Decision details

The following motion was approved:

“Transport Delivery Committee is concerned that a bus operator serving the West Midlands is presently unwilling to take part in the Government’s £2 maximum single fare initiative. This not only penalises affected bus passengers in particular areas of the West Midlands, but also leads to would be bus users’ confusion as to which bus operators are, and are not, in the scheme. We ask Transport for West Midlands to contact the operator in question as soon as possible to (a) urge them to reconsider their view to joining the scheme at the earliest, and (b) to ask them to set out their reasons for not taking part.

This information is to be communicated to all Transport Delivery Committee members and to the meeting of the committee on 6 February 2023. Furthermore, we note that this is a short term scheme funded by the Department for Transport until the end of March only, when we believe there would be major benefit in an adequately funded, affordable longer term Department for Transport single bus fare scheme. We therefore recommend to the WMCA that they ask the Department for Transport to extend the scheme on a long term basis.”