Bus franchise legislation comes with funding and control issues

US franchising is the most important current transport issue in Wales. Buses carry more individual passenger trips than trains.

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However, there are challenges facing the Bus Services (Wales) Bill, which will implement Welsh Government's integrated bus services policy throughout Wales.

On September 16, the Senedd, as part of its overall consideration of the Bill will debate the general principles of bus franchising, which is likely to pass on political grounds (Plaid Cymru and Welsh Labour both support the concept).

The Buses Act 1985 has been much derided by this column and elsewhere because the bus system it provided failed to produce an integrated bus network where tickets could be used on different operators' buses and where timetables provided a through service with minimum waiting time.

Successive Welsh Government transport ministers have promised a vastly improved bus operation.

Bus services are currently provided by private companies and by municipally owned financially viable companies in Cardiff and Newport.

Alongside these commercial services, county-level councils may tender services to fill the gaps, particularly in rural areas, during evenings and on Sundays.

The "One network, one timetable, one ticket" white paper (2022) set out a franchised-based system for bus services in Wales, a major change from the current mix of deregulated and bus operations. The principles and benefits of bus franchising have been discussed in this column on many occasions.