GET ON BOARD
Have your says on who runs our buses
THE people of Greater Manchester are to have a say on buses in the region being controlled by their town halls rather than private companies.
Council leaders have agreed to push ahead with their franchising plans - a key milestone in the conurbation’s devolution journey. The move has been heavily opposed by operators such as Stagecoach. It would mean local authority leaders and regional mayor Andy Burnham taking over planning routes, setting fares and linking up the buses with other public transport through a franchised system - something they have been unable to do since 1986.
They see it as key to finally creating a transport network in the style of London, which was the only place to have retained control of its buses after Margaret Thatcher de-regulated them elsewhere. A public consultation on the plan will be launched next Monday with leaders urging as many people as possible across the conurbation to have their say.
At the combined authority meeting leaders were unanimous in their support for the plan.
Oldham council leader Sean Fielding told colleagues: “If it’s good enough for London, in my view, it’s good enough for Greater Manchester.” Tameside leader Brenda Warrington called the plans ‘very welcome.’
The Better Buses campaign, which has lobbied for Greater Manchester to go down the franchising route, said it was ‘delighted’ at the move.
A Stagecoach spokesperson said: “Partnership proposals developed by bus operators will deliver multimillion-pound investment in integrated ticketing, better value fares, electric buses and many more improvements - all much sooner than through franchising and with bus companies rather than taxpayers covering the cost.”
The consultation will go live at 12pm on Monday at gmconsult.org.