ACORN members in the West Midlands are celebrating a magnificent win.
In February last year, members voted to campaign for better buses. A year and a half later, ACORN Birmingham and ACORN Coventry are celebrating a huge win. The two joined forces to run the campaign and saw a number of successes along the way, including a 1,600 signatures strong petition and 4/6 candidates for the recent mayoral elections supporting the proposal. In the end, the Labour candidate won the election and quickly announced bus franchising.
In real terms, bus franchising will mean the public will have more control over prices, routes and timetables, as well as putting an end to the widespread subsidising model where councils pay thousands to operators to get them to continue providing services. This is a great win for Birmingham, Coventry, the West Midlands as a whole, and our union! Cheaper prices and greater control over services can only lead to good things for regular people.