How much Bee Network tickets will cost from 23 March

Bee Network ticket prices have been confirmed as a new ‘tap and go’ payment system will be introduced in a month.

From 23 March, passengers will be able to use a bank card or phone onboard a Bee Network bus rather than buying a physical ticket. The £2 ‘hopper’ fare will remain available via the system, where passengers can catch as many buses as they like within one hour.

The system will also be integrated with Metrolink trams, so a passenger can hop on trams and buses seamlessly and only be charged ‘the best value fare up to the daily or weekly cap’.

Andy Burnham is touting the ‘tap and go’ system as a ‘huge leap forward’ for the Bee Network, which took over every bus service in Greater Manchester on 5 January.

“It’s a key step in our plan to ensure we have a world-class public transport system fit for our needs as a growing city-region,” he said. “With later and more frequent services already in place and tap and go extending to buses in a month’s time, you can be sure that the Bee Network is here to help you get where you need to go regardless of how, where or when you are travelling.”

However, tap and go will not be the only change to Bee Network tickets on 23 March. On the same day, a new combined annual bus and tram ticket will be available, with transport chiefs estimating customers can gain ‘unlimited travel across both modes for the equivalent of between £2.76 and £4.10 a day’.

The yearly passes will also be available via credit unions, so those who can’t afford the upfront cost of an annual ticket can spread payments out monthly or weekly at no additional cost.

In a recent interview with the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Transport for Greater Manchester’s chief network officer, Danny Vaughan, said the introduction of tap and go tickets puts the Bee Network ‘22 years’ behind London’s buses and tube – when the Oyster card was introduced.

“That’s probably how far behind we are,” he said. “I think if you look at bus passenger growth in London, it took off around the same time. I think we’re at the start of that journey.

“We’re immensely proud with what we’ve done, and we’ve done it with nowhere near as much funding as London has. But we are getting there really successfully.”

How much will Bee Network tap and go cost from March 23?

Here is a full breakdown of the daily and weekly caps on the Bee Network from 23 March, meaning it is the maximum a passenger can pay.

Bus + any one tram zone (1, 2, 3 or 4):

• Day (off-peak): £5.40
• Day (anytime): £6
• Week: £24.80

Bus + tram zones 1+2

• Day (off-peak): £6.70
• Day (anytime): £7.30
• Week: £30.30

Bus + tram zones 2+3 or 3+4

• Day (off-peak): £6.40
• Day (anytime): £6.70
• Week: £28.40

Bus + tram zones 1+2+3

• Day (off-peak): £7.30
• Day (anytime): £8.70
• Week: £36.40

Bus + tram zones 2+3+4

• Day (off-peak): £7
• Day (anytime): £7.60
• Week: £32.50

Bus + all tram zones 1+2+3+4

• Day (off-peak): £7.80
• Day (anytime): £9.50
• Week: £41

Off-peak tickets are valid after 9.30am weekdays, all day weekends and bank holidays.

The new multi-modal annual tickets will cost:

• Bus and any one Metrolink zone: £1,005
• Bus and Metrolink zones 1+2: £1,211
• Bus and Metrolink zones 2+3 or 3+4: £1,140
• Bus and Metrolink zones 1+2+3: £1,418
• Bus and Metrolink zones 2+3+4: £1,293
• Bus and all Metrolink zones 1+2+3+4: £1,496

See the Metrolink zone map here: https://tfgm.com/tickets-and-passes/fare-zones/tram

Unlimited travel on all Bee Network buses:

• 1 day Bee Bus ticket: £5 adult / £2.50 child
• 7 day Bee Bus ticket: £20 adult / £10 child
• 28 day Bee Bus ticket: £80 adult / £40 child
• Annual Bee Bus ticket: £800. People can buy up front or spread the cost weekly and monthly through participating credit unions.

Ethan Davies, Local Democracy Reporter