Days before the Bee Network launches contactless “tap-and-go” on buses, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has announced that the 50 millionth such journey has been made on its trams.
The tap-on tap-off method was introduced on the trams in 2019 and from, Sunday (23 March), passengers will be able to use that method to pay for journeys on buses.
The 50-million milestone was reached on 20 March with a journey from Navigation Road to Cornbook which started at 7.07am.
Following the recent completion of reregulation in Manchester, TfGM hopes introducing the payment system to buses will further enable seamless travel on public transport.
The technology means passengers using it will have fares capped at new daily and weekly rates across bus and tram which, as for London, vary according to zone.
Users of Bee Network buses who tap on when embarking will be entitled to multiple journeys within 60 minutes. Caps for the day and week are £5 and £20 respectively. Passengers will not need to tap off.
Across both modes, the caps start from £6 (daily) and £24.80 (weekly) for the bus and one tram zone.
TfGM says that, in the six years of operation on the Metrolink tram network, tap-and-go has been the most popular way for people to pay. The 16.5 million journeys made via the method in 2024 represented a 20% increase on the year before.
Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, says: “The launch of contactless tap-and-go on Metrolink in 2019 was the foundation on which we’ve built the Bee Network.
“It’s simple and convenient and, as the figures show, the most popular way for people to pay for their travel – and this major milestone couldn’t be timelier.
“In just a few days we will realise our ambition of a truly integrated London-style transport network that puts us on an equal footing with other global cities like London, New York and Madrid.”
