Banner featuring honeycomb design, with the Destination: Bee Network logo and a graphic of a bus within a honeycomb

Greater Manchester has an ambition to deliver a London-style transport network – the Bee Network – with integrated transport modes, London-level fares and modern low-emission bus fleet.

The Bee Network will help people to get around by providing a real alternative to cars, and buses will play a key part in the network - accounting for around 75% of all public transport journeys in Greater Manchester.

We have set out how we plan to improve our buses in our Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) and want to see a modern, low-emission, accessible bus system in place for everyone. The wide-ranging plans, based on customer research, will make journeys by bus quicker, cheaper, greener, more reliable, more accessible and more attractive, with the aim of improving the whole journey experience – including pre-trip information, in-journey information, customer care, ticket integration with other public transport modes, and an improved waiting environment.

Better bus services will help to level up Greater Manchester’s economy, and with around 3.48m trips taken by bus every week will better connect people to employment, education, healthcare, leisure and cultural events. They will also enable Greater Manchester to remove around 450,000 tonnes of carbon tailpipe emissions.

The plan includes further proposals such as a Road Works Charter and taking advantage of moving traffic offence powers to help tackle congestion and improve bus passenger journey time and reliability across the network.

We have set out how we plan to improve buses in our Bus Service Improvement Plan

Three hexagons that fit together to form a honeycomb pattern

Our ambitions for the future of GM Bus

BSIP Themes GM Ambitions for Bus
Customer Experience Providing customers with a safe and seamless travel experience
Services Turn up and go frequencies on major routes
Information Readily available, easy to use, live, and up-to-date
Network Management Improvements to journey times and reliability
Infrastructure Significant increases in bus priority, and improvements to waiting environments
Fares and Ticket More affordable journeys, integrated with other modes
Fleet Zero emissions, high quality buses
Graphic of three hexagons that make up a honeycomb design

How our approach to bus aligns to GM customer priorities and UK bus strategy

Customer Priorities National Bus Strategy Objectives
Customer Experience An improvement of the whole package; A focus on security; Improvements to cleanliness The local bus network is presented as a single system that works together; with clear passenger information; Service patterns integrated with other modes; Give bus passengers more of a voice and a say
Services More frequent; Quicker journeys Intensive services and investment on key corridors with routes that are easy to understand; More demand responsive services and socially necessary transport
Information More information available pre-trip; Better in-journey information The local bus network is presented as a single system that works together, with clear passenger information
Network Management More reliable; Faster Significant increases in bus priority
Infrastructure Improved reliability; Better journey times; Better safety and security; Improved accessibility Longer term transformation of networks through Bus Rapid Transit and other measures; Significant increases in bus priority
Fares and Ticket Better value for money Lower and simpler fares
Fleet Better cleanliness; Better reliability; Safer Modern buses and decarbonisation
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