Greater Manchester bus fares to be capped under franchise reforms

Bus fares across Greater Manchester will be capped at £2 for adults and £1 for children as the network comes back under public control.

The region will be the first area outside London to have a regulated bus system since the 1980s.

Mayor Andy Burnham tweeted: "The era of people paying £4 or more for a single journey is coming to an end."

Wigan, Bolton and parts of Salford will be the first areas to get regulated services from autumn next year.

Bury, Rochdale, Oldham and areas of north Manchester will follow in spring 2024, with Stockport, Trafford, Tameside, south Manchester and remaining parts of Salford following by the end of 2024.

The franchise model is estimated to cost around £135m and means fares, timetables and routes will be set by local authorities instead of private companies, but operators may continue running services under a franchise system.

Mr Burnham approved the plans in March 2021 and last week operators Stagecoach and Rotala lost a legal challenge against the decision.

The operators said they were "disappointed" but would work with the authority.

Mr Burnham said he wanted to "make travelling by public transport more appealing, easier and, significantly, put our people before profits".

"[The] government has signalled its intention to support our ambitions many times over and we now need them to work in partnership with us, to help us turn our shared vision into a reality," he said.

Judy Hobson - BBC North West Tonight's Transport Correspondent

From next autumn Greater Manchester will start introducing black and yellow buses on it's new Bee network. But they won't just look different, they'll be run in a completely different way.

The local authority will set the routes and the fares. It's a big change, there are currently 30 different operators!

Passenger numbers have plummeted since buses were deregulated in the 1980s and Andy Burnham blames the drop in numbers on chaotic services and expensive fares.

He said the price cap of £2 for adults and £1 for a child will practically pay for itself as more people will be tempted to catch a bus.

The mayor also unveiled Paralympian Dame Sarah Storey as the region's active travel commissioner, taking over from fellow cyclist Chris Boardman.

She wants to encourage people to walk or cycle the first and last mile of their journeys.

"It's not just about transport, it's also about health," Dame Sarah said.

"I live and breathe the benefits of walking and cycling every day so I will be wanting to help make that case to government, that if you want to invest in the north, you want to level up the north, you have to invest in people's health and wellbeing as well."

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