2 March 2026 – for launch on 3 March 2026

Greater Manchester’s leaders are being urged to come up with a better plan for tackling the city region’s transport problems, so that people can make day-to-day journeys more easily without feeling the car is their only option.

The public are being invited to back local campaign groups in pressing Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) for stronger action to increase the use of sustainable transport options such as walking, cycling and public transport, so that fewer journeys need to be made by cars, vans or lorries[1].

The ‘Better Plan for GM’ campaign – www.abetterplanforGM.co.uk – highlights the economic, health, environmental and quality of life benefits of tackling Greater Manchester’s congestion, pollution, road danger and lack of transport choices, particularly for children and other non-drivers[2]. It is being run jointly by Manchester Friends of the Earth, the Clean Cities Campaign, Walk Ride GM and the Friends of Carrington Moss, and is coordinated by the Low Traffic Future alliance.

The campaign comes as TfGM is consulting on a new Local Transport Plan (LTP). Although the campaigners welcome the ‘Vision’ set out in the Plan, they feel its actual targets and proposals fall well short of its ambitions for a safe, reliable, affordable and well-integrated transport system that meets the needs of a thriving, healthy, inclusive and environmentally sustainable city region.

They highlight TfGM’s failure to publish an assessment of the LTP’s carbon impacts, contrary to Government guidance[3]. The public therefore cannot provide informed feedback on whether the LTP’s “Right Mix” target – namely to increase walking, cycling and public transport from 40% to 50% of trips by 2040 – is sufficient to meet Greater Manchester’s aim to be carbon neutral by 2038. In response to a Freedom of Information request from Manchester Friends of the Earth, TfGM has belatedly confirmed that it has not carried out such an assessment.

The campaign is being launched at the GM Green Summit, which takes place on Tuesday 3 March at the Coop Live arena. Mayor Andy Burnham will be giving a keynote speech.

Photo opportunity – Tuesday 3 March, 9.30am, outside GM Green Summit, at the Coop Live Arena (entrance C, north west corner of the Arena)

Campaigners from the participating campaign groups will display a banner saying “Demand a Better Plan!”. They will also be leafleting people arriving for the summit to encourage them to take part in the online campaign, and will be available for interview.

(….cont’d)

Pete Abel from Manchester Friends of the Earth said:

“As transport is now the single largest sector for climate emissions, the Government expects new Local Transport Plans to set out how they will deliver ambitious, quantifiable carbon reductions. Sadly, Greater Manchester’s Transport Plan lacks this important information. 

“This failure potentially puts Greater Manchester’s funding from central government at risk. It also prevents our political leaders and the public from understanding whether the draft Transport Plan will enable Greater Manchester to meet its 2038 Carbon Neutral targets. 

“We need a better Plan.” 

Will York from Walk Ride GM said: 

“Whilst we welcome the aim to increase the proportion of trips made by sustainable travel, we feel the target for this is too low, amounting to only an 8% reduction in motor traffic. This will not free up enough space to enable buses and trams to run efficiently. Nor will it make walking, wheeling and cycling safe and attractive options.

“We are also deeply concerned that, 9 years after the Bee Network launched, our Transport Plan offers no Strategic Cycling Network plan, and no plan to develop one in the next 14 years. It took just 5 years to completely transform the city of Paris for walking and cycling. Why is Greater Manchester suggesting a timescale of 33 years to “work towards” the same goal?”

Marj Powner from the Friends of Carrington Moss said:

“Greater Manchester continues to promote unsustainable road schemes, including the Carrington Relief Road, the eastern part of which will cause significant environmental and ecological harm and will deliberately create Grey Belt out of the existing Green Belt, putting residents at risk of even more unsustainable development. 

“Instead of supporting sustainable transport, it is set to worsen the dominance of car and HGV traffic. It does not comply with numerous local, regional or national policies, and will cause  serious air, noise, light, vibration, dust and water pollution, to say nothing of increased carbon emissions.  It is not supported by local communities either!”

Roger Geffen from Low Traffic Future said: 

“Greater Manchester’s Local Transport Plan contains many of the right words. Yet it fails to support these with clear plans to make walking, wheeling, cycling and public transport so safe and easy to use, that people no longer feel they need to use their cars.

Worse still, it includes several damaging road schemes, that are not only a waste of money (as they won’t be needed if the Plan succeeds in reducing motor traffic), but which threaten to undermine the Plan’s stated vision. That’s why we are supporting local campaign groups’ call for a better Plan that will genuinely reduce the dominance of motor traffic on Greater Manchester’s roads and streets.”

– ENDS –

(Notes to editors overleaf…)

Notes to editors

  1. In outline, the campaign groups are calling on TfGM to make stronger commitments to:
  • Better local transport services: including buses, trains and trams that run more efficiently, connect more places and cost less, with better-coordinated timetables and ticketing.
  • Well-maintained, people-friendly streets, where everyone – young, old and disabled people alike – can get around safely and easily under their own steam, particularly by walking, wheeling and cycling.
  • Redirect funding from damaging road schemes that would destroy Greater Manchester’s environment – particularly its green belt – towards alternative solutions that would reverse the growth of motor-traffic, rather than worsening it.
  • Low traffic homes: new homes and other developments should be concentrated close to key destinations (e.g. schools, shops, transport hubs), with high-quality walking, wheeling and cycling networks and public transport prioritised over motor vehicle access.
  • Clear goals and monitoring: the LTP should include ambitious targets (a) to increase the use of clean and healthy travel options, in line with GM’s wider carbon neutral, clean air and other objectives; and (b) for new developments to have easy sustainable transport access to key destinations, so as to reduce dependence on cars, vans and lorries.

There will be a second phase of the campaign, which will involve pressing the political parties standing in this May’s council elections to make similar commitments.

  1. The campaign groups highlight the multi-billion pound costs of the UK’s over-reliance of private motorised transport:
  1. Transport for Greater Manchester is consulting on its Local Transport Plan (LTP). However the draft LTP fails to provide an assessment of the Plan’s carbon impacts (see paragraph 8.1 of the full strategy), contrary to the Government’s Quantifiable Carbon Guidance for LTPs. Manchester Friends of the Earth submitted a Freedom of Information request for this assessment in December, but have only just received confirmation (long after the deadline for a FoI response) that no such assessment has been carried out. This not only prevents the public from providing informed comment on whether the LTP’s ‘Right Mix’ target (to increase walking, cycling and public transport from 40% to 50% of trips by 2040 – see LTP pp57-59) is consistent with Greater Manchester’s aim to be carbon neutral by 2038.