Consultations and engagement

This short survey is to help us understand how businesses feel about the public transport and active travel network in Greater Manchester.

It's also a chance for us to learn more about what would encourage businesses to take up sustainable ways of travelling for their employees and business operations.

Businesses must operate in Greater Manchester and participants need to be able to answer on behalf of their business.

Take part in the Business Travel Survey

The survey will close at the end of August 2024.

We held a series of Bee Network Information Sessions to share updates about key projects and work areas.

TfGM and Rochdale Council are developing plans to improve journeys for people catching the bus, walking, wheeling or cycling between Bury, Heywood and Rochdale town centres. Engagement for the Heywood section closed on 24 March and your responses are being analysed. A further round of engagement or consultation on the proposals across the corridor are planned to take place later in 2024.

Find out more about the Bury to Rochdale scheme.

We’re developing plans to improve journeys for people catching the bus, walking, wheeling or cycling between Oldham, Royton, Rochdale and Ashton town centres. Engagement closed on 24 March and your responses are being analysed. Further engagement or consultation on the proposals is planned to take place later in 2024. Find out more about the Rochdale-Oldham-Ashton scheme.

Find out more about the Rochdale-Oldham-Ashton scheme.

Stockport Council are improving journeys on the A6 corridor from the Manchester boundary to Stockport Town Centre. The consultation asking for feedback on the proposals closed on 24 March.

We're working with Stockport Council to improve journeys on the route between Stockport Town Centre and Woodley. The consultation asking for feedback on the proposals closed on 24 March.

We're working with Wigan Council and Greater Manchester Combined Authority on plans for a new rail station at Golborne in Wigan.

The consultation asking for feedback on the station proposals closed on 15 February 2024.

Learn more about the proposals for a new station in Golborne.

We're Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), and we are the local government body responsible for transport in Greater Manchester.

We’re working with the Mayor of Greater Manchester, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and the ten Greater Manchester local authorities to deliver the Bee Network – a world class, joined up transport network under local control.

Find out more about who we are.

Local decision-making power and accountability is at the heart of the Bee Network. The Bee Network Committee watch over and make decisions about the Bee Network.

The Committee is chaired by the Mayor of Greater Manchester and has one councillor from each of the 10 Greater Manchester local authorities. Other councillors are also chosen by the Mayor to sit on the committee for political balance.

So your local authority councillors will be able to represent you. The Committee will be involved in regular Bee Network reviews, engagement and consultations.​

Bee Network buses are now under local control in parts of Greater Manchester. The whole of Greater Manchester will have locally controlled Bee Network buses by 5 January 2025.

Local control means that decisions about Bee Network bus services are made by the local politicians you elect, based on the recommendations made by us.

Future consultations on recommended changes to the Bee Network will be available here for you to have your say.

• Where a petition is sent in response to a consultation we’re running, it will be noted separately as part of the summary report.
• Petitions about other TfGM decisions or responsibilities will be considered and receive a response within 10 working days.
• Petitions about decisions of the Bee Network Committee, Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), or the Greater Manchester Mayor will be referred to the GMCA for consideration and response.
• Similarly, petitions about local authority decisions or responsibilities, such as the management of local highways, will be referred to the relevant local authority.

Some of your council tax pays for us. We also get money from government grants and bid for other funding where we can. The money you spend on travelling on the Bee Network is put back in to pay towards its running costs.

We want to hear from you so we can understand what our customers, partners and local communities need from the Bee Network.

What do we mean by engagement and consultation?

Engagement and consultation are ways you can share your views on key transport issues; however, there are some important differences.​

Engagement

Engagement is a more informal, ongoing process that helps us to learn, share information and gather feedback. Sometimes our engagement will be planned in a targeted way with specific representative groups. This will depend on what we’re gathering feedback on and who it impacts.​

Consultation

Consultation is a formal process. As a public body our decisions can be subject to statutory or common law duties that require us to consult first. For example, an important policy change or where proposals are likely to affect people with protected characteristics under the equality act. We make sure our consultations are fair and effective, and that they meet public law principles. ​

We also know it’s important to respond to questions and provide updates, so sometimes we will focus on information sharing rather than gathering feedback through engagement or consultation.

Our promise to you​

We run the Bee Network for you. We want to make sure that you have the opportunity to have your say and to be involved if you want to.​

You have a right to influence plans and decisions that are made on your behalf, which is why we promise that we will:​

• Plan our engagement and consultation activity with the people impacted at its heart​
• Be inclusive and accessible by:​
  • Making information as simple and jargon-free as possible, providing it in alternative formats and making it screen reader friendly​
  • Using a range of methods to gather feedback ​
  • Only holding events in accessible venues​
  • Making sure we include people who want to be involved, and that everyone has a real opportunity to tell us what they think​
• Make sure we tell you about opportunities to have your say​
• Co-ordinate engagement and consultation so that you are not asked the same questions again and again​
• Be clear about whether we’re consulting or engaging on and what can be changed, and if it can't, why not. We will also feed back to you what has been said and what we are going to do as a result​

We work in partnership with lots of groups which represent the needs and interests of the local communities, organisations and sectors that rely on the Bee Network.

Sometimes that’s through formal arrangements. But we also build relationships with groups across Greater Manchester and beyond to influence a Bee Network for Greater Manchester, by Greater Manchester.

If you represent a group and are interested in working with us, please get in touch by email at engagement@tfgm.com.

See which groups we work with.

As the move to the Bee Network continues, you can stay up to date up with all the latest changes, so you’ll know when more Bee Network benefits are available.

• Our customer commitments are our six commitments to deliver a joined-up transport system that works for you.
• The Greater Manchester Transport Strategy 2040 sets out Greater Manchester’s long-term ambition for transport.
• Our Inclusion and Equality Strategy 2022-2026 sets out our equality objectives and how we’re delivering against them.​
• Find out more about our future transport plans, transparency, and our environmental commitments.

We work with the Mayor of Greater Manchester, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and the ten local authorities to help deliver the vision to make Greater Manchester one of the best places in the world to grow up, get on and grow old.

Follow the links below to have your say on other plans for Greater Manchester and your local area:
-
- GMConsult: Greater Manchester Combined Authority
- Bolton Council consultations
- Bury Council consultations​
- Manchester Council consultations
- Oldham Council consultations ​
- Rochdale Council consultations ​
- Salford Council consultations
- Stockport Council consultations ​
- Tameside Council ​
- Trafford Council consultations ​
- Wigan Council consultations ​