Bus franchise plans unaffordable

Plans to provide an integrated bus franchising system across Hertfordshire could be unaffordable, according to a report delivered to the county council's Highway & Transport cabinet last week.

The report looked at options for bus franchising and contracting options in the county, concluding that a holistic and integrated system could cost up to £174m to set up and would run at a loss.

Franchising is an established model for providing bus services in London and in many cities and regions across Europe and around the world. The system enables a Local Transport Authority (LTA) to specify all aspects of bus services running in the area, such as routes, timetables, fares, ticketing, and vehicle specifications.

Most local services are run commercially at present, with operators setting routes and the frequency of services.

The bulk of the cost of providing an integrated system is made up of new buses and depots, coming in at £147m, for 441 electric buses. 

The service would run at a loss of £14.5m based on current usage. However, if usage levels were to increase to pre-covid levels plus 10%, this could become a £2m surplus.

The council's Executive Member for Highways & Transport said: "I would love to do it, but unfortunately practically speaking – financially speaking – it's not something we can commit to at the moment.

"But it's something we definitely want to keep in view, because it would be the answer to all our ills and bus transport I am sure and [would] get people back on to buses."

22/3/24: Updated to include 'optimistic' scenario for running costs.