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| Location | Greater Manchester |
|---|---|
| Technology | |
| Manager | Transport for Greater Manchester |
| Website | getmethere.co.uk |
get me there is an electronic ticketing scheme under development by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) for use on public transport services in Greater Manchester, England. [1] It was first announced and confirmed as an integrated travel card, comparable to London's Oyster card, for Greater Manchester in June 2012, [2] following a bid from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. [3]
Get me there is based upon trials of the Bolton Citizen Card smartcard that was issued to residents of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in 2007 as a pilot. [4] It is valid on travel modes across Greater Manchester including buses, Metrolink and most National Rail services within the jurisdiction of TfGM. [5]
People in Greater Manchester with existing concessionary travel passes were invited to test the scheme. Now, all concessionary pass holders are asked to start touching in and out when traveling using Metrolink. Season ticket holders were the first to be offered their own 'my get me there' card, and now all others can sign up for a card. [6] Customers can use contactless credit/debit card with readers for simple journeys on Get Me There. However, they will not be able to store season tickets or take advantage of automatic cheapest fare functionality available to smart card users. [7]
The name get me there was revealed on 17 June 2013, with the scheme's dedicated travel card named my get me there. [1]
GMT was planned to be introduced on Metrolink services in 2014, Greater Manchester bus services in 2015, and was hoped to be introduced on National Rail services across Greater Manchester in 2017, when the new Northern rail franchise was confirmed. [8] However, the scheme's introduction on Metrolink stalled after the first stage, as it became clear that Atos, who were contracted to deliver and operate the scheme, would not be able to manage the rollout on to trams. The contract was cancelled in August 2015, with significant contractual payments made to TfGM. [9] [10] Plans for introducing mobile phone-based ticketing on trams before the end of the year were announced in September 2015 along with continuing rollout of the GMT card on buses via System One, the Northern and TransPennine Express rail franchises remain contractually obliged to roll out smart card use on trains as part of their franchise requirements and the northern PTEs as Rail North are doing preparatory work on a region wide smartcard. [11] In 2023, get me there officially rebranded to Bee Network, offering the same services under a new name with a new website interface. [12]
The GMT system has been criticised in the press as confusing and less flexible than London's Oyster card. [13] Particular points of criticism include the requirement to buy Metrolink tickets for specific times, a long delay between purchasing a ticket online and the ticket becoming usable, and a lack of clarity regarding the distinction between the smartcard and the accompanying app, which are two independent systems.
Manchester Metrolink is a tram/light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. The network has 99 stops along 64 miles (103 km) of standard-gauge route, making it the most extensive light rail system in the United Kingdom. Over the 2022/23 financial year 36 million passenger journeys were made on the system.
The Oyster card is a payment method for public transport in London, England, United Kingdom. A standard Oyster card is a blue credit-card-sized stored-value contactless smart card. It is promoted by Transport for London (TfL) and can be used on travel modes across London including London Buses, London Underground, the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), London Overground, Tramlink, some river boat services, and most National Rail services within the London fare zones. Since its introduction in June 2003, more than 86 million cards have been used.
The Travelcard is an inter-modal travel ticket for unlimited use on the London Underground, London Overground, Elizabeth line, Docklands Light Railway, London Trams, London Buses and National Rail services in the Greater London area. Travelcards can be purchased for a period of time varying from one day to a year, from Transport for London, National Rail and their agents. Depending on where it is purchased, and the length of validity, a Travelcard is either printed on a paper ticket with a magnetic stripe or encoded onto an Oyster card, Transport for London's contactless electronic smart card, or an ITSO smartcard issued by a National Rail train operating company. The cost of a Travelcard is determined by the area it covers and, for this purpose, London is divided into a number of fare zones. The Travelcard season ticket for unlimited travel on London Buses and the London Underground was launched on 22 May 1983 by London Transport. One Day Travelcards and validity on other transport modes were added from 1984 onwards. The introduction of the Travelcard caused an increase in patronage and reduced the number of tickets that needed to be purchased by passengers.
Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) is the public body responsible for co-ordinating transport services in the West Midlands metropolitan county in England. It is an executive body of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), with bus franchising and highway management powers similar to Transport for London. TfWM's policies and strategy are set by the Transport Delivery Committee of the WMCA.
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is a local government body responsible for co-ordinating transport services throughout Greater Manchester in North West England. It is an executive arm of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), the city region's administrative authority. The strategies and policies of Transport for Greater Manchester are set by the GMCA and its Greater Manchester Transport Committee (GMTC). The committee is made up of 33 councillors appointed from the ten Greater Manchester boroughs, as well as the Mayor of Greater Manchester.
Freedom Pass is a concessionary travel scheme, which began in 1973, to provide free travel to residents of Greater London, England, for people with a disability or over the progressively increasing state pension age. The scheme is funded by local authorities and coordinated by London Councils. Originally the pass was a paper ticket, but since 2004 it has been encoded on to a contactless smartcard compatible with Oyster card readers.
Manchester Airport station is a railway, tram, bus and coach station at Manchester Airport, England which opened at the same time as the second air terminal in 1993. The station is 9+3⁄4 miles (15.7 km) south of Manchester Piccadilly, at the end of a short branch from the Styal line via a triangular junction between Heald Green and Styal stations. Manchester Metrolink tram services were extended to the airport in 2014 and operate to Manchester Victoria.
ITSO Ltd is a non-profit membership organisation assisting standardisation of public transport ticketing in the United Kingdom.
Free bus is a zero-fare bus system that operates in Greater Manchester. The system was first introduced in Manchester city centre in 2002, with three routes linking the city's major thoroughfares and stations with its main commercial, financial and cultural districts.
The transport infrastructure of Greater Manchester is built up of numerous transport modes and forms an integral part of the structure of Greater Manchester and North West England – the most populated region outside of South East England which had approximately 301 million annual passenger journeys using either buses, planes, trains or trams in 2014. Its position as a national city of commerce, education and cultural importance means the city has one of the largest and most thorough transport infrastructures which is heavily relied upon by its 2.8 million inhabitants in the Greater Manchester conurbation and further afield in the North West region. Public transport comes under the jurisdiction of Transport for Greater Manchester.
A transit pass or travel card, often referred to as a bus pass or train pass etc., is a ticket that allows a passenger of the service to take either a certain number of pre-purchased trips or unlimited trips within a fixed period of time.
The Greater Manchester Transport Innovation Fund was a failed bid by the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority (GMPTA) and Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) to secure £1.5 billion from the Transport Innovation Fund (TIF), a major public transport funding mechanism in England, for the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester. There would have been an additional £1.2 billion borrowed and paid back through a mixture of public transport revenues and weekday, peak-time only Greater Manchester congestion charge.
Robinswood Road is a tram stop for Phase 3b of the Manchester Metrolink. It opened on 3 November 2014. and is on the Airport Line on Simonsway at the junction of Brownley Road and Ruddpark Road, with Manchester Airport-bound services stopping to the left of the junction and Manchester-bound services stopping to the right. For a brief period during construction, it appeared the stop would simply be named "Robinswood". Its up and down platforms are staggered and not opposite each other.
The history of Manchester Metrolink begins with its conception as Greater Manchester's light rail system in 1982 by the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive, and spans its inauguration in 1992 and the successive phases of expansion.
Exchange Square is a tram stop on the Manchester Metrolink's Second City Crossing line, and opened on 6 December 2015 as part of Phase 2CC of the network's expansion. It is located by the main entrance to the Manchester Arndale shopping centre, and is also close to the Printworks.
Contactless smartcards are being progressively introduced as an alternative option to paper ticketing on the National Rail system of Great Britain. Tickets for use on National Rail services can be loaded onto any ITSO card.
The Manchester station group is a station group of four railway stations in Manchester city centre, England; this consists of Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Oxford Road, Manchester Victoria and Deansgate. The station group is printed on national railway tickets as MANCHESTER STNS. For passengers travelling from one of the 91 National Rail stations in Greater Manchester, the four stations are printed as MANCHESTER CTLZ which additionally permits the use of Metrolink tram services in Zone 1.
This timeline lists significant events in the history of Greater Manchester's light rail network called the Manchester Metrolink.
Zone 1 of the Manchester Metrolink light rail network is the heart of the system where all of the other lines converge. Its boundaries approximately mirror the city's Inner Ring Road. Within Zone 1, first opened in 1992 as the City Zone, trams largely run along semi-pedestrianised streets rather than on their own separate alignment.
The Bee Network is an integrated transport network for Greater Manchester, comprising bus, tram, cycling and walking routes. Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is expected to have the network operational by 2025, with commuter rail services expected to be joining the network in 2028. Initially revealed in 2018, the project is aiming to create a London-style transport system, to encourage more people to take public transport instead of cars.
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