Bus delays in Greater Manchester blamed on roadworks, jams and driver shortages

Almost a fifth of buses in Greater Manchester do not run on time, according to data from earlier this year which shows the reliability of services is reducing.

The reliability of bus services in the city-region has now slipped below national standards, having dropped to less than 96 % this year, a report has revealed.

It comes less than a year before mayor Andy Burnham brings buses under public control with the first franchised services to launch in Wigan and Bolton.

Currently, around 80 % of buses run on time – defined as between one minute early and five minutes late – according to samples of the network this year.

The overall punctuality of bus services between February and July 2022 was 81.58 %, down from 88.8 % during the same period in the previous year.

Transport bosses have described this reduction in reliability as ‘concerning’.

And Stephen Rhodes from Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) told a bus services sub-committee today (7 October) the figures are still falling.

He said: “The issues we’ve got are due to a combination of traffic congestion – especially in the regional centre, but also in some of the key towns – infrastructure work, whether that’s planned or unplanned and also the driver shortfall across the industry.”

Mr Rhodes explained that the national shortage of drivers has had an impact on reliability of services, but there was still a drop compared to the data from the same period in the previous year when Covid restrictions were in place.

Between February and July 2021, the reliability of services – a measure of whether timetabled bus services are keeping to schedule – was 98.16 %.

But during the same six-month period the following year, this figure had fallen to 95.99 %, below the traffic commissioner’s national minimum standard of 97 % – the first time in five years that Greater Manchester has fallen short.

Start-point punctuality of scheduled services also failed to meet national standards during this period, standing at 86.58 pc, down from 91.72 %.

However, the overall punctuality of services was above the 80 % standard.

Bus companies told the sub-committee that congestion is an issue with one reporting that 25 out of the 26 routes they operate are affected by roadworks.

The roadworks on the A6, particularly around the Broad Street and Frederick Road junction in Salford, is having an impact on bus services, but TfGM representatives reported that this should improve in the next week or so.

Operators also spoke of staffing issues, but said drivers are being recruited.

The bus services sub-committee approved some changes to the bus network and a review of subsidised services which will see more than 60 routes saved.