£3 million bid to ‘kickstart’ bus services

Bus

Transport bosses in Greater Manchester have bid for just over £3 million from a government fund designed to ‘kickstart’ new bus services.

Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority (GMITA) has put forward 12 bus schemes for the Department for Transport’s Kickstart competition – designed to help develop new bus services or improve existing services.

£25M is available to local authorities nationally to help give bus services an initial boost over their first few years, with the aim that they eventually carry on running without further government funding.

Chair of GMITA, Councillor Keith Whitmore, said: “Bus travel makes for around 80% of public transport trips in Greater Manchester and is continuing to grow.

“Buses provide a vital way for people to get out to jobs, shopping and leisure, and health and education services, so it’s important both socially and for the local economy that we take every opportunity to improve services.”

Vice Chair of GMITA, Councillor Ian Macdonald, added: “We have been successful in getting Kickstart funding in the past so I have every hope that we will see more money coming our way later this year to help deliver better bus services for passengers across the city region.”

The 12 schemes which have been put forward in conjunction with Greater Manchester bus operators are confidential for commercial reasons until the government announces which bids have been successful. This is expected in late autumn.

The bids include a mix of brand new services and enhanced frequencies for some existing services. All ten districts of Greater Manchester could benefit if proposals are successful.

Transport bosses and bus operators considered 66 bus schemes before selecting the twelve likely to be the most successful.

Greater Manchester secured £1.1 million funding for three schemes in the last Kickstart competition in 2005. All three services exceeded the projected number of passengers carried over the funding period.