A trade union-backed campaign launched today calling for public transport to be made free for all passengers in Greater Manchester.
Fare Free Greater Manchester is calling for fare-free travel to be made available through various initiatives, including an expansion of fare-free services, wider eligibility for fare-free travel, and workers obtaining travel passes from their employer.
The campaign launch comes as Greater Manchester’s Bee Network has come under national scrutiny during Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham’s bid to return to Westminster in the Makerfield by-election.
Ian Allison, campaign organiser and UNISON trade union officer for Transport for Greater Manchester, said: “I think a lot of us are quite pleased with the progress made with the Bee Network starting to integrate transport a bit more in Greater Manchester – now let’s aim a bit higher as to how we can really move things forward.
“Fare-free travel could benefit transport users; it could benefit staff with more jobs from growing the network, it could even benefit car users from having less congestion on the roads.
“We could tackle quite a chunk of loneliness and isolation, it will be a step to tackling the cost of living, and it would improve lives fundamentally in many ways.”
Fare Free campaigns are well established in London and Glasgow and point to the many cities internationally which have successfully introduced fare-free public transport, including Albuquerque, Belgrade, Dunkirk and Tallinn.
Priyanka Khuarana of Fare-Free London told attendees at the Manchester campaign launch that the group believes public transport for all without exclusion is important to open up opportunities and give residents more freedom.
She said: “Our campaign brings together community groups, trade unions, environmentalists, and others who see the relevance of free public transport as a vision for London and across the UK.
“We want free public travel to be available for all, without excluding any group, because it opens opportunities up and gives people freedom.
“It opens the city to all, especially people who are impacted by transport poverty or people who are struggling to get to work because of transport costs.”
Greater Manchester’s Bee Network started to bring in capped fares in 2022, with bus fares currently sitting at a flat rate of £2 per adult journey, and zone-based contactless “tap and go” fare systems in place for trams.
The network currently offers fare-free transport through the provision of two free city centre bus services, and fare-free schemes for young children, elderly and disabled passengers.
Fare-Free Greater Manchester want to see these services and provisions expanded, while projecting jobs within the transport sector.
They believe that removing the need for passengers to pay fares at the point of boarding buses will make services faster and more efficient, as well as reducing the amount of violence and abuse transport workers face when payment of fares becomes a point of conflict.
Statistics from Greater Manchester Combined Authority have shown a 61% increase in reported incidents against staff on the bus network between 2022 and 2025.
Ian Allinson said: “If you talk to staff working at a bus station, you’ll hear that the majority of the violence they experience is from somebody who hasn’t been able to get on their bus because they didn’t have the fare.
“Then they get off the bus and they’re kicking off; intoxication is involved as well, but it’s usually the fare that’s the trigger for that confrontation and that violence.”
Fare Free Greater Manchester now plan to work with local councillors to build momentum for the campaign, taking steps towards universal free public transport at a local and regional level.
To learn more about the campaign, visit https://farefreegm.uk/.
Featured image: A Greater Manchester Bee Network paid ticket. Photo by Carly Lyes for MM.
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