In March 2025 the Welsh Government will introduce a Bus Bill for Wales to give the public sector greater control over bus services, aiming to create a fully integrated, low-carbon, passenger-focused bus network as part of its wider One Network, One Timetable, One Ticket vision for public transport in Wales.
Subject to Senedd approval, the legislation will require bus franchising throughout Wales, replacing the current deregulated system with a competitively tendered, franchise model to improve the bus network and encourage wider use of bus services. Franchise operators will be paid a fee to run bus services with Transport for Wales receiving ticket revenue and carrying revenue risk.
The Welsh Government, in collaboration with Transport for Wales, asked WCPP to provide evidence on key success factors in contracting and awarding bus franchises. Our research aims to answer two overarching questions:
- In bus franchising, what practices or features of contracting and awarding show promise in achieving desired quality improvements and policy outcomes whilst delivering value for money?
- How can contracting, including incentives, help to enable: modal shift by increasing bus patronage; Net Zero 2050; transport integration; and transport poverty reduction?
The research will inform the development of secondary legislation of the forthcoming Bus Bill and Transport for Wales’ ongoing work to implement bus franchising. To provide the necessary insight and bring together a range of expertise across the globe, WCPP will host a series of 90-minute ‘evidence spotlight’ sessions between March and May 2025. The sessions will enable the Welsh Government and Transport for Wales officials to gain a deep insight into:
- Practice-based case studies: national and international transport experts will share their approaches to bus franchising and highlight key lessons learnt around contracting, awarding, and incentives.
- Policy challenges: experts will present the latest thinking on how contracting and awarding can impact on important policy areas such as electrification and net zero, increasing bus demand, mitigating transport poverty, and enhancing rural mobility and integration.
The findings from across the spotlight series will be developed into a report synthesising the key lessons learnt in response to our research questions to inform the Welsh approach to bus franchising. Alongside this report, WCPP will publish summaries of the case studies presented and policy challenge think-pieces provided by experts. We aim to make these outputs publicly available in summer 2025.
If you would like to learn more about this project and approach, or any of our other work, please get in touch via info@wcpp.org.uk.