Proposed changes over the next couple of years
This survey is now closed, thank you for your feedback, we will share the results when they have been analysed.
Each way of getting into and around the city centre can play a part in making our vision for Manchester happen.
We have developed a framework with TFGM, Salford City Council and GMCA outlining our plans which you can download here.
We've also put together a list the areas we are planning to improve:
Buses
We want more people coming in by bus — especially from 10km-and-more away. So we’ll make things better for bus users by:
- providing more efficient and reliable bus services into and through the city centre.
- reducing other traffic in the city centre — with stretches for buses, bikes and cabs only.
We want more bus routes that cross the city rather than terminate — terminals clog the centre and idling buses pollute the streets. We want less of a bus terminal in Piccadilly Gardens and we want to stop buses looping around Oldham Street. We want to develop this into a lovelier, safer public space for people to enjoy.
We want to reform how buses are regulated into a London-style joined-up system so we can link up timetables and tickets with other types of transport and get cleaner, less polluting buses on the road.
Metrolink
We want more trams, routes and people using them. That’s been happening in recent years and we want to expand the busiest routes to meet demand.
Longer term we want to integrate trams with the rail network and are looking to test tram-train technology in Greater Manchester so trams can run on train lines.
Eventually, if the network expands beyond the space available at street level, we’d consider a tunnel under the city centre.
Rail
We’re expecting big growth in city centre jobs in coming years and want to develop and improve services for commuters coming in, especially from distances over 10km.
Longer term we want to see the high-speed rail service HS2 linking us to Leeds, Birmingham and London, and we support the Northern Powerhouse Rail ‘whole network’ approach which will bring more capacity for passengers and freight with better journey times and links across the North.
We will transform Manchester Piccadilly station into a world-class interchange and gateway to our city.
Streets
We want walking to become the main way of getting about the city centre, and want to invest to make it happen.
We want to expand zones where pedestrians come first, improving walking routes, and making it safe and easy to cross streets.
We want to transform some of Manchester’s most iconic streets to make them as pedestrian-friendly and attractive like St Peter’s Square is now, and Albert Square is becoming.
We want the pedestrianisation along Deansgate to be permanent and to use this as a model to develop city centre streets in the future.
Cycling
We want to make cycling in the city centre better for the growing numbers travelling by bike. We want the cycle network to be better connected and more attractive for new cyclists.
We will join up ‘the triangle’ of city centre routes around Deansgate, Whitworth Street West and the Northern Quarter cycle route. Future plans support a wider range of safe cycleways into the city.
Cars, goods vehicles
We don’t want petrol-driven vehicles in the city centre. We’ll discourage them, removing car parks as part of that.
If cars and goods vehicles must come, we’ll push for cleaner, lower polluting vehicles, like electric or hybrid, helping to keep Greater Manchester’s air clean and support our legal responsibility to work towards a net-zero carbon future.
Routes
We want to eliminate through traffic from the city centre by developing loops into and out of the city from the Manchester Salford Inner Relief Route — sections of Trinity Way, Mancunian Way and Great Ancoats Street.
We want different kinds of traffic to mix less. So in the future, we want ‘priority corridors’ for specific kinds of vehicles like bikes, buses, goods and deliveries.
New ideas
We will support new technology that helps with our aims and we will continue testing new ideas. This could include reviewing e-scooters, electric cargo bikes, managing parking and goods deliveries.
We will focus on cleaner air for the city centre, on supporting our drive towards a net-zero carbon city centre environment, and the safety and security of city centre users.