Are Manchester-style bright yellow Bee Buses on the way to Birmingham amid Mayor public control plan?

The new elected mayor for the West Midlands has outlined his £25 million plans to take Birmingham bus services back under public control through a rail-style franchise system.

Birmingham and the West Midlands could be in line to get a version of Manchester’s bright yellow Bee Buses under £25m plans unveiled by the region’s newly elected Labour Mayor.

Richard Parker’s scheme would see buses in Brum and the rest of the West Midlands brought under public control in like Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham did. Mr Parker, who defeated incumbent mayor Andy Street, said improving the region's bus service was the greatest difference he could make to the lives of people in the region.

Mr Parker said the money would come from existing budgets, and there would be no additional burden to the taxpayer. He said once the franchise system was up and running, it would be self-funding, and any surpluses would be reinvested into the network or used to keep fares down.

Mr Parker said the new network, which would see buses rebranded under a new corporate logo, would be up and running within two years. Announcing the plans at Wolverhampton bus station on Wednesday afternoon (May 14), Mr Parker said private bus companies would continue to operate services, but would do so under fixed contracts laid down by West Midlands Combined Authority which would set the fares and timetables.

At the moment the companies themselves are free to make decisions about routes, fares and timetables, with the combined authority subsidising the routes which would otherwise be unprofitable.

Mr Parker said the combined authority had subsidised bus services to the tune of £75 million over the past 18 months. He said that without this subsidy passengers would have either faced inflation-busting fare increases or dramatic cuts to services.

"Under the franchise system the bus companies will be set budgets for running the system, and any surpluses will be reinvested back," he said. "The problems with the current system are not just about the private sector running it, but they are about the fact that the people of the West Midlands pay in, and public funding contributes to about 50 percent of operating costs, but we have little or no say about timetables, routes or fares."

Mr Parker said he was confident private operators would put forward tenders, with a similar scheme operating in Greater Manchester having already proved successful. Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham launched his yellow 'Bee' buses last year.

The cost in Manchester was estimated at £135 million, but Mr Parker said there would be crucial differences to the way the West Midlands scheme operated, and the cost would be substantially lower. I have been told it can be done for about £25 million," he said.

"We simply need that to cover the transition costs - once the network is up and running it will be self-funding, and more than that any surplus will be reinvested back in the network and on keeping fares down."

Mr Parker said he would present his proposals to the July meeting of the West Midlands Combined Authority board, with a view to the scheme ready to start the transition in 2025. "My plans will be to take a paper to the combined authority board to discuss the route to transforming a system that doesn't work today so we can deliver a bus operating system that works for everyone and benefits everyone," he said.

"It's the biggest difference I can make to people's lives here, their everyday lives, is improving the bus system and helping people get to the jobs they need, to get to the shops, and get to the services they require.