1001 Smart Cities
🇬🇧 Manchester

Bee Network: Greater Manchester's Franchised Buses and Tap-and-Go Fares

🤖 AI-generated summary · ◆ 20 sourced claims · 🔎 Last verified

This overview was generated with AI from the public sources listed below and checked against them before publication. It has not had a complete human fact-check — treat it as a starting point and follow the sources.

20 sourced claims on this page, none individually verified yet — turn on “Sources in the text” to see each one.

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Greater Manchester took back its buses and now scores them with its own tracking data. Punctuality and journeys are up, but growth is slowing and the scorer runs the network.

Outcome🔄 Ongoing
Evidence📊 Independent
what does this mean?The strongest source is an independent non-academic evaluation: an audit office, a government or EU review, or an NGO. It grades who did the looking — not how well the project went. All four grades →
Run byTransport for Greater Manchester, the franchising authority for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority; buses run under contract by private operators; ticketing and vehicle-location system supplied by Ticketer
Scale🗺️ Regional
FundingTransition funded locally with £134.5m (Mayoral Earnback £78m, Mayoral precept £33.7m, local authorities £17.8m, business rates pooling £5m); around £300m of central government capital for fleet and depots; fares forecast to cover almost half of 2025/26 operating costs, the rest from local taxation and the Integrated Settlement.

Part of 1001 Smart Cities — 1,216 documented projects · 🏙️ 8 more in Manchester · 🚌 Public transport guide · 🚲 Mobility projects

The Bee Network is Greater Manchester's franchised bus system: Transport for Greater Manchester sets routes and fares, and private operators run the buses under contract. Franchised services began on 24 September 2023 in Bolton, Wigan and parts of Salford, Bury and Manchester; north Manchester followed on 24 March 2024 and the rest of the city on 5 January 2025, when all 577 routes and 1,600 buses came under local control. TfGM calls it the first area in the country to do this in 40 years. The data layer is Ticketer's integrated ticketing and automatic vehicle location system, which feeds live tracking in the Bee Network app and TfGM's punctuality reports. Since 23 March 2025 a contactless card tapped on bus or tram is charged the best fare, capped at £5 a day and £20 a week on buses alone.

Live 📅 since 2023

📊 Impact

Most of the evidence is TfGM's own. In the first franchising area it reports punctuality regularly above its 80% target; across the whole network, 75.8% of buses ran on time in March 2025 against 71.6% a year earlier and about 67% in the year before franchising, a comparison TfGM itself qualifies because the measurement source changed. Provisional Department for Transport statistics put Greater Manchester bus journeys at 171.0 million in the year to March 2025, up from 154.5 million but below the 189.7 million of 2018/19. By July 2026 growth had slowed to 3.1% over twelve months, driven primarily by concessionary pass users. Outside the operator, the watchdog Transport Focus found passenger satisfaction up from 79% to 86% in 2025, the biggest improvement it recorded.

🎓 Lesson

Franchising handed Greater Manchester the instruments to grade its own buses: the same vehicle-location data drives the app's live tracking and the punctuality figures, which makes the transport authority its own scorer, against a baseline measured differently. The gains were also bought: TfGM added peak-time buses where punctuality lagged, which the operators' trade body says leaves the root cause, traffic congestion, untouched, and fares are forecast to cover almost half of running costs in 2025/26. Franchising sets the terms; recurring subsidy and road space decide the result.

🚲 MobilityPublic transportSmart ticketing

Sources

↗ TfGM — Bus punctuality report: 30 March - 5 April 2025TfGM's weekly punctuality report for 30 March to 5 April 2025. Lists the tranches: Bolton, Wigan and parts of Salford, Bury and Manchester joined on 24 September 2023; Oldham, Rochdale and parts of Bury, Salford and north Manchester on 24 March 2024; Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and the remaining parts of Manchester and Salford on 5 January 2025. Reports punctuality of 82.0% (tranche 1), 76.6% (tranche 2) and 76.6% (tranche 3) for the week, with one minute early to five minutes late counted as on time.
↗ TfGM — Bus punctuality reports: how punctuality is measuredTfGM's standing explanation of its bus punctuality reports: punctuality is calculated from the difference between the time a bus leaves a timing point, taken from Automatic Vehicle Location tracker information, and the timetabled departure; a bus is on time if no more than one minute early or five minutes late.
↗ TfGM — Delivering Better Bus Services for Greater Manchester (June 2025)Published June 2025TfGM's bus reform delivery report. States that franchising ran in three tranches from September 2023 to January 2025; that 'Tap and Go' contactless, multi-modal capped payments across bus and tram began in March 2025; that the Bee Network app provides real-time tracking; that first-area services routinely exceed the 80% punctuality target and whole-network punctuality was 75.8% in March 2025 against 71.6% in March 2024 and around 67% before franchising, 'noting the measurement source has also changed'; that extra peak buses were added where reliability was an issue; that transition funding was £134.5m; and that fares are forecast to cover almost 50% of operating costs in 2025/26. Says monitoring and evaluation will follow over several years.
↗ GMCA Bee Network Committee — Delivering the Bee Network: Network Performance (27 March 2025)TfGM report to GMCA's Bee Network Committee covering December 2024 to February 2025. States that on 5 January all bus services in Greater Manchester, 577 routes and 1,600 buses, came under local control, describes Greater Manchester as 'the first area in the country to do this in 40 years', puts first-area punctuality above 80% 'up from c.69%', names north Manchester in tranche 2 and south Manchester in tranche 3, and sets multi-modal 'Tap and Go' live on 23 March.
↗ GMCA Bee Network Committee — Bee Network Performance Monitoring (24 September 2026)TfGM report to the Bee Network Committee on July 2026 performance. Gives rolling twelve-month bus patronage (August 2025 to July 2026) of 179.0 million, 3.1% higher than twelve months before; says growth is beginning to decelerate and has been driven primarily by concessionary pass users; puts July 2026 bus on-time punctuality at 83.4%, above target for the seventh consecutive month, with specific challenges in the tranche 2 area including north Manchester.
Show 6 more sourcesShow fewer
↗ Ticketer — Ticketer supports TfGM's Bee Network with integrated ticketing and real-time information solution (25 Sep 2023)Supplier announcement: Ticketer and TfGM launched the first phase of an integrated ticketing and real-time information solution for the Bee Network from 24 September 2023, with Ticketer's Next Generation ticket machine and Smart Gateway on board; TfGM's franchising programme director says it will give customers accurate real-time travel information.
↗ Ticketer — Ticketer celebrates final rollout of the Bee Network (9 Jan 2025)Supplier announcement of the final delivery of the Bee Network's integrated ticketing and AVL (automatic vehicle location) solution on 5 January 2025, with 700 ticket machines going live that weekend; says the franchising solution lets TfGM manage multi-operator franchised services on one platform.
↗ Bus-News — Capped contactless payments expand to Greater Manchester's Bee Network buses (25 Feb 2025)Trade report of TfGM's announcement that contactless 'tap and go' would extend to Bee Network buses from 23 March 2025, building on Metrolink's existing system, with the best fare calculated up to a daily or weekly cap: £2 single, £5 daily and £20 weekly on buses alone, and zone-based bus-and-tram caps from £6 a day or £24.80 a week.
↗ Department for Transport — Passenger journeys on local bus services by local authority (table BUS01e)Published 26 November 2025 · updated March 2026Department for Transport official statistics workbook BUS01 (revised edition). Table BUS01e gives passenger journeys on local bus services by local authority for years ending March: Greater Manchester CA 189.7 million (2019), 143.2 million (2023), 154.5 million (2024) and 171.0 million (2025). Figures from 2022 to 2025 are marked provisional; sources include Transport for Greater Manchester.
↗ Transport Focus — Best bus services in England named, as passenger satisfaction rises again (25 Mar 2026)Transport Focus, the independent watchdog, publishing its 2025 Your Bus Journey survey results: overall bus passenger satisfaction in England rose to 85%; Greater Manchester showed the biggest improvement, from 79% to 86%, and was the one English area where satisfaction with value for money rose, to 79%.
↗ Confederation of Passenger Transport — Beneath the yellow paint: How successful are Manchester's Bee Network buses? (8 Jul 2026)Comment by the chief executive of the Confederation of Passenger Transport, the bus operators' trade body. Says TfGM specifies routes, fares and frequencies while private companies run the buses; puts the transition cost at £134 million and net bus expenditure at £227m a year; says operators report punctuality improved by adding more buses while little has been done about congestion; argues that passenger growth outstripped Manchester's in several commercially run areas.

📅 How old is the evidence?

Two clocks, kept apart: when this entry’s sources were published, and what has happened to its record in the atlas. Documented span: since 2023. 9 of 11 sources carry a publication date, from 25 September 2023 to 24 September 2026.

When the sources were published

  1. Ticketer · vendorTicketer — Ticketer supports TfGM's Bee Network with integrated ticketing and real-time information solution (25 Sep 2023)
  2. Ticketer · vendorTicketer — Ticketer celebrates final rollout of the Bee Network (9 Jan 2025)
  3. Bus-News · pressBus-News — Capped contactless payments expand to Greater Manchester's Bee Network buses (25 Feb 2025)
  4. Greater Manchester Combined Authority · regional governmentGMCA Bee Network Committee — Delivering the Bee Network: Network Performance (27 March 2025)
  5. Transport for Greater Manchester · operatorTfGM — Delivering Better Bus Services for Greater Manchester (June 2025)
  6. UK Government (GOV.UK) · national governmentDepartment for Transport — Passenger journeys on local bus services by local authority (table BUS01e) · updated March 2026
  7. Transport Focus · oversight bodyTransport Focus — Best bus services in England named, as passenger satisfaction rises again (25 Mar 2026)
  8. Confederation of Passenger Transport · industry associationConfederation of Passenger Transport — Beneath the yellow paint: How successful are Manchester's Bee Network buses? (8 Jul 2026)
Show 1 more dated sourcesShow fewer
  1. Greater Manchester Combined Authority · regional governmentGMCA Bee Network Committee — Bee Network Performance Monitoring (24 September 2026)

Every source, with links ↑

What happened to this record

  1. Entered the record
  2. Sources last read

Every revision, permanent →

Show your work What this page rests on and what it can’t tell you · all 20 claims with their sources · the forensic record

Evidence file · public beta 20 addressable claims, 11 source dossiers, one permanent baseline. The file is unreviewed — an AI-assisted structural migration, not a human or expert endorsement. Every revision keeps a permanent copy under revision history.

Inspect the claims, one by one — verbatim text, sources and caveats for all 20

The text below is copied verbatim from the published record. Each claim names the source dossiers that carry it; caveats stay attached to the claim they qualify.

Claim 1 clm-01657a522890a177 descriptive
Transport for Greater Manchester sets routes and fares, and private operators run the buses under contract
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The operators' trade body describes the model: TfGM specifies routes, fares and frequencies, while private companies operate the buses for profit.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Confederation of Passenger Transport — Beneath the yellow paint: How successful are Manchester's Bee Network buses? (8 Jul 2026)
Claim 2 clm-75d6e54291eba211 quantitative
Franchised services began on 24 September 2023 in Bolton, Wigan and parts of Salford, Bury and Manchester; north Manchester followed on 24 March 2024 and the rest of the city on 5 January 2025
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
TfGM's own report lists the three tranches with their districts and dates: parts of Manchester in tranche 1 (24 September 2023), north Manchester in tranche 2 (24 March 2024) and the remaining parts of Manchester in tranche 3 (5 January 2025).
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. TfGM — Bus punctuality report: 30 March - 5 April 2025
Claim 3 clm-2ea2a053c4399fb0 quantitative
when all 577 routes and 1,600 buses came under local control
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The committee paper states that on 5 January the final phase brought all bus services in Greater Manchester, 577 routes and 1,600 buses, back under local control.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. GMCA Bee Network Committee — Delivering the Bee Network: Network Performance (27 March 2025)
Claim 4 clm-b20cb17bea728feb quantitative
TfGM calls it the first area in the country to do this in 40 years
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The TfGM report to the Bee Network Committee says the launch saw Greater Manchester make history as the first area in the country to do this in 40 years.
Caveat
This is TfGM's own description. London's buses have been run under a regulated contract model throughout; the claim concerns areas outside it.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. GMCA Bee Network Committee — Delivering the Bee Network: Network Performance (27 March 2025)
Claim 5 clm-1c4c58acc05bc00b descriptive
The data layer is Ticketer's integrated ticketing and automatic vehicle location system
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The supplier announced the first phase of its integrated ticketing and real-time information solution for TfGM at the 24 September 2023 launch, and the final delivery of the Bee Network's integrated ticketing and AVL solution on 5 January 2025.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Ticketer — Ticketer supports TfGM's Bee Network with integrated ticketing and real-time information solution (25 Sep 2023)
  2. Ticketer — Ticketer celebrates final rollout of the Bee Network (9 Jan 2025)
Claim 6 clm-73d7c7b9ddc157c8 descriptive
which feeds live tracking in the Bee Network app and TfGM's punctuality reports
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
TfGM's report says the Bee Network app provides real-time tracking; its punctuality report says punctuality is calculated from Automatic Vehicle Location tracker information at timing points.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. TfGM — Delivering Better Bus Services for Greater Manchester (June 2025)
  2. TfGM — Bus punctuality reports: how punctuality is measured
Claim 7 clm-fdea66d577243d81 quantitative
Since 23 March 2025 a contactless card tapped on bus or tram is charged the best fare
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
TfGM's committee paper set multi-modal 'Tap and Go' live on 23 March, calculating the best daily or weekly fare; the June 2025 report confirms it was introduced in March 2025 and enabled capped contactless payments across bus and tram for the first time.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. TfGM — Delivering Better Bus Services for Greater Manchester (June 2025)
  2. GMCA Bee Network Committee — Delivering the Bee Network: Network Performance (27 March 2025)
Claim 8 clm-70581f7c2ada219f quantitative
capped at £5 a day and £20 a week on buses alone
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The trade report on the launch lists the bus-only caps: £2 single, £5 daily cap, £20 weekly cap; bus-and-tram caps vary by zone.
Caveat
Fare levels as announced for the launch; Greater Manchester's fares can change.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Bus-News — Capped contactless payments expand to Greater Manchester's Bee Network buses (25 Feb 2025)
Claim 9 clm-41c287061eff0123 quantitative
In the first franchising area it reports punctuality regularly above its 80% target
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
TfGM's June 2025 report states that services in the first franchised area routinely exceed its 80% punctuality target.
Caveat
TfGM's papers give the pre-franchising figure for this area differently, as about 66% and about 69%.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. TfGM — Delivering Better Bus Services for Greater Manchester (June 2025)
Claim 10 clm-f1411fe1a008a98a quantitative
75.8% of buses ran on time in March 2025 against 71.6% a year earlier and about 67% in the year before franchising
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The report gives whole-network on-time punctuality of 75.8% in March 2025 against 71.6% in March 2024, and around 67% for the whole network in the 12 months before franchising.
Caveat
In March 2024 only about a fifth of the network was franchised. On time means leaving a timing point no more than one minute early or five minutes late.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. TfGM — Delivering Better Bus Services for Greater Manchester (June 2025)
Claim 11 clm-6ac9d272abc84d7d descriptive
a comparison TfGM itself qualifies because the measurement source changed
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The report adds to its pre-franchising comparison that the measurement source has also changed.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. TfGM — Delivering Better Bus Services for Greater Manchester (June 2025)
Claim 12 clm-dc70f2703403a7d2 quantitative
Provisional Department for Transport statistics put Greater Manchester bus journeys at 171.0 million in the year to March 2025, up from 154.5 million but below the 189.7 million of 2018/19
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Table BUS01e's row for Greater Manchester CA gives 189.7 million passenger journeys for the year ending March 2019, 154.5 million for 2024 and 171.0 million for 2025; the workbook marks figures from 2022 to 2025 as provisional and lists Transport for Greater Manchester among its sources.
Caveat
The figures cover all local buses in Greater Manchester, franchised or not, and part of the data comes from TfGM.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Department for Transport — Passenger journeys on local bus services by local authority (table BUS01e)
Claim 13 clm-57142761b69de963 quantitative
By July 2026 growth had slowed to 3.1% over twelve months, driven primarily by concessionary pass users
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
TfGM's September 2026 performance report gives rolling twelve-month patronage (August 2025 to July 2026) of 179.0 million, 3.1% higher than twelve months before, says the rate of growth is beginning to decelerate and that growth has been driven primarily by increasing numbers of concessionary pass users.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. GMCA Bee Network Committee — Bee Network Performance Monitoring (24 September 2026)
Claim 14 clm-3e67397b0ec3b154 quantitative
the watchdog Transport Focus found passenger satisfaction up from 79% to 86% in 2025, the biggest improvement it recorded
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Transport Focus, the independent watchdog, reports in its 2025 Your Bus Journey results that Greater Manchester shows the biggest improvement, from 79 per cent to 86 per cent overall satisfaction.
Caveat
Satisfaction is what passengers report, not a measure of punctuality or ridership.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Transport Focus — Best bus services in England named, as passenger satisfaction rises again (25 Mar 2026)
Claim 15 clm-ac068d97d4301574 descriptive
the same vehicle-location data drives the app's live tracking and the punctuality figures
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
TfGM computes punctuality from AVL tracker information; Ticketer describes the same deployment as an integrated ticketing and real-time information solution giving customers accurate real-time travel information.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. TfGM — Bus punctuality reports: how punctuality is measured
  2. Ticketer — Ticketer supports TfGM's Bee Network with integrated ticketing and real-time information solution (25 Sep 2023)
Claim 16 clm-2294496ec8ad2951 descriptive
against a baseline measured differently
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
TfGM's report qualifies its pre-franchising comparison by noting that the measurement source has also changed.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. TfGM — Delivering Better Bus Services for Greater Manchester (June 2025)
Claim 17 clm-e26d741537c981e4 descriptive
TfGM added peak-time buses where punctuality lagged
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The report says TfGM introduced more vehicles at peak times where reliability was an issue (20 extra buses in Wigan and Bolton, 20 in Oldham and north Manchester) and that those services' punctuality rose by 15%.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. TfGM — Delivering Better Bus Services for Greater Manchester (June 2025)
Claim 18 clm-029873ae698864b7 descriptive
which the operators' trade body says leaves the root cause, traffic congestion, untouched
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The Confederation of Passenger Transport writes that operators report punctuality improved by adding more buses, but little has been done to tackle the root cause of unreliability, traffic congestion.
Caveat
The Confederation of Passenger Transport represents bus operators and has argued against the franchising model.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Confederation of Passenger Transport — Beneath the yellow paint: How successful are Manchester's Bee Network buses? (8 Jul 2026)
Claim 19 clm-50a5f2b7ff6a5a21 quantitative
fares are forecast to cover almost half of running costs in 2025/26
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
TfGM's report forecasts that fare-paying passengers cover almost 50% of the bus network's operating cost in 2025/26, with local taxation and the Integrated Settlement covering most of the rest.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. TfGM — Delivering Better Bus Services for Greater Manchester (June 2025)
Claim 20 clm-4dfe9888a7f3bae4 descriptive
recurring subsidy and road space decide the result
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The trade body argues that turning regulatory change into passenger benefit needs recurring expenditure on fares and extra buses, and that congestion is the root cause of unreliability.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Confederation of Passenger Transport — Beneath the yellow paint: How successful are Manchester's Bee Network buses? (8 Jul 2026)
Forensic record — source dossiers, gaps, hashes and the exact revision this page renders

This layer records what is known about each source, what is still missing, and the exact snapshot this page is rendering. A missing date, archive or hash stays visible as missing.

unreviewed Revision 2026-10-16-baseline effective 2026-10-16 · created 2026-10-16

Awaiting operator and domain-expert review; publication of this revision implies neither.

sha256:44a0844c59dc8f4838a515b167a384c435ef0572a6fb55ac98496aa60766c688
Revision history → Permanent version link → Machine-readable record → Evidence Constitution →
20
of 20 claims mapped
11
source dossiers
8
publication dates recorded
0
archives linked
0
exact locators
0
content captures hashed

Governance facts carried by the record

Operator
Transport for Greater Manchester, the franchising authority for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority; buses run under contract by private operators; ticketing and vehicle-location system supplied by Ticketer
Actor types
regional-government, private
Funding model
public
Funding description
Transition funded locally with £134.5m (Mayoral Earnback £78m, Mayoral precept £33.7m, local authorities £17.8m, business rates pooling £5m); around £300m of central government capital for fleet and depots; fares forecast to cover almost half of 2025/26 operating costs, the rest from local taxation and the Integrated Settlement.
Cost
Not recorded
Ownership
Not recorded
Decision rights
Not recorded
Exit conditions
Not recorded

11 source dossiers

TfGM — Bus punctuality report: 30 March - 5 April 2025 tfgm.com · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-3e27259bdbb87ece
Publisher
Name not classified · tfgm.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-16
Dossier created
2026-10-16
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

TfGM's weekly punctuality report for 30 March to 5 April 2025. Lists the tranches: Bolton, Wigan and parts of Salford, Bury and Manchester joined on 24 September 2023; Oldham, Rochdale and parts of Bury, Salford and north Manchester on 24 March 2024; Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and the remaining parts of Manchester and Salford on 5 January 2025. Reports punctuality of 82.0% (tranche 1), 76.6% (tranche 2) and 76.6% (tranche 3) for the week, with one minute early to five minutes late counted as on time.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
TfGM — Bus punctuality reports: how punctuality is measured tfgm.com · 2 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-e4a170d588923234
Publisher
Name not classified · tfgm.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-16
Dossier created
2026-10-16
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

TfGM's standing explanation of its bus punctuality reports: punctuality is calculated from the difference between the time a bus leaves a timing point, taken from Automatic Vehicle Location tracker information, and the timetabled departure; a bus is on time if no more than one minute early or five minutes late.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
TfGM — Delivering Better Bus Services for Greater Manchester (June 2025) downloads.ctfassets.net · 8 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-540fcfd17e652f77
Publisher
Name not classified · downloads.ctfassets.net
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-16
Dossier created
2026-10-16
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

TfGM's bus reform delivery report. States that franchising ran in three tranches from September 2023 to January 2025; that 'Tap and Go' contactless, multi-modal capped payments across bus and tram began in March 2025; that the Bee Network app provides real-time tracking; that first-area services routinely exceed the 80% punctuality target and whole-network punctuality was 75.8% in March 2025 against 71.6% in March 2024 and around 67% before franchising, 'noting the measurement source has also changed'; that extra peak buses were added where reliability was an issue; that transition funding was £134.5m; and that fares are forecast to cover almost 50% of operating costs in 2025/26. Says monitoring and evaluation will follow over several years.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
GMCA Bee Network Committee — Delivering the Bee Network: Network Performance (27 March 2025) democracy.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk · 3 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-11185df5e938d02e
Publisher
Name not classified · democracy.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2025-03-27
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-16
Dossier created
2026-10-16
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

TfGM report to GMCA's Bee Network Committee covering December 2024 to February 2025. States that on 5 January all bus services in Greater Manchester, 577 routes and 1,600 buses, came under local control, describes Greater Manchester as 'the first area in the country to do this in 40 years', puts first-area punctuality above 80% 'up from c.69%', names north Manchester in tranche 2 and south Manchester in tranche 3, and sets multi-modal 'Tap and Go' live on 23 March.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
GMCA Bee Network Committee — Bee Network Performance Monitoring (24 September 2026) democracy.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-cdee2275a835a855
Publisher
Name not classified · democracy.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2026-09-24
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-16
Dossier created
2026-10-16
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

TfGM report to the Bee Network Committee on July 2026 performance. Gives rolling twelve-month bus patronage (August 2025 to July 2026) of 179.0 million, 3.1% higher than twelve months before; says growth is beginning to decelerate and has been driven primarily by concessionary pass users; puts July 2026 bus on-time punctuality at 83.4%, above target for the seventh consecutive month, with specific challenges in the tranche 2 area including north Manchester.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Ticketer — Ticketer supports TfGM's Bee Network with integrated ticketing and real-time information solution (25 Sep 2023) ticketer.com · 2 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-1f9c99bab0341b7b
Publisher
Name not classified · ticketer.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2023-09-25
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-16
Dossier created
2026-10-16
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Supplier announcement: Ticketer and TfGM launched the first phase of an integrated ticketing and real-time information solution for the Bee Network from 24 September 2023, with Ticketer's Next Generation ticket machine and Smart Gateway on board; TfGM's franchising programme director says it will give customers accurate real-time travel information.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Ticketer — Ticketer celebrates final rollout of the Bee Network (9 Jan 2025) ticketer.com · 1 linked claim

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Stable source ID
src-b4dee8ca01d475b5
Publisher
Name not classified · ticketer.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2025-01-09
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-16
Dossier created
2026-10-16
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Supplier announcement of the final delivery of the Bee Network's integrated ticketing and AVL (automatic vehicle location) solution on 5 January 2025, with 700 ticket machines going live that weekend; says the franchising solution lets TfGM manage multi-operator franchised services on one platform.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Bus-News — Capped contactless payments expand to Greater Manchester's Bee Network buses (25 Feb 2025) bus-news.com · 1 linked claim

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Stable source ID
src-85daa9656fc73089
Publisher
Name not classified · bus-news.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2025-02-25
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-16
Dossier created
2026-10-16
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Trade report of TfGM's announcement that contactless 'tap and go' would extend to Bee Network buses from 23 March 2025, building on Metrolink's existing system, with the best fare calculated up to a daily or weekly cap: £2 single, £5 daily and £20 weekly on buses alone, and zone-based bus-and-tram caps from £6 a day or £24.80 a week.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Department for Transport — Passenger journeys on local bus services by local authority (table BUS01e) assets.publishing.service.gov.uk · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-e2167b562eede05c
Publisher
Name not classified · assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2025-11-26
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-16
Dossier created
2026-10-16
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Department for Transport official statistics workbook BUS01 (revised edition). Table BUS01e gives passenger journeys on local bus services by local authority for years ending March: Greater Manchester CA 189.7 million (2019), 143.2 million (2023), 154.5 million (2024) and 171.0 million (2025). Figures from 2022 to 2025 are marked provisional; sources include Transport for Greater Manchester.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Transport Focus — Best bus services in England named, as passenger satisfaction rises again (25 Mar 2026) transportfocus.org.uk · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-916bba7be7cfb113
Publisher
Name not classified · transportfocus.org.uk
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2026-03-25
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-16
Dossier created
2026-10-16
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Transport Focus, the independent watchdog, publishing its 2025 Your Bus Journey survey results: overall bus passenger satisfaction in England rose to 85%; Greater Manchester showed the biggest improvement, from 79% to 86%, and was the one English area where satisfaction with value for money rose, to 79%.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Confederation of Passenger Transport — Beneath the yellow paint: How successful are Manchester's Bee Network buses? (8 Jul 2026) cpt-uk.org · 3 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-a3f776b505a708aa
Publisher
Name not classified · cpt-uk.org
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2026-07-08
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-16
Dossier created
2026-10-16
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Comment by the chief executive of the Confederation of Passenger Transport, the bus operators' trade body. Says TfGM specifies routes, fares and frequencies while private companies run the buses; puts the transition cost at £134 million and net bus expenditure at £227m a year; says operators report punctuality improved by adding more buses while little has been done about congestion; argues that passenger growth outstripped Manchester's in several commercially run areas.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Known limits of this file
  • Publisher names and source languages have not yet been classified; domains are recorded without guessing.
  • Existing source notes are descriptive locators, not page- or paragraph-exact citations.
  • A missing archive, publication date or content hash is shown as null rather than inferred.
  • The project-level evidence grade ranks the strongest source in the entry; it is not a truth score for every claim.

Continue exploring

Compare this project

🇸🇦 Riyadh Bus Network & darb App · Riyadh Same split: an authority owns and specifies the network, contracted operators drive it; Riyadh built new, Greater Manchester re-regulated. 🇹🇼 TPASS Flat-Fare Transit Pass (Greater Taipei) · Taipei Two answers to integrated fares: Taipei sells one flat monthly pass, Greater Manchester caps each tapped bank card by day and week. 🇻🇳 Open-Loop Transit Payments & MultiPass · Ho Chi Minh City Both put bank-card taps on buses in spring 2025; Greater Manchester adds daily and weekly caps across bus and tram.

Explore the wider context

🔑 Your Smart City Is Owned by Someone Else📖 Bus rapid transit (BRT)📖 E-ticketing📖 Fare capping
📎 Cite this project

1001 Smart Cities (2026). “Bee Network: Greater Manchester's Franchised Buses and Tap-and-Go Fares” — Manchester, United Kingdom. The Smart City Atlas. https://1001smartcities.org/projects/greater-manchester-bee-network-bus-franchising/ (last verified 2026-10-16). Data: CC BY 4.0.

The underlying data is free to reuse with attribution — see the open data page.

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