I know, because constituents regularly remind me, that the state of the bus service in Oldham and the rest of the city-region isn’t fit for purpose. Today the Greater Manchester Combined Authority has begun a public consultation period on whether to press ahead with a franchising system in our bus network.
Major cities all around the world have similar franchised bus systems, this system works in London, and there’s no reason it can’t work for us in Greater Manchester. Private bus companies have been allowed to act unaccountably by cutting routes, raising fares and generally running sub-par services for far too long now.
This consultation period is a great chance for residents to say exactly what they want from our bus services. The plan put forward by the GMCA is one I would encourage constituents to support, it lets us in Greater Manchester set the routes, timetables, standards and importantly the ticket prices.
To get involved and have your say on the future of our bus network, go to http://www.gmconsult.org and submit your consultation as I will be doing later on this week.
Jim McMahon OBE MP 