From free summer buses for kids to mayoral solidarity: West of England mayor on first 100 days

Buses can often get little media attention, but experts are clear; they matter to voters and improvements to services and price incentives have real cut-through on the doorstep.

One of Labour’s newest mayors, Helen Godwin, is hoping buses and other forms of mass transit can help define her legacy and attract support amongst voters of all stripes, after a hard-fought battle in May’s election.

Speaking to LabourList to mark her first 100 days in office, the West of England mayor said she had put the wheels in motion for the region’s comprehensive transport vision, including implementing a form of mass transit.

She said: “We ran the campaign quite heavily around public transport. We’ve got a train network which isn’t as mature as we would like and doesn’t quite have the coverage, so buses are really how we ask people to move around if we’re asking people not to drive.”

As part of her efforts to improve the region’s transport infrastructure, she praised the £750 million in funding granted in the Spending Review – “more than we’ve ever had in the region”, and said the money would allow her to unlock those plans.

In the short-term, Godwin has already achieved some ‘quick wins’, with the first of 250 new electric buses out on the roads and being the only mayor in the country to roll out a ‘kids go free’ scheme on the region’s buses.

“All our kids under the age of 16 can travel for free – and we’ve seen quite a significant uptick in terms of passenger numbers. We’ll get the evaluation of that, but that’s meaning that we’ve got loads of young people accessing the city centre and hopefully bolstering local economies as well.”

READ MORE: ‘Labour’s real challenge is fixing Britain’s story, not just its problems’

For Godwin, transport policy and housing strategy go hand in hand.

“Yes, we need to build housing in the region, we really want to support the government in terms of the 1.5 million target they’ve got, but we want to do it in a way that benefits our existing communities.

“We’ve made that link between transport and housing so that where we are improving transport, we are also unlocking land for housing.”

This joined up approach links in with what residents had told Godwin on the doorstep during the election campaign – which resulted in a close three way race between Labour, Reform UK and the Green Party.

“What was really interesting was this kind of acceptance that we do need more housing, but we’ve got to make sure we’ve got a transport infrastructure that supports it, or we’ve got the services around it that supports it – that was what people honed in on.

“There were some really interesting themes that cut across party politics, in quite a profound way. That’s really what I’ve tried to take in; how we do things that benefit everyone, because I now serve the region, regardless of how people voted.”

One aspect of the job that Godwin has been pleased with is communication, not only with government departments and Number 10, but also with her fellow mayors.

“I think for me, a sort of solidarity from the other mayors has been really fantastic – and obviously the Labour mayors and in particular the sort of sisterhood of female mayors as well; there’s now four of us.

“There’s a really good relationship and we check in and look after each other and share ideas – that has been brilliant.”

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