Private Centrebus?
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WEST MIDLANDS PTE is abandoning its Birmingham city Centrebus route next month, and is looking for an independent operator prepared to take over As part of a £2.5m trimming exercise, the PTE is abandoning the shoppers' service which loses £0.16m each year, but West Midlands County Council leader Alan Hope says he hopes a private operator will be able to make a success of the venture.
A PTE spokesman told CM that it is considering this as a serious plan, and said that operators would be able to take advantage of the 1980 Transport Act's proof of need criteria and apply direct to the Traffic Commissioners to operate the Centrebus.
The other cuts, which will go before the West Midlands Traffic Commissioners on September 29 and 30, will involve a 10 per cent cut in total mileage, but only a three per cent cut to passengers, according to the PTE. Some new services are included in the package.
The balance of the £2.5m cuts are being met by cutting the hours worked by WMPTE drivers, and by cutting 170 jobs from the management structure (CM June 14).
Overall, WMPTE faced a £12.1m deficit in the current financial year. In addition to the £2.5m package, this was met by increasing fares last month by 15 per cent, and by leasing rather than buying new buses.
But it could face new problems at next month's Motor Show, as Transport and General Workers Union regional officer Ken Coleclough is angry about the plans to sell Centrebus.
"If the Council goes ahead with this plan, we might be reluctant to operate the buses at the Motor Show," he warned, pointing out that the extra services run then are operated with volunteer drivers.