THE Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has today launched Our Pass at The Bridgewater Hall.
Young people can apply online for Our Pass from today and start using the card from the beginning of September.
For a one-off £10 administration fee, students and young workers will get free bus travel across Greater Manchester and lots of other benefits too.
Our Pass could save young people and their families over £500 per year in bus travel, as well as unlocking an exciting range of opportunities provided by Greater Manchester’s private and public sector.
Greater Manchester is growing, with the population set to exceed 3 million by 2040. Demand for transport is going up too, but overall bus use is declining. In Greater Manchester there has been a decline of 32.1 million annual passenger journeys by bus in the last ten years. In London bus journeys have almost doubled in the same time period.
Today’s launch is a first step in breaking the cycle of decline and getting more people using buses again. Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has set out his ten year vision for transport across Greater Manchester, including investing in the city region’s bus network.
Transport for Greater Manchester estimates 26 per cent of the city region’s 16-18 population currently use bus as their primary mode of transport. Our Pass aims to encourage more young people to use bus services to get around the city region. Whilst bus services at the moment cannot connect to every opportunity, Our Pass will transform public transport accessibility for 16-18 year old Greater Manchester residents.
The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: “I hope that Our Pass will change the lives of young people across Greater Manchester. For too long, they have been Westminster’s target for cuts and negative publicity. In Greater Manchester, we are using devolution to make young people our priority for investment.
“Our Pass is designed to send everyone growing up here a simple message: we believe in you and want you to have high ambitions for where you can go and what you can achieve. This amazing place is yours to explore, to shape and to build for the future.”
