Bristol Labour urges metro mayor to get a grip on bus system

More than 2,000 people have signed a petition urging Mr Norris to explore franchising

A councillor has urged the metro mayor to bring Bristol's buses under public control.

Labour councillor Don Alexander, who is in charge of the city's transport, has suggested that the Labour metro mayor Dan Norris brings buses into public control.

Mr Alexander said that parts of the city had been "left without a bus route entirely".

He added that franchising or public ownership of buses was needed.

More than 2,000 people have now signed a petition urging Mr Norris to formally explore franchising, which is the system used by Transport for London.

Statistics shared by Mr Alexander suggest that the number of bus routes has declined in western England by 43% since 2010, a loss of 1,187 services.

However, these figures cover a wide area from Cornwall to Oxfordshire and Berkshire.

'Lifeblood of communities'

Mr Norris, the Labour metro mayor of the West of England - which covers Bristol, South Gloucestershire, and Bath and North East Somerset - has previously said that franchising was "on the table", although this was disputed by campaigners.

He also raised concerns about the cost of such an endeavour and the length of time it would take to introduce franchising.

Mr Alexander said: "Under the Conservatives wages are falling, taxes are higher than at any point in living memory and our public services - from the NHS to local bus services - have been run into the ground.

"Bus services are the lifeblood of communities all over Bristol. But every year, thanks to the Tories, more and more are cut off, hitting the local economy and holding people back."

Labour has the power to introduce bus franchising in the West of England region, but has chosen not to do so.

The government gave combined authorities legal powers for franchising in 2017 and every other Labour metro mayor is exploring the idea, except Mr Norris in the West of England.

Responding to the comments, Mr Norris said: "The only way to have a thriving, growing bus network is to increase the number of passengers and bring in more fare income.

"That's why I'm proud to be investing in new and innovative services. These include 'birthday buses' which [give] every resident free travel throughout their birthday month, so they can try out buses free for a month and hopefully continue to use them long term."