Mayor asked about bus franchising and mass transit

The West of England mayor has given her strongest indication yet that she is open to the idea of bringing buses back into public ownership, but says she will not do so until she has all the necessary data.

Helen Godwin was speaking to John Darvall as part of her regular hotseat on Radio Bristol.

"In order for us to franchise, I have to know how the numbers add up", she said, adding she hoped to have more data in the next six months.

Godwin was also asked about housing across the region and the role of the deputy mayor. Here are the main points.

Godwin said she was in the "final stages" of negotiating an "Enhanced Partnership Plus" with bus companies. But what does that mean?

There will be a new board within the West of England Combined Authority (Weca) overseeing performance and a passenger forum where people can question operators. Perhaps most importantly, the mayor will have access to bus network data.

"We can't go to franchising without Enhanced Partnership Plus," Godwin said. "How can I spend taxpayers money without knowing what I'm buying?"

The Liberal Democrats have called on the mayor to move more quickly towards franchising, the term used for bringing buses back under public control.

But Godwin warned it could require a contribution from local councils. At the moment, Weca receives £19.40 per passenger from the local councils via a transport levy. In other areas which have moved to franchising, that figure is around £40 per passenger, she said.

Godwin said she was looking for "phase one" of some form of mass transport to be delivered before the next Weca election in 2029.

Asked whether that meant "something that you can get on and ride", she answered "yes".

The mayor said the new development would be the first part of a wider network.

Given it would take years to build a tram line, she admitted it was likely to be a dedicated bus route, but said she could not give more details at the moment.

Godwin added that there was an ongoing conversation about whether a new train station was needed in the south of Bristol, which could connect it with South Gloucestershire and the airport.

Godwin was asked about proposals to build thousands of homes on green spaces in south Bristol. While this is not strictly in her remit at the moment, she said she understood the council's rationale.

The combined authority is in the process of drawing up a "spatial plan" which will set out where housing and transport infrastructure is going to be built over the next 30 years.

This mission has failed twice in the past - the first attempt was thrown out by the Planning Inspector and the second was not agreed by councils.

"It's early days" on the third attempt, said Godwin, but she was clear "we would always go for brownfield where we can".

Godwin pointed to St Philips Marsh in Bristol as her "big bug bear". The area is currently given over to light industrial use.

"We could build significant numbers of homes at density", she said.

Since Godwin was elected, the role of deputy mayor has been rotating around the council leaders.

She said she made that decision during the campaign as she recognised the need to build relationships with the council leaders, which had been described as "toxic" under the previous mayor.

Under the constitution of Weca, the mayor is obliged to appoint a deputy. An independent remuneration panel sets the salary, which is currently £19,300 per year.

Questions have been raised about whether the workload and number of meetings involved in the role is sufficient for such a salary.

"It's as and when", said Godwin. "My diary is probably booked three or four times over," she added.

Godwin was asked about the Keynsham bypass, where there are plans to introduce two new bus stops and a short 200m section of bus lane.

A consultation found 93% of respondents were against a full-length bus lane along the route and so this was proposed as an alternative.

"If people don't want to do it, that's fine by me," Godwin said. "I'm not wedded to it emotionally in any way," she added.

The proposals would involve cutting the speed limit from 70mph to 40mph, which Godwin indicated she was generally in favour of.

Follow BBC Bristol on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.