Passenger Focus response to First Bus fare cut in Manchester

28 March 2013

Hard-pressed passengers in Manchester will welcome the news about fare reductions announced by First Bus today. Trialled in November in some parts of the city, fares are now lower on all routes in Manchester.

This week we published our Bus Passenger Survey, which highlighted how much recent rises and the general state of the economy are hitting passengers’ value-for-money scores across the country. These welcome reductions will help make the bus an attractive transport choice.

There is nothing more frustrating than staring up the road wondering if the bus is coming – especially in this weather. Real-time information on bus punctuality will help bring passengers out of the dark – at last they can see what is running rather than what was planned and work around that.

New buses and free wi-fi also help make bus the right choice. Being able to do things on the move helps attract new passengers and keep existing passengers happy.

Passenger Focus chief executive Anthony Smith said: “Passengers will strongly welcome lower and simpler fares, new buses, real-time running information and free wi-fi – these moves should all help make the bus a better choice in Manchester. We look forward to seeing news of similar investments elsewhere.”

Passenger Focus will monitor the effect of these investments and will pick up any changes in passenger satisfaction in the next Bus Passenger Survey.

Notes to editors

Passenger Focus is the official, independent consumer organisation representing the interests of rail users nationally and bus, coach and tram users across England outside London. We want to make a difference for rail, bus, coach and tram passengers.
We’ll do this by:

– providing authoritative advice for industry based on sound research
– securing improvements to services – both big and small-scale improvements
– helping passengers with advice and information
– campaigning for change
– acting on rail passenger complaints.

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