Sheffield's partnership lesson to improve local bus services

摘要

Local authorities are expected to gain more powers over bus service provision this spring as the Bus Services Bill passes into law. One region demonstrating how the new options might be considered is South Yorkshire which chose a successful partnership model in Sheffield, says David Young. On the eve of the Bus Services Bill being enacted into law it is worth revisiting the Sheffield Bus Partnership and reflect on how this initiative arose from work done by the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) on bus franchising (also known as 'quality partnerships') and consider whether partnerships really work.