(28 Oct 2018, 10:04 pm)Tamesider wrote I'm surprised at West Midlands charging so much, given that TWM is the dominant operator and I recently researched a possible trip incorporation Wolverhampton, Walsall, West Brom and into B'ham, suggesting a Day ticket would only be about £4.50. metrolink is (at least) a double-edged sword. Being pedantic I would disagree with it meaning more public transport seats per hour, as trams have awful bum perches, not seats. Also, walking time/distance to tram stops is considerably longer than to bus stops and then there is the cost to the tax-payer (Metrolink debt repayments are TFGM's biggest current expenditure). Returning to fares, the main problem is that Day/week tickets in GM are effectively a flat fare. You pay £4.50 if you travel 20, 30 or 40 miles on Stagecoach services, but you still pay £4.50 if you just need to travel 1.5 miles down the road to the Supermarket, Health Centre or minimum wage part-time job. Further, and this is the real proof of the failure of the "free" (haha) market, is that if you live in a low income, low profile suburb or "overspill" estate, you pay £4.50 for these 3 mile round trips, but if you live in a politically correct, middle income area with planned investment (public and private) you pay £3 for a round trip of up to 12 miles into the city centre - and services have been reduced in the low income areas to resource "bus wars" in the trendy areas, which also means your £4.50 may or may not include a seat (probably not in the evening peak), but the £3 in the latter case buys you half a deck to choose from.

The revamped "Free bus" is effectively a disguised cut in service, with reduced links for those arriving on the periphery of the city by bus. Don't forget rail users get free Metrolink travel anyway. The Stockport MetroShuttle is reasonably successful, but would be more of an "integrated" service if it ran in reverse ie. a quick journey up the hill for rail connections, but I think the road layout in Stockport mitigates against this. The Bolton MetroShuttle is less successful, and I think moving the bus station out of the town centre could eventually be its downfall, as the Indoor Market is on its last legs.

Ashton & Stockport locals have been single deckers for most of the time since 1986 (and before in the case of Stockport). However, before de-reg, most services in Tameside were 'deckers, and had to be at peak times! Bus use in Ashton itself has declined sharply since the depot was closed in 1991, though the real money spinners (330, 347 & 409) still stumble on. The rot in Stockport is much more recent, led by service cuts and amalgamations. Reddish Road especially has been virtually halved since 2008 (and more especially 2015).

I'm not convinced Metrolink is a double edge sword in that its costs are roughly equal to its benefits. Financially first, Greater Manchester's council tax averages sit very much in the median of the national tally (Telegraph, 2018) - unless you're referring to something else, I don't see an discernible Metrolink levy imposed on GM residents. What I would assert is GM (and all PTE areas), benefit compared to non PTE areas from cross boundary infrastructure projects and standardised timetable formatting, infrastructure branding, etc. On all the expansions since 'Big Bang', the corresponding bus corridor may have taken a hit, but still maintains a service level of at least every 10 minutes. This provides mode options for those unwilling or unable to walk to the Metrolink stop, potentially further away. There is plenty of evidence (academic papers, readily available online), that passengers are willing to walk almost double the distance to a rail/tram stop over a bus stop.

What you're accurately describing around the effective flat-fare concept and captive markets is the bus market more generally, not a uniquely GM situation, the only potential difference in GM being a £4.50 day ticket will take significantly further than a First Potteries £4.50 day ticket or even a £5.50 Stagecoach Teesside day ticket. What I would pick up on is I'm really not sure of the assertion 'politically correct, middle income areas' are getting cheaper fares for longer journeys? Chorlton is about the same distance from the City as Levenshulme and Reddish about equidistant to the City as Sale. All have about the same service level and cost the same to get to on a Stagecoach bus. 

Are the cuts along Reddish road referring to the 7, 329 etc? Yes, there have been cuts here, but even these services still have a 30 minute headway and Reddish still has far reaching links around GM (I give you the 278; making what could be a 5 mile journey last 2.5 hours). What in the grand scheme of things is an inconvenience to bus passengers in GM by way of reduced headways, amalgamated routes or imposed interchange mid journey - in non PTE areas vast geographical areas are having all service provision withdrawn. 

Just as aside on Free Bus - I understand the revamp is a PVR cut of 7 vehicle but I believe it's the best possible thing that could have been offered in light of the passenger numbers falling off a cliff since 2CC. My only though on the whole thing would perhaps be where routes 1 & 2 effectively form an inner & outer loop, perhaps a single 'figure of 8' running in both directions could have provided 2 way links between main stations.