What do passengers think about the bus services?...
Eighteen-year-old BEN PEARSON said: “I use the X43. It’s just gone up 20p to £6.20 for a return. It’s annoying.
Ailsa Paton, a 23-year-old student, says the price of Manchester buses is “ridiculous”. “I’m from Edinburgh where it’s £3.50 for a day ticket with unlimited use. If you buy a day ticket there after 6.30pm it can be used on the night buses as well. Here it’s a pain because the buses are so expensive. A lot of friends who are students will walk miles because they can’t afford the bus. Sometimes it’s £3.10 to go a mile. Get the government or council to fund the buses, like they do in Edinburgh. More people will use them if you make them cheaper. That’s been proven in Edinburgh - since they brought in the Lothian bus service the amount of cars has gone down a lot. I would prefer some kind of Oyster system where everything was linked. There was talk of one. Bring it in! It works in London.”
Student RESHAN RODNEY, 21, says: “At night sometimes you’re waiting for 15 or 20 minutes and that’s inconvenient”, especially in winter, she says.
HAYLEY SMITH, 28, says rush hour is a nightmare. She says that buses taking different routes out of the city centre might help. “A lot of them follow the same route all the way up Oxford Road, but there are about four different routes that lead out. It’s actually a bit better while the roadworks are on, which is weird.
SAM ROWE, 24, used to live in Oldham where the buses into town were “very, very bad”. “They went once every half an hour and it would take me over an hour to get to work.” He has since moved closer into Manchester and his commute is “much better - now it takes 15 minutes.” “More frequent services” would help,” he says.