The Government has announced £3 million to help six mayoral authorities prepare for bus franchising, proving that even a route map can be promoted before anyone has confirmed where it is going.
On 13 April 2026, Liverpool City Region, the North East, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, the West Midlands, and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough received support to move towards franchising. The announcement presents this as another step towards better buses. The buses themselves remain politely outside while the paperwork advances in formation.
Franchising is intended to give local leaders more control over services. The immediate achievement, however, is six authorities receiving money to prepare for a system that will later require further preparation before passengers can judge whether anything has improved. The route map has been handed a clipboard and told this is leadership.
That £3 million sits beside the Government’s claim that more than £3 billion will be invested through the Local Authority Bus Grant between 2026 and 2029. The announcement therefore has the pleasing scale of a national transport revolution carrying a small handbag. The wider funding is intended to support cheaper fares and new routes, including £1 fares for under 21s in the North East and a new service connecting rural Norfolk villages with Norwich.
There is a serious point beneath the joke. Preparing a franchised network needs planning, funding and coordination. A bus service cannot be improved merely by announcing that it is approaching improvement. It needs routes, vehicles, staff and a timetable that recognises passengers may have places to be while officials are still agreeing which folder contains the timetable.
The announcement has nevertheless assembled an impressive support team. Six authorities are getting help to get ready, wider funding is being presented as support for the network, and the route map has been invited to demonstrate strategic vision. It has drawn a bold line from preparation to more preparation and labelled the destination progress.
It has accepted the role on one condition. Nobody asks it to arrive before the meeting about arrival times has finished taking attendance.
Source: GOV.UK.
