A SENIOR councillor has backed the controversial plan to franchise bus services which sparked a legal threat from local operator McGill's.
Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) approved recommendations on the Strathclyde Regional Bus Strategy at a meeting on Friday and the area's representative on the body, Councillor David Wilson, supports them.
Work is now to commence on a long-term process of establishing local bus franchising in a bid to ‘tackle a declining market’.
SPT says franchising is a proven model for service delivery across Europe and beyond, and that it provides the best chance of achieving passenger growth and better accessibility, as well as delivering wider public policy outcomes.
Councillor Wilson, who also serves as SPT vice-chair, said: “We have been presented with the best options to take forward proper bus reform for our area.
“The need for a long-term plan is clear and comes after a full appraisal of all the options available against a range of criteria.
“Delivery of a competitive franchising model, as proposed, has the potential to harness the best aspects of the public and private sector collaboration in delivery of local bus services.
“To succeed – as it must do – local bus services require proper funding and investment for the medium and long term as well as support from politicians, from bus operators, and other key stakeholders, as well as and, most importantly, the public.
“We must also ensure that the options are integrated by improving bus priority on our roads, reducing congestion, again with adequate resources to fund a fully functioning network.”
SPT plans to ‘consult widely’ on the recommendations - which it is estimated would cost £15 million to implement - in the coming months.
But Greenock-based operator McGill’s has hit back at the franchise move, claiming SPT should instead prioritise pushing local authorities to manage infrastructure under the powers they already have.
The company's chief executive Ralph Roberts said: “Under the status quo, private operators in Strathclyde have invested hundreds of millions of pounds in zero-emission buses.
“There are six times the number of zero-emission buses in Strathclyde than there is in Manchester so clearly, franchising is not the panacea that some people make it out to be.
“If SPT and local authorities had done their job in this regard over the last 20 years, bus use would have grown rather than declined.
"As it stands, a world-class bus system cannot operate on third-world infrastructure.
“Buses are the most popular form of public transport with high levels of customer satisfaction.”
Mr Roberts highlighted that, according to the latest statistics, bus services across Scotland share £51 million in core funding from the Scottish Government, despite delivering 79 per cent of public transport journeys.
By contrast, rail services received £1.4billion while delivering 16 per cent of the total journeys.
McGill’s Group says it will fully set out its position when the consultation is launched at the beginning of April.
Mr Roberts had previously warned that if bus franchising was pursued then McGill's 'would take this to every court in the land and beyond'.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article