Leigh Guided Busway Shows What Bus Priority Can Do

Public transport folk have long talked the talk about modal shift and journey time reliability. Greater Manchester’s Bus Priority Programme is the latest to prove that when done properly buses really can walk the walk, or rather roll the roll. 

Transport for Greater Manchester

A new evaluation covering the Leigh Guided Busway, Rochdale Road and Oxford Road corridors reckons patronage has more than doubled since the priority works went in, and morning peak journeys from Leigh to Manchester have been trimmed by a tidy quarter.

What the report actually says

• Average peak journey times between Leigh and the city centre are down from around 65 minutes to under 50.
• Survey data suggests up to one in four passengers on the Vantage service formerly drove. That shaves more than 600,000 car trips off local roads each year.
• Serious and fatal collisions on the East Lancs corridor are down by 63 per cent, dramatically out-performing the regional trend.
• Some 2,000 new homes have already appeared alongside the busway and the A580, proof that buses can be property developer catnip when given half a chance.

Why the numbers matter

Doubling patronage is not a party trick. To persuade people out of cars on a corridor that shadowed a dual carriageway you need speed, certainty and a touch of creature comfort. The guided track gets buses clear of traffic while the parallel cycle path makes the active travel lobby smile rather than grumble. Put the whole thing under the Bee Network umbrella, throw in a £2 flat fare and suddenly the bus looks less like transport of last resort and more like common sense.

How a guided busway actually works

For the uninitiated, a guided busway is a concrete track with raised kerbs that grab small guide wheels bolted to each bus. The idea is to give tram-like segregation for the price of a slightly re-engineered bus. Cambridge built the UK’s first sizeable example in 2011 and despite apocalyptic headlines about cost overruns it still clocks healthy patronage, roughly 2.5 million trips in its first year and rising. Greater Manchester borrowed the concept, added real-time information, plus shelters that do not double as wind tunnels, and the results speak for themselves.

The Bee Network factor

The Bus Priority Programme predates bus franchising but it dovetails neatly with the Bee Network model rolling out across the city region. The V1 and V2 Vantage routes are now part of a night-bus pilot that keeps wheels turning after midnight, helping shift-workers and the sort of students who need to get back from the Northern Quarter at 3 am.

Vernon Everitt, Greater Manchester Transport Commissioner, said:

This evaluation report demonstrates the positive impact for residents of investment in high quality public transport to deliver safe, frequent and reliable services.

These schemes have enabled better access to homes, jobs, healthcare, education and to leisure destinations and further improvements have recently been delivered with the creation of the Bee Network, including the introduction of night buses to support workers and the night time economy.

Affordability of public transport has also been transformed. As a result of bringing buses under local control, fares have been reduced and held at £2 for an adult Hopper - enabling customers to change buses within an hour of their first tap without having to pay more - and delivering more convenient ‘Tap and Go’ contactless payment which guarantees the lowest fare.

Safety and active travel dividends

Engineers love a good collision-reduction stat and this scheme obliges. With buses and bikes corralled into their own space the A580’s serious-injury tally has fallen sharply. On Oxford Road the bus gates cleared space for cycle tracks that now count more than a million bike trips a year, a number likely to make any highways director reach for the bunting.

Cllr Mike McCusker, Salford City Council, said:

I welcome the findings in this report which shows how a reliable and affordable bus services travelling through Salford can really reduce car journeys on key routes, helping to reduce congestion.

As across Greater Manchester councils are striving through Vision Zero to eliminate deaths on our roads this report shows how huge reductions in those killed or seriously injured can be achieved.

Well done to all involved in making these services better for local people and lets continue with this hard work.

Comparisons with other UK schemes

Cambridge proved that busways can out-perform forecasts while Luton’s shorter track showed that you can squeeze guided infrastructure into a constrained town centre. Greater Manchester has gone one better by pairing the hardware with integrated fares and service control. In short the infrastructure is only half the story; the ticket has to be simple enough for your gran to understand and the timetable must respect commuter circadian rhythms.

Lessons for operators and local authorities

Mind the detail. Comfortable shelters matter because nothing ruins modal-shift dreams faster than a sideways rain shower. Keep the promises. If you sell fifteen-minute headways, run fifteen-minute headways. Make the tech invisible. Contactless capping is magic, so do not spoil it with complicated ticket names. Finally, remember that busways do not kill demand for conventional bus lanes; they simply raise everyone’s expectations.

Steven Cochrane, Oxford Road Corridor Partnership, said:

The Bus Priority Programme has been a key driver in the transformation of the Oxford Road Corridor. It has enabled the creation of dedicated cycle lanes—now supporting well over a million journeys each year—improved safety, and unlocked land for new public realm and green spaces.

These enhancements have helped attract further investment and supported job growth within the Oxford Road Corridor. Improved connectivity supports our ambition to become a world-class knowledge quarter, linking residents across Greater Manchester to a wide range of educational and employment opportunities, world-leading specialist hospitals, and the cultural attractions along the Corridor.

What happens next

The evaluation covers works delivered up to 2017, yet the real-world impacts are still mounting. With franchising set to cover the whole city region by January 2026 the obvious question is where next for guided infrastructure. Council officers are already eyeing the Oldham and Stockport corridors. The politics of road reallocation never get easier but passengers rarely agitate for a return to the old days of sitting in traffic. If anything the Leigh results give leaders cover to be braver.

Tom Harrison (Bus Ambassador)

For the industry the message is straightforward. Get the basics right, shield the bus from congestion, price it sensibly and people will climb on board. Add a half-decent bus shelter and they might even enjoy the view along the way too.