A briefing on the city region’s transport spending plans for 2015/16 is set to take place at Manchester Town Hall next week.
The Transport for Greater Manchester Committee (TfGMC) is holding its annual budget briefing in the Town Hall’s conference hall on Monday 9 February, from 11.15am to 12.30pm.
Greater Manchester residents and stakeholders are welcome to attend the meeting, where leading councillors and directors from TfGM will present the budget for the next financial year and be available for a question and answer session.
The briefing will be hosted by Councillor Andrew Fender, Chair of TfGMC. He said: “Manchester has the fastest growing economy in the UK outside London and transport has a crucial role to play in supporting and sustaining that growth.
“We’ve achieved a great deal over recent years and we continue to deliver a programme of investment of over £2 billion in transport infrastructure and services for Greater Manchester. This represents the biggest single investment in transport schemes outside London.
“This includes a number of schemes that were part of the Greater Manchester Transport Fund and additional schemes, including those which were announced as part of Greater Manchester’s historic Growth and Reform deal.
“As a local government body, we are acutely aware of the need to make ongoing efficiency and cost savings – while at the same time protecting our long-term investment in transport infrastructure.
“Anyone who wants to learn more about the opportunities and challenges transport faces in the year ahead is welcome to come along to the budget briefing.”
The £1.5 billion Greater Manchester Transport Fund was established in May 2009 to pay for major transport schemes, including the Metrolink expansion programme, bus priority projects, park and ride and new transport interchanges.
Greater Manchester’s wider Growth Deal package will also see more than £350 million invested in 12 major transport schemes between 2015/16 and 2020/21, including new transport interchanges, new roads, new bus priority measures and more trams for Metrolink.
In addition, transport spending in Greater Manchester focuses on supporting national and local concessionary travel schemes, funding the provision of socially necessary bus services, providing improved passenger services and facilities and other transport related activities, including the operation, maintenance and installation of the traffic signal network in Greater Manchester.
TfGMC is a Joint Committee of the Combined Authority and the ten district authorities of Greater Manchester. It oversees the work of TfGM, monitors the performance of transport services, scrutinises the delivery of transport capital projects, and advises the Combined Authority on transport policy.
To attend the briefing, please email budgetupdate@tfgm.com or telephone 0161 244 1000.
Registration will take place from 10.45am to 11.15am.
