Leigh to Manchester Guided Bus Route: Local Reactions and Impacts

Abstract

As populations increase and the necessity to drive further accelerates, our roads are becoming extremely congested. Society has become heavily dependent on the car, and is a private-car based society. Current issues regarding the barriers and flaws in public transport have led to a modal shift into private from public travel. In order to ease congestion issues, leading bodies have looked to a regeneration of public travel, however they face a harsh set of barriers that have led to a strong renaissance away from public travel. In order to implement a successful alternative to car travel, leading
bodies must face the barriers and come up with innovative new ways to attract people to buses.

One of the most innovative new methods of public transport are Guides bus routes. These are bus only roads that can significantly cut journey times to city centres, and studies on the few initial routes, have shown positive trends. This study looks to access the Guides bus route being set up from my hometown of Leigh, to Manchester. The study will aim to use a questionnaire to gain data that will reveal current local reactions and potential impacts on the guided bus route.

The findings indicate that many of the initial reactions believe the guided bus route will not remedy current congestion issues to Manchester. However they indicate that if the bus route can implement improvements to areas such as, journey times, fares and punctuality, many could be attracted towards using it, potentially encouraging a modal shift back to public transport.