Andy Burnham

I spent 10 years working as a consultant for a national bus company. Whilst loads of you want to blame this government and privatisation for the bus service being in decline it is neither. When the buses were privatised the council fucked up in the way they allocated the routes to companies which allowed companies a monopoly in certain areas with no competition.
The truth is not enough people use buses, there is no money in it and at 5 miles per gallon of diesel it is an extremely dirty form of transport.
Burnham is not bringing the bus service back into public ownership as some think. Private operators will be told what to do by Burnham, what to charge and what services they run. This model works in London because they are so short of public transport. I doubt it will work here.
 
Last edited:
I do lots of stuff with Innovation Health Manchester, Burnham is a massive supporter of the work.

We are currently doing work on mental health, digital health, covid vaccine roll out, community care and lots of other projects that are designed to try and make healthcare for Manchester better equipped to serve the needs of Mancunians.

Its under an umbrella called the ARC which makes use of the Universities, Hospitals, business and local people in order that research is done in the correct areas that will benefit Manchester and if it is successful in our City then it may get rolled out across the UK. I have just been asked to be a co-applicant into research being done into community nursing, i will be what's called the PPI (public, patient, involvement) lead on the project. I have never done it before but its exciting as i will be working with researchers from Manchester Uni.

Burnham is really into this sort of stuff as it can have real benefits to the people of Manchester, of course it will hardly get a mention in the media, as its Manchester, but don't underestimate his commitment to it and the good thing is from my point of view is that it is being lead by the people of Manchester who know and understand the needs of our city.


So the news that the Tories have just slashed the Research Grants by more then 50% wont be good news then ?
 
So the news that the Tories have just slashed the Research Grants by more then 50% wont be good news then ?
Its so narrow minded its idiotic. How it will affect Manchester I don't know but i will ask.

We actually scrutinise research proposals and try and make sure they offer value and are relevant to the needs of Manchester people.

I think the Government is hoping the private sector take up the slack, problem being the private sector research into products that they think the people want, which is often not what the people want.

An example.

A Pharma company developed a new product for dermatology, they gave a presentation and were trying to sell this product to the NHS The big wigs had flown in from the States and they all looked very self satisfied with the work they had done. The presentation was brilliant and they sat down looking very self congratulatory thinking of the money rolling in.

I asked one simple question.

How do you open it?

For all the money they had put into this product and research done, they had failed to consider the most simplest of things and it made their product useless for the market it was being aimed at it.

Now if they had asked at the very beginning what do people want, it could have made a huge difference, but they didn't because they don't consider that, whereas we would consider it as being very important.

So cutting research grants will mean less involvement from people who know what they want and more involvement from people who think they know what you want.
 
In a piece of good news the Manchester Branch of the CPGB has backed Burnham's bus plans

In an official statement they stated

"A system of stringent control by the elected local authorities will be a huge step forward. It would be even more positive in the event of the significant extension in local and regional democracy, something the CPGB also demanded"
 
The truth is not enough people use buses,
You obviously have never used the 7, 43, 101, 102,104, 112, 118 142, 201, 203, 216, 219 stagecoach services on a normal working day.
pre covid it was standing room only on those routes most of the time.
Even now the 219 constanlty is full thrpighout the the day
 
You obviously have never used the 7, 43, 101, 102,104, 112, 118 142, 201, 203, 216, 219 stagecoach services on a normal working day.
pre covid it was standing room only on those routes most of the time.
Even now the 219 constanlty is full thrpighout the the day

I have never been a devotee of public transport and haven't been a regular bus user in donkeys year however something that was evident in the 80's in Middleton seems both universal and evident still today. Thats the obligation placed on bus operators to run the wrong vehicles for certain times. I am thinking of when I lived on Grimshaw Lane and the 80 went past but its the same up here in North Yorkshire now still. Thats the requirement to run "full sized" buses whatever the time of day. I'll stick to the 80 but it applies round here now - rush hour morning and tea time the bus was full and most stops had people waiting for them - after 7pm they were still obliged to run double deckers that were all but empty ! Why? Surely it would be more cost effective to run a service off peak using vehicles in realistic numbers plus kinder to the environment? Some times a Transit mini-bus would have been enough but no a double decker with a guy coming home late from work and 2 youths on the way to a pub aboard rumbled and belched past regardless. In this day and age what about EV small buses off peak? If there is a rush easy enough to communicate with a central location and increase the service surely? Once every 15 mins rather than once an hour for an hour or so to meet demand? Just seems to be something that all the stake holders talk a good talk in but walk the walk they were walking in the 60's or 70's?
 
You obviously have never used the 7, 43, 101, 102,104, 112, 118 142, 201, 203, 216, 219 stagecoach services on a normal working day.
pre covid it was standing room only on those routes most of the time.
Even now the 219 constanlty is full thrpighout the the day
I accept I have never been on the 219 but the vast majority of buses are empty between 9am 4pm.
Most people use their car or the Met even before covid
 
I accept I have never been on the 219 but the vast majority of buses are empty between 9am 4pm.
Most people use their car or the Met even before covid
Do you think there is a case in Manchester to make buses free to use
 
Do you think there is a case in Manchester to make buses free to use

No, they cannot make a profit now. The council tax would be horrendous to cover it.
The tram has overtaken buses as the second choice form of transport by most. If they cant use their car people will use the Met.
It sounds great what Burnham has done but sadly it is just more political talk. He is going to bring the London model in. That only works because a very out dated overcrowded Tube is the only other option as driving is out of the question.
I was half way through a long post to @bluethrunthru which may explain it better but one thing I will put in here....
In 2007 the Labour Government brought in 'free' bus travel. Local authorities paid the fares claimed by the bus companies and got it back of central government. It was a gold mine. Every time a pensioner got on the bus they simply recorded a journey and claimed the highest possible ticket. The fact that the pensioner would likely be making a return journey meant 2 top price tickets were claimed. As a result here was an explosion in small bus companies all looking to cash in on this gold mine. Can you imagine how much the government were forking out if he/she took 4 journeys.

When the Conservatives came to power in their own right they simply said to the bus companies, we will pay the cost of a day rider/saver for that pensioner. That was simple economics but all the small companies went under as they were not sustainable.

I make that point because unless you are going to throw many millions at the problem free travel will not work.
 
No, they cannot make a profit now. The council tax would be horrendous to cover it.
The tram has overtaken buses as the second choice form of transport by most. If they cant use their car people will use the Met.
It sounds great what Burnham has done but sadly it is just more political talk. He is going to bring the London model in. That only works because a very out dated overcrowded Tube is the only other option as driving is out of the question.
I was half way through a long post to @bluethrunthru which may explain it better but one thing I will put in here....
In 2007 the Labour Government brought in 'free' bus travel. Local authorities paid the fares claimed by the bus companies and got it back of central government. It was a gold mine. Every time a pensioner got on the bus they simply recorded a journey and claimed the highest possible ticket. The fact that the pensioner would likely be making a return journey meant 2 top price tickets were claimed. As a result here was an explosion in small bus companies all looking to cash in on this gold mine. Can you imagine how much the government were forking out if he/she took 4 journeys.

When the Conservatives came to power in their own right they simply said to the bus companies, we will pay the cost of a day rider/saver for that pensioner. That was simple economics but all the small companies went under as they were not sustainable.

I make that point because unless you are going to throw many millions at the problem free travel will not work.
It might work if the mooted congestion charge came into place. Not arguing for or against it, but more people would use public transport if it did, especially if made affordable.
 

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top
  AdBlock Detected
Bluemoon relies on advertising to pay our hosting fees. Please support the site by disabling your ad blocking software to help keep the forum sustainable. Thanks.