Greater Manchester's Buses

A call for regulation of Greater Manchester's Bus Services.

 by John Wilkins

BOLD # (Building Our Local Democracy) members and an associate met with Rochdale Council Leader, Allen Brett, to obtain a firm commitment from him to support the motion proposed by colleague, Phil Burke, to support the Better Buses for Greater Manchester Campaign for a form of regulation of our bus services. We were joined by campaign organiser, Pascale Robinson, MEN reporter Nick Statham and Clr. Burke (Lead for Transport).

We had arranged the meeting to publicise the Campaign's 'Week of Action' and staged it in Rochdale Bus Station. The initial part of our meeting turned into a photo opportunity and publicity for Clr. Brett. Whilst he committed himself to fully supporting the motion in support of the motion from Clr. Burke based on the model one supplied by the campaign coordinator, Pascale Robinson, he seemed keen to promote himself also. Clr. Brett, who was a director of the old Greater Manchester Buses prior to privatisation, stated “This is something I’m passionate about 100 per cent, and will argue for behind the scenes.” We photographed both councillors along with Pascale and group members in front of a 17A bus and around the bus station. The Council Leader also had members of his own publicity team photographing and recording the meeting before he left to return to his council office.

Our group then joined Clr. Burke in the Council's offices in Number 1 Riverside for further productive discussions on the need for better regulated buses. He was extremely enthusiastic about the subject and listened and responded to all our comments. He stated that “We need to get bus services back to local people for local people, to use them when they want to use them.”  He said Mayor Andy Burnham needs to listen to council leaders that this is what residents want ie. “reliable, clean bus services that will take them from A to B with no issues.”

This echoes comments we received when collecting petition signatures in Middleton a couple of weeks earlier. We collected nearly 100 on the day and almost 200 in total. It is an issue that affects all age groups. We were told about youngsters getting detentions for lateness because of buses, the cost for many workers to the elderly who are being made to feel more isolated with the cutbacks to local routes, whilst companies 'cherry picked' the busier routes. Concerns have been raised throughout the 10 Greater Manchester Local Authorities, with over 200 people attending a meeting organised by Better Buses recently in Manchester Art Gallery.

The response from Onebus (a collective representing GM bus operators) claimed that Better Buses are misleading the public, and driven by a pro-nationalisation political agenda. Clr. Burke rejected these this saying the campaign represents public concerns and “There is no hidden agenda. Our agenda is to provide a good reliable bus service for the people of the north west”.

As well as cost, unreliability of services, the group and Clr. Burke felt there needed to be improvements in accessibility for disabled users, greater cleanliness, public safety and emissions reduced.

If you are reading this and have not signed the petition yet please go to: www.betterbusesgm.org.uk and get your councillors to support the campaign.

Some Facts & Figures:
2 x more spending per head in London than greater Manchester.
Bus use in Manchester has gone down by 40% since deregulation 30 years ago, whilst bus use in London (with regulation) has doubled.
Drivers on same routes different rates of pay, different conditions of service including pensions.
Fairs not standardised a single ticket can cost more than£4 whereas a journey of up to one hour in London could cost as little as £1.50.
Health: Air pollution = 1,000 premature deaths. Highest admissions in Manchester for asthma and higher rates of dementia and respiratory problems.

# BOLD is a non politically aligned campaign group based in Middleton. Find out about us on Facebook at BOLD=Building Our Local Democracy.

If there is a similar group in your area we would love to get in touch with you and work together on important issues.

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