It’s full steam ahead for Andy Burnham’s £2 price cap on Greater Manchester buses, with a date for the new prices announced.
The Mayor has today confirmed that adults will pay no more than £2 for a single bus journey from Sunday 4 September – just a fortnight away.
It will save passengers up to 50% on journeys around the region and is the biggest change to Greater Manchester’s bus network since deregulation 36 years ago.
Huge yellow posters have been unveiled in the city centre today promoting the #GetOnBoard scheme.
The new simpler bus fares will include a £5 one-day travelcard, which will give people unlimited bus travel within the 10 boroughs of Greater Manchester until 3.59am the following day.
ADVERTISEMENT
For children aged between five and 16, their single bus journeys will be capped at £1, and day travelcards at £2.50.
Kids under five will continue travelling for free.
ADVERTISEMENT
The new fares will be introduced 12 months ahead of the launch of the first franchised bus services in the region.
Credit: Unsplash
It’s part of the Bee Network, which hopes to mimic London’s fully-integrated transport system.
Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: “The introduction of lower, simpler fares across our bus network signifies the biggest shake-up of our bus system in close to 40 years and comes at a critical time.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Hundreds of thousands of households across Greater Manchester are deeply worried about money, with fears of even higher bills just around the corner.
“As the most used form of public transport, with around 2.5million trips every week across the city-region, introducing lower fares for bus passengers is the best way we can help the most people with the cost of travel right now.
“Coupled with the extension of Our Pass, which provides free travel for 16 – 18-year-olds, we are taking steps to make an immediate and tangible difference to people’s lives by putting money back into their pockets.
“While this is the right thing to do, we cannot at this point guarantee that this new fare structure will be permanent. It will be reviewed annually. But the more that people use the buses, the more likely it is that we will be able to sustain it.”
Featured image: GMCA
News
Police appeal to find next of kin after man found outside Palace Theatre
Daisy Jackson
Police are trying to track down the family of a man who died after being found unresponsive outside the Palace Theatre in Manchester.
The man, who has now been named as Jonathan Bernard Carroll, was seen outside the city centre theatre at around 6.30am on Tuesday 12 November.
Emergency services rushed to the scene and Mr Carroll was taken to hospital.
Tragically, the 47-year-old passed away a short time later.
A large cordon was in place on Whitworth Street and Oxford Road while police and security attended the incident.
Greater Manchester Police are now appealing to find his next of kin.
It’s believed that he resided in the Salford area of Greater Manchester.
Anyone with any information should contact the Coroner’s Office on 0161 856 1376.
Greater Manchester public urged to help get people ‘off the streets and on their feet’ before Christmas
Emily Sergeant
Locals are being urged to help get hundreds of people “off the streets and back on their feet” this festive season.
As the temperatures told colder by the day, and Christmas creeps closer and closer, Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity is bringing back ‘1000 Beds for Christmas’, and the massively-important initiative is aiming to provide 1,000 nights of accommodation to people at risk of homelessness before the big day arrives.
Forming part of the ongoing ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme, this festive fundraising mission is designed to provide food, shelter, warmth, and dedicated vital wrap-around support for those who need it most.
The charity says it wants to build on the “incredible success of 2023”, which raised more than £55,000 and provided 1,800 nights of accommodation.
Stockport-based property finance specialists, Together – which has supported the campaign for the last two years – has, once again, generously pledged to match every public donation for the first £20,000 raised.
Unfamiliar with the ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme? Since 2017, when rough sleeping peaked, the initiative has helped ensure a significantly-higher rate of reduction in the numbers of people facing a night on streets in Greater Manchester than seen nationally.
The landmark scheme has given people the chance to rebuild their lives, while also giving them access to key services and opportunities that allows them to stay off the streets for good.
Despite the scheme’s recent success, organisations across Greater Manchester are under “a huge amount of pressure” to meet the demand for their services this winter, and given the current economic outlook, household budgets will continue to be squeezed – leaving people on the sharp end of inequality and poverty.
Daisy Jackson -
17th August 2022 
