00:00So, this is Martin Swales, who is Chief Executive of South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority.
00:06Today is an important day for bus passengers, isn't it? Do you want to tell us what we're
00:10doing in the interchange in Sheffield today?
00:13Yes, thank you. Today we're launching the consultation about bus franchising. Franchising
00:20can be a complicated term. In essence, it is about whether to take control of the bus
00:29system and buses, take it into public control, or to leave it in private control. Public
00:38control would allow the Combined Authority, through the Mayor and the Board, the leaders
00:45of our councils, to make the decisions about routes, about fares, about services to communities.
00:57It would also mean that the MCA owned the buses, the depots, and could begin to plan
01:06a fully integrated system for the future.
01:10We are starting a 12-week consultation through to the 15th of January. The outcomes of that
01:18will feed into the Mayor's decision to Board in March about whether to proceed to franchising.
01:26We would really love your listeners, your readers, to participate in this. We're trying
01:34to make it as easy as we can. We have a short survey, we have a longer questionnaire, and
01:43we have all the technical detail if people want to read that and get involved in a comprehensive
01:49booklet. But really, we just want a little bit of everyone's time to hear their views
01:57so that can help inform the Mayor's decision.
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