Transport investment and funding
Spending on transport
Improving transport is a key priority for GMCA.
GMCA/TfGM’s expenditure on transport activities
(excluding capital expenditure) falls into the following
principal areas.
This year, GMCA will receive an average of £71.86 per
person in Greater Manchester from the transport levy on
council tax. The total amount which GMCA will receive is
1.5% (approximately £3 million) less than 2014/15.
Delivering value for money
transport improvements
GMCA is committed to delivering a better, more
integrated and efficient transport system. Long term
capital investment is provided through funding sources
including the Greater Manchester Transport Fund and
the Growth Deal to deliver the Metrolink extensions, new
interchanges, new bus priority programmes, investments
in road schemes and other transport schemes across the
conurbation.
In the context of severe funding constraints across
local government, the transport levy budget agreed
in 2014/15 included a number of efficiencies and cost
savings. This budget year, 2015/16, is the second year
of implementing these savings which include significant
reductions in TfGM’s operating expenditure and
reductions in supported bus services and accessible
transport budgets.
Expenditure
Concessionary support
Supported services
Rail
Accessible transport
2015/16
Budget (£m)
69.33
27.83
47.76
4.94
Passenger service, facilities
and support - levy funded
33.61
Passenger service, facilities
and support - grant funded
3.86
Passenger services, facilities
and support - total
37.47
Financing
Total Expenditure
• Free off-peak travel for disabled people on bus, rail
and Metrolink and half fare on bus, rail and Metrolink
before 9.30am
• Free travel for Concession Plus pass holders on bus, rail
and Metrolink at all times
Supported services
Most of Greater Manchester’s bus services are operated
on a commercial basis by private companies. TfGM
currently pays for around 20% of bus services, which
are socially necessary but that bus companies are
unwilling to operate commercially. TfGM also funds:
• Yellow and standard school bus services
• Local Link services
92.95
280.28
The key areas of expenditure in the transport budgets are:
Concessionary support
TfGM funds the cost of concessionary fares included in
the English National Concessionary Travel and the Local
Concession Schemes. These include:
• Free off-peak bus, local rail and Metrolink travel for
older people
• Under 16s – half fare at all times on bus and Metrolink
when using an igo pass
• Over 16s still in full-time education – half fare on bus,
rail and Metrolink between home and school/college
• Free Metroshuttle bus services in Bolton, Manchester
and Stockport, with the support of local authorities
Rail support
The majority of expenditure relates to the ‘pass through’
of the Department for Transport rail funding to Northern
Rail.
TfGM will continue to play a key role in Rail North over
the budget period and future years. Rail North includes
29 local authorities who are working together to develop
proposals for local decision-making to play a central role
in defining future rail services in the region.
Accessible transport
TfGM funds Ring and Ride, a door-to-door minibus
service using accessible vehicles which is for people of
all ages who find it difficult to use public transport. TfGM
also provides Travel Vouchers for people with serious
walking difficulties or who are registered blind and who
are unable to use conventional public transport.
Passenger services, facilities & support
TfGM has the primary role in planning, investing in,
co-ordinating and managing transport services and
infrastructure schemes across Greater Manchester.
TfGM operates and maintains 22 bus stations and
interchanges, as well as Travelshops and Cycle Hubs.
It oversees the operation of, and investment in, the
Metrolink network by working closely with the operator
Metrolink RATP Dev Ltd (MRDL).
TfGM is also responsible for more than 12,000 bus stops
and 4,400 bus shelters and is a key provider of public
transport information.
It also oversees a range of initiatives across Greater
Manchester including a Travel Choices programme,
enabling community transport, a commuter cycling
project and investment in smart technology to enhance
travel information.
TfGM, along with local authorities, oversees the road
network, co-ordinating all 2,400 traffic signals in Greater
Manchester, including 985 pedestrian crossings, to
manage traffic flows on key routes as effectively and
efficiently as possible. It also monitors and analyses
current and future traffic flows.
Financing
Financing costs include the cost of borrowings
(repayments and interest) undertaken to deliver the
major transport capital programmes for Greater
Manchester, including those in the Greater Manchester
Transport Fund. The current level of transport investment
across Greater Manchester is unprecedented, and
represents the largest public transport investment
programme outside London.
Investing in transport
Achievements in 2014/15
GMCA/TfGM receives the following funding to provide
for its expenditure.
Buses
Revenue
Total levy
Special rail grant
Funding from reserves/third parties
Other grants
Total revenue
2015/16
Budget (£m)
195.12
49.11
32.18
3.86
280.28
Levy on districts councils
TfGM receives funding from several sources to provide
for the transport expenditure outlined above. The largest
part of its revenue funding comes from a levy on the ten
Greater Manchester local authorities via the council tax.
In total, this accounts for £195.12 million in 2015/16.
Rail grant
The Department for Transport provides a rail grant to
TfGM. This is budgeted to be £49.11 million in 2015/16,
the vast majority of which is passed on to Northern Rail.
Funding from reserves/third parties
In addition, financial reserves and contributions from
third parties will provide a further £32.18 million which is
used, primarily, to support further transport investment
through the Greater Manchester Transport Fund.
Other grants
TfGM has been successful in securing capital and
revenue funding from the national Local Growth and
Local Sustainable Transport Funds as well as the Cycle
City Ambition Grant. £3.86 million of this funding will be
spent on activities in 2015/16.
• The £19 million upgrade of Altrincham Interchange has
already transformed the station’s bus facilities, and will
go on to deliver a fully accessible, integrated facility,
including a new cycle hub
• Major construction work started on Greater
Manchester’s first guided busway along a 7km
route linking Leigh with Ellenbrook and Salford
• Greater Manchester’s first fully electric buses hit city
centre streets on the free hop-on hop-off Metroshuttle
service
• New life-saving defibrillators were installed at every
staffed bus station in Greater Manchester
• Six schools in Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Stockport
and Trafford got their first Yellow School Bus (YSB)
services, joining 53 other schools across Greater
Manchester in cutting congestion caused by the school
run – and 86 of the 93 strong YSB fleet became lowemission vehicles
Metrolink
• The new Metrolink line to Manchester Airport via
Wythenshawe opened – more than 12 months
ahead of schedule
• More than 30 million journeys were made on the
Metrolink network over the course of 2014: a 50%
increase in the past five years, during which time new
lines were also opened to MediaCityUK, Oldham &
Rochdale town centres, Ashton in Tameside and East
Didsbury
• A public consultation was held on a proposed new
5.5km Metrolink line to the Trafford Centre via Trafford
Park, with 89% of comments in favour of the £350
million project
• A trial permit scheme allowing accredited mobility
scooter users to travel by Metrolink was launched and
later made permanent, with more than 100 permits
granted since April 2014
Cycling
More park and ride spaces
• Work started on all our Cycle City Ambition Grant
(CCAG) routes, and the Better By Cycle Partner Schools
programme was launched
• The number of park and ride spaces at Irlam railway
station was increased to over 60, and cycle and
motorcycle parking was introduced
• The multi-million pound project to transform
Manchester Victoria rail station and Metrolink
stop neared completion
• TfGM secured a £22million share of a £114million
national funding pot for eight Cycle Cities over the
next three years
• The Metrolink fleet grew to almost 100 trams, with
more vehicles to come in future years, as the fleet
grows to 120
• TfGM secured £5 million of Local Sustainable Transport
Fund investment for 2015/16 to continue cycle training,
business engagement and other cycling initiatives
• Work began on an extra parking deck, providing a
further 100 car parking spaces, at Hazel Grove railway
station, boosting capacity overall to more than 400
spaces
Using technology
•The get me there smart ticketing programme was
rolled out on Metrolink to more than 500,000 people
across Greater Manchester holding a concessionary
pass for older or disabled people
•The Bus Route Explorer app was launched, providing a
new pocket-sized mobile trip adviser that puts finding
a bus right at your fingertips
• By spring 2015, all Metrolink trams will offer free
on-board WiFi, as will the 20 buses operating on
the free city centre Metroshuttle service linking the
main rail stations, car parks, shopping areas and
businesses in Manchester city centre
Highways
• The biggest traffic signalling upgrade programme in
the country was completed, with 52,000 traffic signal
lamps replaced with more durable and energy saving
LED lights across more than 1,800 sites
• The first eight Variable Messaging Signs were introduced
on key roads across the region, displaying live journey
time estimates and details of road traffic incidents and
disruption
• A staggering 148,000 miles were clocked up by around
1,200 people and 250 businesses in the Better By Cycle
Challenge, equivalent to cycling six times around the
world
• Grants of up to £10,000 were offered to organisations
including housing associations registered as social
landlords to cover 100% of the cost of any new or
improved secure cycle parking they provide
• A new cycle hub opened in Rochdale, complete with
smartcard access, cycle storage, lockers, and CCTV
More Travel Choices
• An innovative transport scheme aimed at helping
unemployed people back into work saw its first
graduates take to the roads in their new roles as bus
drivers. The ‘Train, Learn, Drive and Earn’ programme
had a 96% success rate in helping graduates into paid
and voluntary employment
• The use of Greater Manchester Electric Vehicle (GMEV)
charging points across Greater Manchester increased
almost twelvefold during their first operational year
• TfGM provided a Personal Travel Planning service to
more than 10,000 households in Ashton-under-Lyne
and the Heatons and workplaces, job centres and work
clubs across Greater Manchester
• On Metrolink, 89 new spaces were added to the
Whitefield stop and 119 new spaces were added at
the Radcliffe stop, while a 300-space facility opened
at the Sale Water Park stop with the launch of the new
Airport line
Looking ahead to 2015/16
Activities planned in the next financial year will see
several major transformational projects progress, thanks
in large part to TfGM successfully securing significant
funding from the government’s two Local Growth Deal
Fund announcements
• Work to deliver new interchanges in Ashton, Bolton,
Stockport and Wythenshawe town centres will
continue, with the latter due to open this summer,
while plans to redevelop Wigan bus station are also
expected to take shape
•New bus priority routes will be delivered in Tyldesley,
Leigh, Atherton, Salford and Manchester city centre,
and a further priority route through to Bolton will also
be developed and consulted upon
• The expansion and refurbishment of the DeansgateCastlefield Metrolink stop is due to be complete in
summer, which will be followed by the start of a major,
challenging piece of work to relocate and expand
the St Peter’s Square stop as part of the Second City
Crossing (2CC)
• The 2CC project as a whole will see work taking place
across several city centre locations during 2015/16,
but the section from Manchester Victoria to Exchange
Square could be operational as early as next winter
(2015/16)
• Proposals for a Trafford Park Metrolink line will also be
progressed, with the government currently considering
the application made in 2014 for the Transport and
Works Order required to construct and operate the
route
• The smart ticketing programme get me there will
continue to be rolled out to all Metrolink passengers
• Real-time ‘next tram’ information will be rolled out
to all stops on the Bury line and the final three stops
on the Altrincham line, giving passengers live service
updates at the vast majority of stops on the network,
and more trams will be delivered as the fleet continues
to grow to 120 vehicles
• Cycling initiatives will continue to be developed
and delivered, together with targeted Travel
Choices campaigns, to promote healthy, sustainable
opportunities for travel
In addition to these landmark projects, TfGM is expected
to take on greater responsibilities as part of Greater
Manchester’s historic devolution agreement.
Over the course of the coming municipal year, new local
powers will be developed with the government covering
the strategic management of Greater Manchester’s bus
network, highways, and train stations.
TfGM will play a leading role in developing and agreeing
these new, additional powers and will then take on
responsibility for delivering them on a day-to-day basis
on behalf of GMCA.
Greater Manchester Combined Authority
Further information
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA)
comprises the leaders of the 10 local authorities
in Greater Manchester. It co-ordinates economic
development, regeneration and transport to support
Greater Manchester’s economic performance.
GMCA and the TfGM Committee meet regularly in
public. Detailed information on the 2015/16 budget and
associated transport matters can be found online at:
GMCA receives most of its funding for transport from a
levy on the local authorities, which is collected through
council tax. GMCA also funds other Greater Manchesterwide functions, including business support, tourism and
marketing.
www.tfgmc.gov.uk
Transport for Greater Manchester Committee
A joint committee of GMCA and the 10 local authorities,
Transport for Greater Manchester Committee comprises
33 councillors from across Greater Manchester. It advises
GMCA on transport policy and funding, and scrutinises
the work of TfGM and operators which provide public
transport services.
Alternatively, for any additional information, please write
to:
Transport for Greater Manchester
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) carries out the
transport policies of GMCA and the TfGM Committee
and is accountable to those bodies. TfGM owns the
Metrolink tram network, which is operated on TfGM’s
behalf by MRDL, part of the RATP Group. TfGM
works with bus and rail companies and with Greater
Manchester’s local authorities to improve the transport
network. TfGM is also responsible for managing traffic
signals, provides traffic and road safety information,
and is working towards a more co-ordinated strategic
highway network.
TfGM helps to connect people to places by providing
them with the information, choices and facilities they
need to make their journeys easier.
www.agma.gov.uk
Further information on the work of TfGM, and
comprehensive local travel information, can be found at:
www.tfgm.com
Sir Howard Bernstein
Head of Paid Service
GMCA
PO Box 532
Town Hall
Albert Square
Manchester
M60 2LA
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