Drive for us to get back on the buses

CALLS for a ‘bus renaissance’ have been made after research laid bare a huge decline in services across Greater Manchester in more than a decade.

- PAUL BRITTON

A university study analysed timetables to determine the number of buses which ran per hour in 2010 – and did the same for this year so far.

The results, said researchers, showed commuters in Wigan have suffered the most reduced services over the 13-year timescale. In 2010, just over 250 trips per hour were made across the town, compared to 147 now, a decrease of 41 percent.

The data revealed Stockport followed Wigan, with an almost 40 percent decline in services, followed by Tameside, Oldham then Rochdale. In

 Manchester in 2010, researchers said there were 760 buses on the road per hour, with the figure now standing at 513, a fall of more than a third.

Researchers from the University of Leeds carried out the study on behalf of Friends of the Earth. They said bus services outside of London have seen a staggering decline, with provision plummeting by more than 60 percent in 80 local authority areas.

Greater Manchester, said Friends of the Earth, was ‘leading’ on a bus revolution with the launch of the first phase of the Bee Network.

With the onset of cars, the use of buses gradually declined and in 1986, the bus market in Britain, outside of London, was privatised under deregulation, meaning services were no longer planned by local government.