Greater Manchester’s Bee Network Committee has approved £20 million in funding to support Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) to move forward with key infrastructure projects.
The latest release of funds – including £10 million from the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) and more than £10 million from the Mayor’s Challenge Fund – will go towards a range of projects, each contributing towards the delivery of a high-quality, affordable and fully integrated public transport and walking, wheeling and cycling network.
Vernon Everitt, Transport Commissioner, said:
“We are moving at pace to bring about improvements that will make a real difference to how people get around Greater Manchester using public transport or when walking, wheeling or cycling.
“Over the next few years more than £1bn will be invested to improve peoples’ journeys, and the scale of ambition is reflected in the drawdown of these funds, that support continued delivery of the Bee Network.
“We are taking forward an exciting range of schemes that will be truly transformational to people right across the city-region.”
The single project to receive the largest slice of the funding is work to integrate ticketing and travel information across buses and trams throughout the city-region.
£7.3 million was approved to deliver contactless pay-as-you go across bus and Metrolink services. The touch-in touch-out system is already available across the tram network, and funding will see the scheme expanded onto Bee Network bus services, set to cover the entire city-region including Stockport from January 2025. The system means customers will be able to pay via a contactless card or device while using Bee Network buses and trams throughout the day, with the best value fare automatically worked out and capped for them.
The funds will also be used to help combat fare evasion, with new devices to check whether passengers have paid via contactless, along with a new feature that will enable passengers to see their journey history in the Bee Network app.
Funding will also support a number of active travel schemes throughout the city-region. Schemes totalling £10.46 million will deliver 5 km of walking and cycling routes, including cycleways and traffic-free paths. A further £2.1 million will support a project to explore and deliver improvements on the orbital bus route between Rochdale, Oldham and Ashton-under-Lyne, currently the busiest part of the Bee Network.
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