The Mancunian Way: Not on the buses
15.02.2023 - 23:55
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
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Hello,
Previous spats with Nicola Sturgeon did not stop Andy Burnham from wishing her well after she announced her resignation today.
The Greater Manchester mayor was embroiled in a row with the Scottish government over travel rules during the pandemic. But he was quick to offer praise about the First Minister.
He tweeted: “I got to know Nicola Sturgeon when we worked together as Ministers on swine flu in 2009. She impressed me then and has gone on to become [one] of the few truly big political figures of our time. I wish her well in what comes next.”
In today’s Mancunian Way we’ll be discussing a Labour row which has led to nine local politicians quitting their roles. We’ll also be looking at Deansgate’s controversial new ‘bus gate’ and the man bringing a taste of the West Bank to Stalybridge. Let’s begin.
Londoners are four times as likely to catch the bus as people from Greater Manchester.
That’s according to new figures analysed by data journalist David Dubas-Fisher.
A total of 121 million journeys were made by bus across the Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority area last year.
That works out as 42.2 journeys for every local resident - up from 24.1 in 2020/21, but down from 62.7 in 2019/20 before the pandemic.
Despite the recent uplift, the overall trend over the last decade is one of decline - as there were an average of 76.7 journeys per person in 2011/12.
Across England, an average of 50.2 journeys were made per person last year - a fall of 43 per cent compared to