Slashing fares is the ‘first step’ for better buses, Andy Burnham says

Slashing and simplifying bus fares is the ‘first step’ towards a better public transport system, Andy Burnham has said as lower ticket prices are launched.

From Sunday (4 September), single fares are £2 for adults and £1 for children while a day ticket for all buses across Greater Manchester will now cost £5.

After travelling to Manchester city centre by bus from Golborne this morning (5 September), the mayor said many people will benefit from the new flat fare structure.

However, he recognised that weekly tickets will still remain the best value option for many regular passengers and promised to look at capping these tickets too.

Speaking at Shudehill Interchange, he said could not guarantee the new fare structure would be permanent, saying it would be reviewed after a year.

But he hopes this move will encourage people to leave their car at home and use the bus, saying that this will help build a better public transport network.

He said: “We’re saying to people today, please take advantage of it.

“The more that you do, the more you will be helping us build the Bee Network.

“You’ll be contributing to the way in which public transport can be built in our city-region.

“It’s a really important message: Get On Board.

“It’s simple, you’ll save money and you’ll help us build a better public transport system for Greater Manchester.”

The move comes after the government announced that bus fares would be capped at £2 across England for three months starting from January 2023.

Mr Burnham said this is a ‘good step’ by the government which awarded Greater Manchester the cash needed to subsidise fares earlier this year.

But transport commissioner Vernon Everitt confirmed that the city-region will not be getting any further funding as part of the national initiative to cap fares.

He said that government funding will also be used to improve reliability, which he described as one of the three ‘magic ingredients’ needed to boost buses.

The former Transport for London boss said low and affordable fares, buses turning up on time and journey times being predictable are all important.

However, he said there are limits to what Greater Manchester can do before buses are brought under public control, which is set to start from next year.

He said: “At the moment, because it’s run by lots of different bus companies, it’s very difficult for anybody just to sit down and look at the whole picture.

“What franchising will do is, for the first time, enable us to look at the whole picture both for buses and other types of transport.

“We’ll be able to look at the Metrolink service alongside the bus service and Transport for Greater Manchester will be able to take a view about how you optimise reliability.

“We haven’t had those levers before. We will have them in a year’s time.”

Joseph Timan, Local Democracy Reporter