City Council should take back control of the buses

Alongside Climate Action Leicester and Leicestershire, we have today written to the City Mayor urging him to take back control of the buses. You can read our letter below. We think we need a radical improvement in our public transport in the city and the bus companies are never going to provide it of their own accord. 

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Dear City Mayor, 

We are writing to you as transport activists. In some cases, we have spent many years campaigning for better public transport in Leicester. 

We have read the Draft Bus Plan and we are pleased to see the level of ambition for improving bus services and increasing patronage. When we are facing a climate emergency, we need a radical improvement in the bus services to persuade people to make the necessary change in their transport habits.

 

We know that you have decided to pursue an Enhanced Partnership. However, we have no faith that the Enhanced Partnership mechanism will enable these ambitions. It is our experience that the bus companies in Leicester are not really interested in improving their services as long as they maintain their profits. 

The National Bus Strategy states, ‘We will support any LTA which wishes to access franchising powers, and which has the capability and intention to use them at pace to deliver improvements for passengers’ (p.10). We understand that there are difficulties associated with franchising and finding the capacity within the Council to manage that system. However, we believe it is necessary for the Council to take that level of control if there is to be a significant improvement in the bus services. We know that you have always wanted better control of the city’s public transport and we hope that you will lead the way for UK cities in seeking this.

We urge you to work with other cities and the County to seek joint agreement that franchising is the only realistic means of achieving networks and services commensurate with the government’s decarbonisation requirements, and then to do everything you can together to win the government’s support for that approach. We would be happy to do whatever we can to help, and look forward to hearing your reaction to this proposal. 

Yours sincerely,

The members of:

Leicester Friends of the Earth 

Climate Action Leicester and Leicestershire’s Transport Action Group

Climate Action Leicester and Leicestershire’s Low Carbon Planning and Housing Group