Is it time for the municipals to plot a path of reinvention?

Philip Higgs argues for reform of the remaining municipal bus firms

"Are they here to stay or are they simply sitting ducks?"

"Are they here to stay or are they simply sitting ducks?"

With the recent sale of Eastbourne Buses to Stagecoach, the number of municipal bus companies in the UK now stands at just 13. What does the future hold for the remaining 13 and how can they adapt to their new surrounding where nearly two-thirds of services are controlled by the UK’s big five groups?

140 of the 153 major bus companies in the UK, accounting for 93% of total turnover, operate with clear and dominant objectives of delivering profit for their shareholders. The remaining...