COMMENT


In their moves to improve air quality in their city regions, the mayors of Greater Manchester and West Midlands have revealed the starkly different ways that they regard the bus. To Andy Burnham, it is part of the Greater Manchester problem. To Andy Street, it could be a component of the solution for the West Midlands. Burnham wants to slap a £100 daily penalty on every non-compliant bus (and lorry) from 2021 and has no intention of ever penalising the owners of non-compliant cars. Street is waiving departure charges at the West Midlands Combined Authority’s bus stations as an incentive for operators to spend the sums saved on upgrading their fleets to Euro6 standard by April 2021.