Joint tram and bus travel will be twenty per cent cheaper from today as Greater Manchester takes back control of it bus network forty years after deregulation
In what the Mayor Andy Burnham describes as coming of age moment for devolution’
passengers are promised earlier and later, more frequent and better integrated bus services as well as a new Bee Network
The app will provide live information for all local bus, tram and train servicesunder the Bee Network with new AnyBus + tram ticket
The introduction of locally-controlled bus services marks the first time in England that bus deregulation, which has led to declining bus services and passenger numbers across the country, has been reversed. In the nearly 40 years since deregulation the number of bus journeys in Greater Manchester dropped from around 355m to 182m in 2019. England’s other city-regions experienced a similar downward trend in this period, with journeys more than halving, from a total of 1,810m to 845m.
The number of bus journeys in London, where buses were not deregulated, roughly doubled in the same period, from around 1,164m journeys in 1986 to 2.1bn at the end of the decade.
Operating initially in Bolton, Wigan and parts of Salford and Bury, the launch of the first franchised bus services represents the start of the Bee Network – Greater Manchester’s plan for an integrated, low-cost, high-frequency public transport network, bringing together local trams, buses and bikes – and ultimately local train services – with the largest walking, wheeling and cycling network anywhere in the UK.
Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: “For nearly 40 years we have seen worsening services and plummeting passenger numbers on our buses. We’ve had to reckon with a deregulated bus network that cuts vital services that connect communities to jobs, hospitals and opportunities on a whim – leaving local leaders with limited budgets to pick up the tab to keep these routes alive. Today marks the end of that era with our franchised system representing better value for money for city-regions and a better service for passengers.
“From today passengers will experience our new electric buses as well as earlier and later, more frequent and better integrated services. We’ve already cut the cost of public transport with the capped fares I introduced in 2022, but from today our new AnyBus + tram ticket will also make joint tram and bus travel 20% cheaper.
“We’re also putting power back in the hands of people, with passengers able to rate their journey. These ratings, combined with a range of other customer-related performance targets will be used to inform what operators get paid.
“Today is a coming-of-age moment for English devolution. With the launch of the Bee Network, Greater Manchester is blazing a trail for other city-regions who are ready to follow our lead in reversing the failed bus deregulation experiment and creating an integrated transport network that is run in in the interests of, and accountable to, our communities.
“I’d like to extend my thanks to all those who have worked tirelessly over many years to make the Bee Network possible.”
