Members’ Services Office,

Town Hall Extension

PO Box 532
Manchester
M60 2LA

8th January 2020

Greater Manchester Consultation on a Proposed Bus Franchising Scheme

Our bus network is not working: bus use is falling, many communities are cut off
from the bus network, and we are failing to see the modal shift to public
transport we need to see in order to combat the climate emergency, poor air
quality, and congestion. I strongly support the current proposal which the
Combined Authority has proposed as the best option within the limits of existing
legislation. Whilst I do believe that we should set our sights on the public
ownership of public transport in Greater Manchester—and pursue this once the
franchise scheme has been successful—we should implement the proposed bus
franchising scheme as soon as possible to deliver better buses for people in
Greater Manchester.

The fragmented network in Greater Manchester is unhelpful for people trying to

go about their lives with over 150 fares providing a confusing and expensive
barrier to use. In addition, sustained fare increases over a number of years have
worsened this already raw deal. The withdrawal of routes and services at little
notice damages the credibility of bus travel and reduces our ability to encourage
modal shift. The fall in bus use that these problems causes creates a negative
feedback loop: more people turn to cars, more car journeys increase congestion
and delays, so the bus network becomes less reliable and people become less
likely to travel by bus. This trend must be reversed. Only an integrated network
can break this, simplifying fares and reconnecting communities.

In Manchester City Centre, there are clear examples of the failure of the existing
model, such as competing bus services causing congestion and pollution along
Oxford Road and Portland Street. This is a consequence of a lack of co-
ordination between operators and an oversupply of some services. There is also
confusion for visitors and residents alike trying to use our buses—for example
different operators and tickets for the same routes leaving Piccadilly Gardens
leave visitors confused and attempting to get on buses with the wrong tickets.
This is a key failure of the current system which would be corrected under the
proposed franchising scheme.

Since the division of GM Buses North and GM Buses South in 1993, people in our
city and our city region have suffered from this same geographic divide in the
bus network. For city centre residents, like some doctors, who work in different
parts of our city region—North and South—the alternative to a car is to pay for
double the cost (needing two tickets for different providers) or purchasing an
expensive System One alternative to make these journeys by bus. This is an
entirely unnecessary and unhelpful additional cost for people which the
proposed franchising scheme would ultimately end. This fragmented system
around our city centre is frustrating for residents and runs counter to our
strategic goals. Building an inclusive economy requires many things, and one of
those is connecting communities to opportunities by providing affordable,
reliable public transport. This stark geographic divide is a barrier to this. The
proposed franchising scheme, once fully implemented, will help reconnect
communities into a single city region network from which all can benefit.

The city centre is home to a number of multi-modal interchanges like Piccadilly

Gardens or Shudehill, which should be crucial nodes in a coherent transport
network in Greater Manchester. However, they do not work well enough
because of the different operators, different fare structures, and lack of
affordable options to regularly travel across modes including Metrolink, rail, and
bus. One measure of a successful future for Greater Manchester’s transport
network will be the ease and affordability of travelling across our city region
regardless of which public transport mode. We are not there yet, but it is clear
that the proposed franchising scheme is a key part of our work to get there.

The 2040 Greater Manchester Transport Strategy and the emerging City Centre
Transport Strategy demonstrate a strategic ambition around the need to reduce
journeys by car in Greater Manchester, and particularly into the city centre at
peak times. Improving bus travel and making it more attractive to residents, as
the proposed franchising scheme would, is a key tool in meeting that goal.

The proposed franchising scheme is a much-needed tool to help address the

climate emergency, not least by encouraging travellers out of cars and onto
public transport. Moreover, our city region has been burdened with older, dirtier
buses and some of the worst air quality in Manchester City Centre is related to
the bus network—such as in Piccadilly Gardens. It is welcome that the proposed
scheme would allow Greater Manchester to set high standards for the buses
that would serve the network under the proposed franchising scheme and tackle
this problem.

There is currently very little public accountability over the bus network—and
residents are left at the whim of private operators seeking to maximise profits.
Elected representatives have little say and little sway to influence these
operators when representing the interests, concerns, and complaints of our
residents. Most people already think Councils, Transport for Greater
Manchester, and the Mayor have more control over buses than we actually do.
The proposed franchising scheme addresses this lack of accountability and
control, giving residents a say in how the transport network should serve them
and their interests. Additionally, it provides more clarity for the public over what
public investment is delivering and the ability to marry up infrastructural
investment with service design as is appropriate for a modern transport
network.

Finally, whilst there is a higher cost associated with the proposed franchising
scheme, the benefits are far superior to any alternative proposals and the
funding proposals are appropriate, affordable, and proportionate. It is welcome
that the proposed franchising scheme provides the most economic value and
offers a high cost benefit ratio. The proposed franchising scheme would unlock
the opportunity for Greater Manchester to pursue ways to arrest the decline in
ridership forecast for the future through the proposals for Phase 2
interventions—and so the economic and broader public benefits are likely to be
higher than the assessment suggests.

Overall, I strongly support the introduction of the proposed franchising

scheme—for better, publicly controlled buses. I believe it will bring clear benefits
to the residents I represent in Manchester City Centre, to our whole city, and to
the wider city region, setting a national precedent.

Yours sincerely,

Marcus Johns
Labour Councillor for Deansgate Ward