West Mids Mayor: Richard Parker was with our Mark Andrews, at Wolverhampton Bus Station to announce big plans for public transport in the area.
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00:00 When you're ready then lads.
00:02 Hello, I'm with Richard Parker, the newly elected Mayor for the West Midlands at Wolverhampton Bus Station.
00:10 He's explaining his vision for a franchised bus network that's going to be publicly run.
00:20 First of all, can you just explain how this will work then?
00:23 Yes, so just to say I'll be in Wolverhampton today with Steve Simpkins, the leader of the council here, to talk about my plans for franchising.
00:33 And we've come to the bus station today to talk to people about what that will mean.
00:38 But in essence, under a franchising system, it will be the people, the communities of the West Midlands that design a bus network that works for everyone.
00:46 It will allow people to get to the high streets, to the doctors, to college and to work.
00:53 And we will be able to have more buses on our roads, timetables that work for our communities,
00:59 and we're developing a sustainable and affordable bus system for the long term.
01:05 Now I believe this system's being tried in Manchester. I believe the cost there, with estimations, is £130 million.
01:12 What budget's been set aside to deal with this?
01:14 So I've only been in office for the last six or seven days. I've talked to officers around the costs that I believe are reasonable.
01:23 In the run-up to my election, I worked with some transport experts and experts on franchising.
01:30 Their view, and it remains my view, is that the total cost for doing this here will be around £25 million.
01:38 There are very big differences to how we're going to approach it here and how we approach the approach to Manchester.
01:43 And my plan will be to work with the officers to take a paper to the Combined Authority Board in July
01:50 that will discuss the routes to transforming a system that doesn't work today
01:56 so we can develop a bus network and a bus operating system of the future that works for everyone and benefits everyone across the region.
02:04 The £25 million, how's that going to be raised? Where's that coming from?
02:08 That will be accommodated within future CA budgets and we simply need that to fund the transition costs.
02:17 Once the network's up and running, it will be self-funding, but more than that, any surpluses made through that model
02:23 will be reinvested back in the network, improving services and keeping fares down.
02:28 So can you guarantee there'll be no cost to the taxpayer for that now precept or anything like that?
02:33 There are no plans to increase a precept to impose any additional costs on taxpayers.
02:39 You said in your manifesto that you believe it's wrong that the private bus companies are making money out of the passengers.
02:47 Will the private companies still be making a profit now or won't they be making a profit on this?
02:52 No, under a franchise system, there'll be set budgets for delivering the system and any surpluses will be reinvested back.
03:00 The problems with the current system are not just about the private sector running it.
03:06 It's also about the fact that the people of West Midlands pay in and the public funding contributes about 50% of the operating costs
03:13 of the private sector operator, but we have little and no say in timetables, on routes or on fares.
03:20 Are you confident that the private companies will be prepared to invest in bus routes under this system?
03:26 This system works in Manchester, it works in West Yorkshire, it works in South Yorkshire and other city regions.
03:34 So we're doing nothing different than the other regions are doing.
03:38 In other regions, this model has delivered big service improvements, delivered for bus users and for customers
03:45 and that's exactly why I want to introduce that system here.
03:48 So what you say, it sounds a little bit like the rail franchising system. Are there similarities with that?
03:53 There are similarities to that system, but the most important aspect of it is that people here, our communities here
04:00 will frame a bus network, a bus system that works for them and they will see the benefits of that on the ground.
04:06 And to be really clear, it's the biggest difference I can make to people's lives here, their everyday lives,
04:13 is improving the bus system and helping people get to the jobs they need and get to the colleges and get to the shops
04:20 and get to the services that they require.
04:22 Okay, so when will people finally be actually seeing a difference to the bus service, when will they notice?
04:27 So there's a process to follow and once we trigger, start the process of franchising formally,
04:34 our view is that it will take about two years to see those improvements on the ground.
04:38 Will there be like a corporate...
04:40 Sorry, can we just move it on?
04:42 Okay, will there be a corporate colour scheme of the Ogas, which has been in Manchester, the yellow buses?
04:47 Yes, we'll certainly have some new branding.
04:50 Thank you very much, Mr Parker. Thank you very much.