funding by the Department for Transport (DfT) to carry out a bus franchising pre-feasibility assessment.
Bus franchising is a system in which the local transport authority (LTA), Somerset Council, awards exclusive contracts to private operators to run bus services on specific routes or areas. Unlike the current enhanced partnership system, the authority retains control over routes, fares, timetables, and service standards.
Recent changes to legislation guidance and availability of funding from Government opens up the possibility of the Council carrying out a formal evidence-based pre-feasibility assessment to look at the different franchising models available and understand whether any could deliver improved outcomes for transport operators and people in Somerset.
Councillor Richard Wilkins, Somerset Council’s Lead Member for Highways and Transport said:
We are grateful to Government for providing this opportunity and will thoroughly test whether franchising can realistically deliver better outcomes for passengers than Somerset’s current approach through Enhanced Partnership (EP) arrangements, Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) interventions, and targeted service support. This is a fantastic opportunity to provide a robust evidence base to inform future decision making.
We are going to work really closely with stakeholders, including bus user groups to understand current shortcomings that could be fixed either by a revised and improved Enhanced Partnership or a franchised approach.
This is about unpacking all the options and seeing what could work in Somerset to deliver improved bus services.
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