In May 2025, the West Midlands Combined Authority (“WMCA”) Board approved a transition to Bus Franchising Operating Model, following public consultation that saw 75% support for bringing buses back under public control.
The objective of the Bus Franchising Programme is to move the West Midlands bus network from a deregulated system into public control. Successful transition will create the foundations for wider improvements to bus services and full integration with other modes of transport as set out in the Full Franchising Assessment (FFA) and detailed further in the Bus Franchising Prospectus. These support the overall vision for improving public transport in West Midlands.
Under the future Franchising Operating Model, Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) will design routes, specify hours of operation, set service standards and award Operator contracts following competitive procurements.
The procurement of franchise contracts will be governed by the Procurement Act 2023 (PA23). The recommended route to market within the Bus Franchising Case is a ‘Utilities Dynamic Market’ (UDM).
The UDM will allow the WMCA to pre-qualify prospective Operators. This will enable a prospective operator to submit a single pre-qualification response and, if successful, to remain pre-qualified for the remainder of the Franchising programme, entitling it to bid in all of the Tranches, reducing the need for WMCA to go back out to market each time.
For the bidding phase, a competitive flexible procedure will be undertaken due to the flexibility it provides the WMCA, including being able to include a negotiation stage to the process.
The key dates for each Tranche operations are below:
• Tranche 1 – Autumn 2027
• Tranche 2 – Summer 2028
• Tranche 3 – Spring 2029
For the procurement process, there will be a mix of large and small franchises for Operators to be involved in. This information will be discussed on the Bus Operator Market Engagement Day.