Bee Network: Greater Manchester commuters to get brand new ticket and travel information app

Transport for Greater Manchester’s Bee Network is coming very soon, and so is a brand new travel app for commuters. The new app will deliver both ticketing and information across the new network. 

The Bee Network is Greater Manchester’s vision of TfGM’s ‘London-style’ transport network. The aim for the Bee Network is to provide low fare transport which will help support Manchester’ goals of becoming a carbon neutral city by 2038.

The integration of Greater Manchester’s new bus and existing tram services in one place, and a host of features will be available including access to real-time departure information to help passengers with their journeys. Navigational aids showing the stops and stations on the Manchester transport network will also be available, as will the ability to purchase retail tickets across the Manchester transport network. 

The Bee Network will launch on September 24. To mark the one month to go landmark in August, Mayor of Greater Manchester launched a fleet of new yellow, electric buses. This was another significant step forward towards the all important arrival of the network. 

Mayor Andy Burnham said: “We’ve reached an exciting moment on our journey to improve how people can travel across the city-region.  It was great to see our striking fleet of 50 new electric, yellow buses here in Greater Manchester, with the final touches now being applied before they start operating next month. The final countdown to the start of the Bee Network is well and truly on.”

The app’s creation has been commissioned by TfGM to developers Softwire. Helen Humble, Head of Ticketing at TfGM, said: “We look forward to working with Softwire to create the first version of the Bee Network mobile app, which will include the foundations on which we can continually enhance the customer experience over the coming years for the benefit of Greater Manchester. 

“Softwire has demonstrable expertise in this space, including around user-centric design, accessibility and the ability to build apps that integrate seamlessly with a variety of services, all of which will be crucial here.”