Buses

 

‘The Fight for Greater Manchester’s Buses’ is the first in a series of documentaries addressing the social injustices of Britain’s public transport system. We’ve started with Greater Manchester, where campaigners tell us there’s a unique chance to bring their buses back under public control after thirty years of privatisation.

In the documentary, bus passengers and transport campaigners talk about the problems with Greater Manchester’s bus network, and explain how these could be fixed by London-style bus regulation. Mayor Andy Burnham is expected to make his decision on whether to regulate Greater Manchester’s buses later this year, and if he goes ahead, it could set a precedent for the entire country.

‘The Fight for Greater Manchester’s Buses’ highlights the work of Better Buses for Greater Manchester, who are calling on Andy Burnham to be the first Mayor to re-regulate the buses under new powers in the Bus Services Act. It also features a range of views on this new legislation; including an exclusive interview with the MP Daniel Zeichner, who helped to get it through Parliament back in 2017.

Why Regulate Britain’s Buses?

A recent report by Transport for Quality of Life showed that the regulation of buses throughout Britain would lead to net financial gains of around £340 million per year – enough to restore all the cuts to supported bus services since 2010.

“If bus regulation could reverse a whole decade of cuts, it’s hard to understand why, in the two years since the Bus Services Act, we haven’t seen any Mayor use these powers. If Andy Burnham goes ahead, he will be the first – and this could give confidence to other local authorities.”

Bus Regulation: a national conversation

We’re tired of the slow rate of change across privatised transport. The conversation about Britain’s bus crisis has never been more urgent, and for once, there is an opportunity to do something about it.

Part Two of our ‘Buses in Crisis’ documentary series will focus on the problems in rural bus services, and we’ll be filming on location in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough in May and June 2019.

If you’d like to send us feedback or participate in future transport documentaries, please write to contact@abcommuters.com

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Why regulate Britain’s buses?

A recent report by Transport for Quality of Life showed that the re-regulation of buses throughout Britain would lead to net financial gains of around £340 million per year. This would be enough to restore all the cuts to supported bus services since 2010.

So, if bus regulation could reverse a whole decade of cuts, we need to ask why, in the two years since the Bus Services Act, we haven’t seen any Mayor use these powers. If Andy Burnham goes ahead, he will be the first – and this could give confidence to other combined authorities all over the country.