| Comment | A full public buy out would take years to implement too. Difference is the money involved. And how likely that is to be
1. £5-10m to set up a franchising system.
2. Or £200-500m to go the whole hog with full public ownership: buy out the fleet, the staff, the business support involved, etc.
The second option *could* be done, but would need national funding from the get go. It'd be a national level project, equivalent to a new major motorway alignment, railway, tram line, etc. Money that would have to be taken from somewhere in the existing project portfolio. It's also a big, risky undertaking.
I personally think going with franchising first makes the most sense. It could be the model we settle on, akin to TfL. Where SPT/Greater Glasgow City Region sets the routes, the services, the fares, etc, but everything is run under the hood by various private providers.
It doesn't rule out full on public takeover further down the line. But I'm less convinced that is ultimately much better in terms of value for money. The majority of "public" transport systems we all have experience of using abroad are run in this franchised way. |
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