A recent survey in Greater Manchester has indicated that passengers ‘want action’ on congestion and support bus priority measures.
Around 1,300 residents took part in the independent study, which was conducted by YouGov on behalf of the Onebus consortium.
The results of the survey have emerged as the Mayor and Greater Manchester Combined Authority are considering franchising bus services in the region – a move which 76% of those surveyed would refuse to support. A selection of stand-out stats from the survey are as follows:
- 37% of respondents wants to see a reduction in the fuel tax which is levied on buses, freeing up funds for operators to re-invest in improving services;
- 65% were unaware of the existence of integrated bus, tram and train tickets;
- 57% overestimated the current capped weekly cost of bus travel, and only 1% got it exactly right; and
- 39% said that flexible ticketing would encourage them to travel more by bus, yet 53% didn’t realise that multi-operator tickets are already available.
Gary Nolan, Chief Executive of OneBus, said: “Passengers and non-bus users alike have sent a very clear message here, which is that they want quicker journeys for buses, and more flexible ticketing.
“YouGov’s survey shows that congestion issues are top of what the Mayor desperately needs to address.
“What we have learned from this research is that local people are being widely misled by campaign groups with political agendas that do not concern what’s best for bus passengers.
“Despite a number of widely-perpetuated myths, passengers want the same improvements we are committed to delivering.”
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