Manchester bus network review

[:D]

Living in Manchester at moment, I can see big differences in the bus networks between Manchester and Birmingham.

There are 3 main bus operators, starting from largest - Stagecoach mainly operates in south & east Manchester but also operates in elsewhere in Manchester at lesser extent. Arriva operates some bits of the west. First mostly operates the north. They all overlap at various areas/roads. There are a lot more smaller bus operators.

In theory, it should mean the bus network in Manchester is better due to more competition right? Unfortunately not.

My complaints about the bus network in Manchester is that the ticketing and real time bus info, etc etc is not very integrated. TFGM has less visible input as to how bus works in Manchester in comparison to TFWM with Birmingham.

Bus timetables? What's that? Buses around here are late more often than not.

Bus network in Manchester tend to focus more on coverage than frequency - resulting in loads of bus services with 30 minute or hourly bus frequency each. I personally like it even though it can be difficult to remember all these bus services, it can brighten my day up if I just happen to catch one of these irregular bus services that gets me 5 minutes closer to wherever I'm going to instead of having to use main bus route and walk from a main road. There are a lot more peak-time only bus services.

It's also nice to take a slower but direct bus service - the one I currently take for my commute is 15 minutes or so slower than other route with a change yet I still take the direct one.

No inner/outer circle bus services. They do have a lot more bus services that don't go into city though, I don't find them useful but seeing it's still alive, I'm sure others find them useful. They're at worse frequency than inner/outer circle bus services though.

I noticed that a lot more Mancunians take bus - there are a lot of people who have a car but still take a bus for whatever their reason is. Also, for example, a bus service that comes every 10 minutes, is enough to fill a bus while driving through a quiet suburb in Manchester. This isn't the case in Birmingham.

Lastly, night bus service in Manchester DOES NOT mean 24 hour bus service. Unfortunately I had to learn that lesson.

Honestly, I'm surprised how well NXWM runs their bus network in Birmingham despite having no main competitor.