Last week, Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, announced his plan to bring buses back into public control. And to celebrate, last night, campaigners from the Better Buses for Greater Manchester staged a 'longest queue' outside the Greater Manchester Combined Authority Churchgate House offices on Oxford Street in Manchester.
It was their response to Catch The Bus Week, sponsored by the profit making bus companies, and at the rally Pascale from Better Buses slated the bus companies currently running routes...
"Our buses are expensive, confusing, and unreliable right now" she explained "They're just not working, and we're cut off as a result. We're here today to celebrate the progress that has been made; to thank Andy Burnham and the leaders for the work done so far. Our communities want and need better buses.
"Public control of our buses would mean affordable fares, a simple smart card with a cap on spend, and services that are accountable to us, our communities, like they are in London" she added "So, we were really happy to hear that the official recommendation is to bring our buses back into public control.
"Unfortunately, since Andy's recommendations, private bus companies have been showing their true colours" she said "From threatening legal action, to spinning misinformation about higher costs for tax payers, when regulation will save us money. All this shows is that they care far more about shareholder profits than they do about passengers. We understand why they'd be upset about losing out on their juicy profits but that's exactly why they need regulating."
As campaigners formed a bus queue outside the GM Mayor's office, they sang a specially composed song...
Where have all the buses gone?
Long time waiting
Where have all the buses gone?
Long way to walk
Where have all the buses gone?
We used to have the 151,
Now we queue for a Wigan 1
it's full and it smells of pies
The Stagecoach man don't give a damn,
Profit before passengers
The Stagecoach man don't give a damn,
Shareholders to please...
... Where can all the young folks go,
There ain't no buses anymore,
When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?
We want what London has,
Run for our communities
Where have all the buses gone?
Long way to walk
We want what London has,
Affordable and regular
We want what London has,
Much easier to use
Pascale ended her speech: "This week is Catch the Bus Week, and we would catch one, if there was one to catch. One that was affordable, easy to use, integrated to link with trams and train timetables, accessible and regular. So Andy Burnham, please stick with passengers and staff. We want buses that serve our communities, not shareholders. That means better, publicly controlled buses!"
Burnham's recommendation for regulation of the buses is currently going through an assessment process, and due to legal reasons he has not been able to say whether he will introduce a London-style regulated network or leave our buses in 'partnerships', which is the current state of affairs. If the final decision is to go with public control, it will be the first time any local authority has done so since Thatcher deregulated all buses outside of London in the 1980s.
For more details see the Better Buses website https://betterbusesgm.org.uk
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