It’s a year since Greater Manchester took back control of its bus services.
Since its historic launch a year ago, more than 58 million bus journeys have been made on cheaper, cleaner, more reliable bus services.
Since the distinctive yellow buses were first launched in Bolton, Wigan and parts of Salford and Bury, nearly seven million more journeys have been made on the city region’s buses compared with the previous year (a 5% increase).
Local control of buses is part of a plan to grow the Greater Manchester economy by providing better, more affordable public transport and making it easier for people to travel by foot, bike or wheelchair.
By connecting more people with education, leisure and work opportunities, the Bee Network is helping unlock the city region’s growth potential. In the coming years, it will also help tackle the housing crisis by unlocking new locations across Greater Manchester to build new housing at scale.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said: “A year ago, we made history as the first area to bring our buses back under local control in almost 40 years. Today, we can see the progress we’ve made, with bus services now cleaner, cheaper and more reliable than before and record numbers of passengers using the Bee Network.
The age and standard of our buses is better than ever, we’ve more staff, we’re keeping fares low and have launched more night buses for those working in our nighttime economy.
“The Bee Network is also delivering new jobs and apprenticeships both here in Greater Manchester and across the UK. And having control of our buses also means we can fund free bus travel for 16 to 18-year-olds. So, the cost of bus ticket need not be a barrier to work or study opportunities.
“As our pioneering Bee Network goes from strength to strength, it’s no surprise that others are looking to follow in our footsteps and that local control of buses is now a major national policy.”
