Greater Manchester capped bus fares could start in September, mayor says

Capped fares which will see adults pay £5 for a day's bus travel in Greater Manchester could be introduced from September, the region's mayor has said.

Andy Burnham said he wanted to bring the launch of new fares forward from 2023 to help with cost-of-living rises.

Capped fares are a key part of the mayor's plan to bring the area's buses back under local control.

The charges will be introduced on 1 September if the plans are agreed by government and bus firms.

The scheme, which Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) said could cost up to £25m in the first year, will initially be subsidised from £98m of government funding, provided under the Bus Services Improvement Plan.

Currently, 30 operators run about 830 bus services in the region, offering about 150 different types of tickets.

Some busy routes near universities and city and town centres are over-supplied with services, while rural areas are under-supplied.

The proposals, which will also see single fares capped at £2 for adults and £1 for children, had been due to be introduced in autumn 2023.

However, Mr Burnham said the new fares would hopefully be launched as children start the new school year "to respond to the cost-of-living crisis".

"This is a massive change and it's designed to help people with the genuine pressures they're facing," he said.

The mayor said introducing the capped fares, which will be subsidised by the government, earlier than initially planned was "increasing the financial pressure on public transport funding, but we think it's the right thing to do".

He said by "having a lower fare, we believe we can get more people on to public transport", which could help "halt the decline in bus passenger numbers since 1986".

He added that more people needed to use buses than presently do to "sustain this new, lower, flatter fare structure".

The number of people using buses in the area currently stands at about 80% of pre-pandemic levels.

Under Mr Burnham's plans, buses will be overseen by Transport for Greater Manchester, on behalf of GMCA.

They will be managed under a franchising system, in which GMCA will co-ordinate the network and grant contracts to bus firms to run the services.

The franchise model is estimated to cost about £135m and was backed by nine of the region's 10 councils.

The plans have been opposed by bus operators Stagecoach and Rotala, who argued the proposals followed a "flawed consultation" by GMCA.

In March, a judge dismissed those arguments and ruled that the process was lawful, though Rotala has appealed that decision.

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