Bus services in Greater Manchester are better under the Bee Network, a national survey has suggested.

The annual Your Bus Journey survey by Transport Focus, one of the largest of its kind in the UK, has identified a huge increase in overall passenger satisfaction across Greater Manchester in the first full year that the whole bus network has been under public control.

Greater Manchester saw the biggest increase in overall passenger satisfaction of any area in England, with improvements in perceptions of value for money, punctuality and on-bus passenger information such as audio announcements and electronic displays.

This includes an increase in satisfaction with value for money among fare-paying passengers to 79%, putting Greater Manchester way ahead of the rest of the country.

It comes as single bus fares are frozen at £2 for another year with daily tickets capped at £5.

The independent bus user survey, which captured the experiences of 1,211 passengers on buses and at stops across Greater Manchester, was carried out throughout 2025.

It started one month after the rollout of the Bee Network was completed to bring all local bus services across Greater Manchester under public control, making it the clearest picture yet of passengers’ experiences of the fully franchised network.

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham said: 

“We have been working hard to deliver a transport network that benefits all residents in all parts of Greater Manchester, with increasingly reliable and affordable bus services that help people get where they need to go.

“While there is still much to do, to record the largest increase in bus customer satisfaction anywhere in the country in our first full year of local control is a fantastic achievement and one of the clearest indications yet that people are really feeling the benefit of the Bee Network.

“Over the coming months we will deliver the most significant and widespread improvements yet to our local bus services as the Bee Network continues to power the city-region’s rapid economic growth.”

(Picture: TfGM/Bee Network)