Wolverhampton councillor clashes with mayor over 8.65 per cent hike in bus fares
A row has broken out between a senior councillor and the elected mayor for the West Midlands over the recent hike in bus fares.
Transport for West Midlands said the 8.65 per cent increase in fares, which came into force on Sunday (15), were instigated by bus operators themselves, and were the result of a rise in running costs, which had been independently verified.
But Councillor Simon Bennett, leader of the opposition Conservative group on Wolverhampton Council, has written to Mr Parker, claiming the increases were down to his plans to create a rail-style franchise system.
In his letter to the mayor, Councillor Bennett claimed the rises were 'entirely avoidable'.
"The real reason fares are being hiked is because you have decided to take buses back in-house through franchising," he said.
"In doing so, you have disrupted the existing system, shifted risk onto commuters, and sparked fears among operators - who then point to that uncertainty to justify higher fares.
"In fact operators indicated that without your impending reforms, fare hikes would have been far smaller, or even avoided entirely, thanks to continuing state grants."
However, a spokesman for the mayor said the fare increases had nothing to do with franchising, which was still two years away.
He said both the bus operators and the region's three Conservative council leaders were all in favour of the franchising model.
He said: “It’s worrying that a senior councillor doesn’t understand how franchising works - or is choosing to mislead people.
“These fare hikes were imposed by private operators before franchising happens, which will be in 2027."
He said the Conservatives had left West Midland's taxpayers paying private companies more than £50 million a year to run the buses, and that was not sustainable.
"That’s the broken system Councillor Bennett wants to protect," he said.
"Franchising puts power back in public hands, ending the failed and costly Tory policy of handing millions a year to private bus companies with no accountability.
“These fare rises show exactly why change is needed, and why the mayor is right to bring our buses back under public control.”
A spokesman for Transport for West Midlands, the public transport arm of the West Midlands Combined Authority, said: “These fare increases were instigated by the operators as a result of the rising costs of running a commercial bus company, and this was independently verified."
He said that, in addition, the combined authority's £50-million-a-year bus support grant was extended until March 2026.
"Without this there would have been extensive reductions in bus services," said the Transport for West Midlands spokesman.
“We have only just started the transition to franchising the bus network and therefore this has had no impact on the current costs for bus operators.
“And in the longer term, franchising will provide better value for the taxpayer.”
