Unfortunately the shambles of the Manchester Bus Wars blocking the
streets of Manchester for three days has not spilled over into the
Labour Conference. That surely would have clarified the picture in
minsters minds that the current system is not working. There are
however signs that the system will change -

Transport Times 8th September 2006
Quote
Legislation is being planned for this autumn's Queen's Speech to
introduce the government's
long-awaited third way for buses. Last month, a leaked letter revealed
that Transport
Secretary Douglas Alexander was seeking time in the government's
programme to
introduce legislation on road pricing. Transport Times has discovered
that in the same
letter Mr Alexander seeks a bill to remove some of the  obstacles to
statutory quality
contracts. PTEs at present have to overcome a range of hurdles before a
quality contract can
be introduced and none has so far done so.
The PTE has to show that all other possibilities have been exhausted
and engage
in a wide-ranging and lengthy consultation over its proposals. If the
incumbent operator
fails to win the new contract it has a right of appeal. The new regime
would make the process easier to get through, provided the contract was
linked to car restraint measures, ranging from stiffer parking charges
to road pricing.
In recent months ministers have raised expectations of an announcement
on bus regulation later this year, but have consistently said that a
return to regulation as it existed up to 1986 is not on the cards.
Under the existing legislation, South Yorkshire and Nexus are the most
advanced towards agreeing quality contracts.
They ran a market testing exercise early this year, which is still
being evaluated. The exercise attracted interest outside the big five
dominant bus operators.
Unquote


http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/birminghampost/congestioncharge/tm_objectid=17819617%26method=full%26siteid=50002-name_page.html
Quote
Passenger numbers are threat to routesSep 26 2006

By Paul Dale, Chief Reporter


The future of scores of bus services in Birmingham and the West
Midlands may be under threat following a dramatic slump in passenger
numbers.

The number of people travelling by bus has fallen by 20 per cent since
1986, according to a report by six of the country's biggest passenger
transport authorities.

During the same period fares rocketed by 86 per cent above inflation.

Patronage continues to decline even though local authorities are
spending millions of pounds on bus lanes and other priority measures
designed to make bus journeys faster and more attractive.

The report, commissioned by the Passenger Transport Executive Group,
which represents councils in Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool,
Sheffield and Newcastle, accuses the largest bus companies of
exploiting their near monopoly status.

It warns that thousands of loss-making bus services will be scrapped
over the next decade while fares are likely to rise by a further 20 per
cent.

In Birmingham, Travel West Midlands runs 81 per cent of services and
makes an estimated 21 to 35 per cent return on investment, according to
the report.

The findings cast severe doubt on the Government's official target,
which is to increase bus and tram journeys by 12 per cent in England by
2012 and to deliver growth in each region.

Although passenger numbers fell by a fifth in the West Midlands, the
slump in other parts of the country was even greater. The report found
that bus usage had declined by 41 per cent in Tyne and Wear and 31 per
cent in South Yorkshire.

PTEG members want the Government to allow councils to take control of
bus services and set fares, as happens in London where passenger
numbers have risen by 50 per cent since 2000. Bus fares in London,
which are set by Ken Livingstone, the mayor, have not risen in real
terms for ten years.

The report warns: "Present arrangements are not working well. While bus
operators have been able to maintain profit margins so that their bus
operations in PTE areas still contribute to their groups' overall
financial success, bus passengers have suffered from the fares
increases and declining service levels.

"Bus services are not providing a high quality alternative to the
private car as the Government had hoped they would do, and so motorists
do not have incentives to switch to the only public transport mode that
may be available to them."

A Green Paper on road pricing and congestion charging in the West
Midlands, released last week, called for £4 billion investment in
public transport in an attempt to dissuade people from using cars. Bus
priority measures would benefit from an initial £38 million injection.

Phil Bateman, Travel West Midlands corporate affairs director, said:
"We have been very keen to work in partnership with local authorities
and to develop quality partnerships to the benefit of all. Sadly, this
has not been achieved despite our local enthusiasm. "In a recent fares
survey, Travel West Midlands was placed among the lowest of the big
city conurbations and certainly below fares in London."

A spokesman for the West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority said:
"Passengers are obviously dissatisfied and it is vital that bus
services improve if we are to tackle congestion in the West Midlands,
where bus use is the highest of any metropolitan area.

"This report paints a gloomy picture that the way the bus industry is
currently run is unlikely to bring about the scale of improvements we
need. But in the meantime, what we need to do is work as hard as we
can."