Franchising buses will not solve real issues
I WRITE in response to the recent article ‘Manchester’s ‘failed’ bus network is leaving communities like ghost towns’ (M.E.N., December 1).
As a collective of bus operators, we agree that the bus network can be improved and we are keen to work with the mayor, Transport for Greater Manchester and others to do so. However, it is important to highlight that in scope, Manchester has one of the most comprehensive bus networks outside London.
Whilst we are sorry that bus services by their nature can’t serve everyone with a perfect bus service exactly at the time and place people may always want, our aim is to do our best for the vast majority – indeed, our 87 per cent satisfaction score goes some way in proving that point.
However, we do believe that falsely portraying isolated examples of certain journeys as representative of Greater Manchester’s entire bus network does the region and its reputation a disservice – and we are working on the other 5pc of people who aren’t satisfied, as well as those who currently choose not to use the bus, too.
We reject the claim that the commercialisation of buses in 1986 is the cause of the decline in bus use. The real cause is the political failure to tackle the growing number of cars on our roads. This has caused less use of buses since the 1950s, while also causing the growing congestion and air quality crisis.
Franchising buses will not address the true causes of the challenges our bus network faces. It is distracting us from the task at hand. Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA)’s own proposal admits there is no plan or funding to address congestion. Additionally, it admits there will be inflation-busting fares rises, no bigger a bus network and a quarter of passengers will still desert buses under a franchise.
A single organisation could not resolve the issues undermining bus use on their own. That’s why the best way forward is a partnership approach that will provide a strategy to tackle the biggest challenges facing our communities: road congestion and air quality, alongside a commitment from bus operators to do more and be held accountable – exactly what our partnership aims to do.
We need more ambition to make buses better. We have that ambition, and want to prove and be held accountable to that ambition by working in partnership. Gary Nolan, chief executive, OneBus
Will Tories keep their votes?
IN articles and on the Viewpoints Page the M.E.N. has rightly given a lot of space to the Labour Party’s collapse at the ballot box.
The Conservatives have been rejoicing at their electoral conquest of the north and their resulting huge majority. But will they be able to keep their new voters?
A good few are motivated by antiimmigrant feeling and resentment at what they see as decades of neglect by London. Egos were flattered by the appearance of a southern toff begging for their support. Will this drastic change of mood and vote last?
The ‘working class’ has mutated. The hollow-cheeked, horny-handed sons of toil, attended by women in shawls, have vanished. The ills and illnesses of poverty have been replaced by the diseases of overindulgence, as a look round any surgery will show. Even the poor expect foreign holidays and new gadgets as a right. Neither major party seems to know how to deal long-term with this divergence from the stereotype.
What happens now? To Brexit, the next stage of which is scheduled for the end of January? To the Lib Dems who have increased their vote but lost a seat? To the SNP, following its awesome victory? Can it undo the work of four centuries and separate Scotland from England? Could England prevent it? Previous attempts at domination have failed. The whole political landscape is in a state of upheaval.
This coming year might test us to the utmost. The basic assumptions have been wilting. Priorities have been shifting. Some parliamentary old-timers, headed by the colourful John Bercow, have departed, willingly or unwillingly. They have been replaced by unknowns. Their task is to deal with the biggest questions of our time.
I urge fellow-readers to keep their heads in the coming year. It shows every sign of being even more tumultuous than 2019.
It might begin with a special January 31, 2020 commemorative Brexit 50p coin, produced by melting down the ones minted to commemorate an earlier projected date. But how will it end? Let us hope that meltdowns will be confined to coinage... Margaret Brown, Burslem
Pensioners asked for £10
I SEE Andy Burnham has done the dirty on us pensioners by asking for £10 per year to travel on Metrolink and trains in Greater Manchester from February.
Ten pounds may not seem a lot to some but to pensioners on basic a pension it’s a lot Typical.
He talks about supporting pensioners then he puts the knife in your back. Remember this when he comes up for election.
Also remember we had a referendum and voted against a mayor, but we got Burnham! Edward Tudor, Moston
Build services for buyers
AS reported in last Saturday’s
M.E.N. Belle Vue greyhound stadium is to be demolished so that 250 new homes can be built.
When that happens where are the children to go to school as they are full? All the doctors surgeries in the area are full.
Would it not be more sensible to build schools and doctors surgeries first so it helps the new residents in these houses? If the prospective residents were told none of these services were available to them, then would they buy? Allan Grafton, M18