Transport Innovation Fund.
16 Oct 2008
Through its role as a member of the City South Partnership, The University of Manchester has made clear its support for the Greater Manchester bid for major funding from the national Transport Innovation Fund (TIF).
There are two reasons why the University has taken this position. First, only through a major investment in transport infrastructure will it be possible to transform the University precinct along Oxford Road, through which arterial traffic now flows, into an amenable campus consistent with our aspiration to be a world class university.
Secondly, congestion is a problem not only within the Oxford Road precinct, but for travel into inner Manchester. The current public transport system in Manchester is inadequate for a City with global aspirations. From the University's perspective, public transport links from our campus are inadequate, for example:
- it is not possible to travel without at least one change from the University campus to areas such as Bury, Bolton or Wigan;
- there are only very limited direct bus services from the University to Piccadilly Station and the airport;
- the large number of unregulated buses on Oxford Road are of mixed quality with the volume of bus traffic creating noise and air pollution.
The Department for Transport has approved proposals from the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive and the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities under the Transport Innovation Fund (TIF) for a major investment in public transport, funded by a combination of Government Grant and income from a weekday peak-time only congestion charge.
Further details of the TIF proposals can be found at:
Members of staff may have made their own views known about the TIF proposals as part of the public consultation which ended on 10 October 2008. All residents of Greater Manchester will have an opportunity to participate in the public vote on the TIF package, closing on 11 December.