Cheadle and Gatley Lib Dems are moving
Graham, Tom and Ian
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Cheadle and Gatley Lib Dems are moving
Cheadle and Gatley Lib Dems are moving
What were the local issues four decades ago?
Cheadle and Gatley Lib Dems are moving
Lib Dems call for TfGM to Get Me There by Christmas
by Lib Dem team on 27 August, 2015
Greater Manchester Liberal Democrats are calling for TfGM, First and Stagecoach to work together and launch an Oyster-style travel smartcard by Christmas.
“Get Me There could be rolled out to everyone on buses and trams by Christmas. Almost every bus and every tram stop in Greater Manchester already has the equipment needed to run a smartcard.” said Cllr Iain Roberts, leader of the Lib Dem group on TfGM.
“Elsewhere in the country people are taking just a few months to get this type of system up and running. Yet in Greater Manchester, where we talk about the Northern Powerhouse, we’ve tried and failed three times since the 1990s. So many other places have got this working now, it’s getting embarrassing.”
The Liberal Democrats have criticised previous “big bang” approaches taken in Greater Manchester, where ATOS recently admitted they were unable to deliver the Get Me There system after more than three years of work.
“ATOS had no track record of delivering this sort of system so it should be no great surprise that they failed. But where our system has stalled, others across the country are rolling out travel smartcard systems more quickly and at a lower cost.” said Cllr Geoff Abell, Lib Dem Rail and Tram Spokesman for Greater Manchester.
7 Comments
This is long over due. Can I assume that it will stop the nonsense of having to buy the more expensive System card merely because the bus operator changes during the day?
Might we also see the re-emergence of the live bus information at the stops? Nearby Warrington kept its buses, have their smart card equivalent and real time bus passenger information sine 2004.
And, while we’re at it how do we persuade TfGM to send some of the bus cavalcade that terminates at Parrs Wood to cross the river and provide an improved service into and through Cheadle? It seems that the GM Buses North and South ethos still pertains.
Thanks Alf – all good points.
Regarding buses to Cheadle, it’s down to what Stagecoach sees as commercially viable rather than TfGM. However, the Bill to allow us to re-regulate buses is currently going through Parliament and that might well allow us to make some headway on those sorts of issues.
Totally agree. With so many other ‘Oyster Card’ type systems in existence why it is taking so long? Would this be a card that would work across the North ? After all George O has been pushing travel between cities and towns of the region as a key part of his Northern Powerhouse ? I believe £30M was announced in the budget for this purpose.
John, just to put the Northern Powerhouse into perspective, a study has just announced that London receives a per capita spend on infrastructure of £5305, compared to £1946 in the NW and just £414 in the NE.
The Tories have mastered the art of making a big announcement and then quietly dropping it weeks later.
John, like most Tory promises, it contains a lot of hot air. Much of the money promised has now been frozen and we’re unlikely to see it in the near future.
As to live bus info at stops, yes it would be good, but where would the penalty be when they are so frequently late? Iain points out that re- regulation of buses is going through Parliamnent and that is long overdue and should lead to better integrated transport systems.
Alan, I totally agree about the disproportional amount of money spent on transport in London and the SE. eg Cross Rail, Thameslink, upgrade of the tube system etc. I have known about this for sometime and it angers me. My question to Iain was specifically about plans/money ear-marked for a North-wide Oyster card, not just for a card for Greater Manchester.
[…] Liberal Democrats issued a press release in August calling on TfGM to come up with a travel smartcard by Christmas that would work on buses […]