CfFPT OPEN FORUM REPORT

WIGAN COUNCILLOR CALLS FOR NEW RAIL LINK FOR
LEIGH, TYLDESLEY & MOSLEY COMMON
MP CALLS FOR "BETTER QUALITY CONTRACTS"
RESPECT YOUTH CALL FOR FREE PUBLIC TRANSPORT
FOR ALL UNDER 18s NOW!

Bill Harrop from the Transport Pool said Greater Manchester needed much better orbital public transport routes and argued that businesses should pick up the tab for the cost of public transport, which he said should be publicly owned and run as a genuine public service.

He said that in the recent congestion charge debate the figure quoted as the annual cost of congestion to British businesses was between £10 and £40bn per annum. If this is so, then "surely businesses as the main benefactors of a reduction in congestion, should be the main ones to pay for it?" 

He also said that all the new railway stations proposed in the TIF bid should be given the immediate go ahead.

Although the aim of the open forum was not to try and win over people to the idea of an immediate free fares policy as such, but rather to discuss what next for public transport in Greater Manchester in general, a great many contributors to the discussion did say that they fully supported the aims of the CfFPT, not least 14 year old Pascal Fard, a Manchester Grammar School pupil and member of the recently formed Manchester Respect Youth group who called for its immediate introduction for all young people under 18. He said: 

"I believe I also speak on behalf of all youth under the age of 18.

"We, the youth, urge everyone to support the call for free public transport in the Greater Manchester area. We believe .... the advantages significantly outweigh any possible disadvantages:

"Firstly, for decades the government has been trying, with great difficulty, to address this unhealthy 'couch potato' problem particularly amongst young people, in order to ease the pressure on the NHS. The introduction of free public transport for all youth under the age of 18 would help tremendously, as this would give them the incentive to get up and out, travelling to meet friends and getting active.

"As we all know, young people like myself now have a bigger temptation to remain at home in front of the TV playing addictive games because we are now able to do so on-line, and can interact with friends on-line, and hence not to venture out.

"Further, the cost of travelling deters young people from getting out and about. Free public transport will encourage these young people to venture out to meet friends and visit parks and each other, etc ... hence addressing the 'couch potato' problem.

"Secondly, pollution and global warming are having and will continue to have a great impact on us in many ways, like extreme weather changes, etc, and hence the even more urgent need to cut down on our CO₂ emissions. Free public transport for young people would mean less cars on the road as drivers will have the incentive to ditch their cars for a free ride, and parents will also have the incentive not to drive their children about.

"Thirdly, free public transport will also help resolve the anti-social behaviour of youths 'hanging around' in intimidating groups in their neighbourhoods as they sometimes either have no money or just sufficient to buy refreshments. They will be encouraged to travel out to meet others and go to parks and the like.

"Fourthly, free public transport means more buses on the road and hence more jobs for drivers and conductors. It also helps improve the public transport system because the bus companies would then be able to afford to improve both the quality and quantity of the public transport. This can in turn help the tourism industry, as we all know that a good and reliable public transport system is something tourists would welcome anywhere and would be encouraged to return for.

"This would also bring in more business as families would be encouraged to go out to various places such as city centres and leisure centres and not be put off by the additional cost of the transport for their children.

Peter Franzen, leader of the Community Action Party (CAP) and former GMPTA member strongly endorsed Pascal's contribution and many of the suggestions others had put forward in the discussion. He said the CAP unequivocally supported all public transport being taken back into public ownership and all public transport being provided "free at the point of use" and that he had fought single-handedly for this policy during his time on the GMPTA. 

He said he was delighted to see so many others now supporting this policy. He said the cost should be paid for via a progressive system of general taxation which would make the wealthiest pay the most and those with the lowest incomes pay nothing at all.

Atherton Independent Councillor Norman Bradbury (a recent defector from the Labour Party in Wigan) said he had been involved in public transport issues for many years and had recently proposed the Council investigate the building of a heavy rail link for Leigh (connecting with the Manchester-Liverpool line at Kenyon, and the Wigan-Manchester line near Walkden) with new rail stations in Leigh, Tyldesley, and Mosley Common (which might also be an ideal site for a major park-and-ride site given its close proximity to the East Lancs Road) as an alternative to the poorly supported guided busway scheme along some of the route, which was previously championed by local Labour MP Andy Burnham and Wigan Labour Council leader Lord Peter Smith as part of the TIF bid.

Not wishing to be seen to be opposing this proposal which would create thousands of new jobs and greatly enhance the area's public transport links via an open vote on the proposal, the majority Labour Group on the Council have instead referred it to the Council's Cabinet from which, in his opinion, it is likely it will never re-emerge.

Stephen Hall a Respect Party member, and CfFPT campaigner, also from Atherton, said he endorsed Cllr Bradbury's proposals and said he should work to stop the proposal being buried by Labour. He also said Golborne rail station should be re-opened, which is a proposal also supported by most locals in that area.

Most of all however he addressed the issue, raised by another contributor and by Graham Stringer, of getting the general public to take an interest in the issue of public transport, let alone to get them to support what the CfFPT is fighting for, now that the congestion charge debate is beginning to fade in the minds of most.

"It won't be easy of course', he said, ".... but the fact that what we stand for is a multi-faceted policy does make our job easier than it might otherwise be." he said.

"First of all, what we are fighting for helps to tackle CO₂ emissions reduction commitments and the issue of climate change, something which the likes even of Prince Charles says we now only have a hundred months to sort out, and which the Stern Report says will cost up to six times more to put right then, than it might otherwise do now. 

"By providing people with a free, practical and reliable alternative to the motor car we are helping to seriously address this issue, as well as helping to reduce road congestion, the number of road deaths and injuries, respiratory illnesses associated with traffic exhaust, and the growing annual cost of road maintenance, etc.

"Secondly, what we are fighting for will also help create and/or protect thousands of jobs building and maintaining the new buses, trams and trains that we will need, and create thousands more for new bus, tram, train drivers and guards at a time when unemployment is being projected to rise to 3 million. 

"It is surely better to invest public money in this way than to watch millions of people go without work, a situation which in itself will cost countless £billions in lost tax and national insurance revenues, and in paying out JSA and other benefits. 

"What we are proposing therefore is very much a reflationary measure from an economic point of view as against simply continuing 'business as usual' which sees fat profits for the privately owned public transport operators maintained at public expense on the one hand, and higher bus, tram and train fares and growing unemployment acquiesced in on the other.

"Thirdly, what we are fighting for helps to redistribute the wealth generated in our society by effectively putting thousands of pounds of annual transport costs back into millions of ordinary people's pockets, money they could then spend on other things, such as food, heating, new clothes, shoes, or even a holiday. 

"This would be a much better economic stimulus than the recent VAT cut which did very little. Indeed the cost of that, along with savings from reduced road congestion and road deaths and injuries, etc, might actually equate closely with the total cost of what we proposing.

"Either way it would surely be money much better spent, helping to finance a more reliable, integrated and publicly owned public transport service, than in propping up the value of the shares held by private shareholders in the banks recently part-nationalised by the Government, re-equiping our nuclear arsenal and/or pursuing an endless policy of war overseas. 

"At the end of the day it is simply a question of Government priority, and we need to convince people of that. The Government could find £billions almost at the drop of a hat to bail out the banks, so why can't they find a much lesser amount to introduce what we are proposing, a measure which would be so hugely beneficial in all the ways I've described, for the overwhelming majority of the population.

"Graham Stringer MP, who arrived late to the forum, talked about a cheaper fares approach and fighting for improvements to the existing set up, via "better quality contracts" saying that the call free public transport wasn't really a practical proposition, especially as the public were now less sensitised about the issue of public transport than they were during the TIF Proposals/Congestion Charge debate, and that the Government wouldn't go with the idea because of the potentially huge cost of it.

Graham Stringer's contribution however was generally at odds with most of what was said by others, but was not unconstructive, and certainly illuminating in parts. 

Kate Richardson from Manchester Trades Council talked about the need for people to think outside of the box in the current economic climate and about the need for public investment in green technologies, renewable energy production, and in a free and expanded public transport service, as a means of helping to tackle global warming and counteracting job losses in the manufacturing sector and across the economy generally. She also argued very strongly in favour of public ownership of the buses, the trams and rail companies.