Greater Manchester is about the size of London with a population of roughly 3 million people. Vernon Everitt, Transport Commissioner for Greater Manchester, wants to help his region have safe, convenient, affordable, and green public transport options. Transport for Greater Manchester already has one of the largest tram networks in Europe and now they are in the process of following the Transport for London model of central oversight over buses under a franchise model. All with the goal of getting more people out of cars and use buses, scooters, bikes, and walking to get around the region.

Join Vernon and Paul as they talk about the franchise model, how safety is crucial to ridership, Vernon's custom guitar, and the future of green transport in Manchester. This recent article in Intelligent Transport talks about the new electric buses coming to the Bee Network and all of TfGM's electrification plans.

Next week on Transit Unplugged we head to North Carolina as Paul chats with Charles Lattuca of GoTriangle.

And this Friday a new episode of Transit Unplugged TV drops coming from Denver! Make sure you subscribe so you know the moment it's live.

If you have a question about the show, email us at [email protected].