Bus Regulation: The Musical & the fight for Greater Manchester’s buses

Join us for this special artist’s talk, screening & discussion to celebrate the launch of phase one of the Bee Network – Greater Manchester’s new integrated public transport network (to be rolled out across the region from 24 September 2023 to 5 January 2025).

Artist & campaigner Ellie Harrison will look back at Bus Regulation: The Musical – her 2019 commission for Manchester Art Gallery – and the role it played in the Better Buses for Greater Manchester campaign, whose success paved the way for The Bee Network.

The event will feature a screening of the short film of the Musical, telling the history of Greater Manchester’s buses, as well the 2019 documentary by the Association of British Commuters, highlighting the local campaign within the context of UK transport policy.

This will be followed by a Q&A and panel discussion with Harrison and other key players involved in the campaign, who will discuss the significance of The Bee Network and the precedent it now sets for other UK city regions to re-regulate their buses.

Confirmed panellists: Caroline Blase (journalist & activist with Better Buses for Greater Manchester) and Jonathan Bray (former Director of the Urban Transport Group).

This event at Manchester Art Gallery is the final part of a day-long series of actions coordinated by the We Own It campaign celebrating the beginning of the end of bus deregulation in Greater Manchester and beyond:

• 12pm-12.30pm: Photo Stunt, Bolton Interchange
• 12.30pm-2pm: Ride the No. 8 from Bolton to Manchester (a newly publicly controlled bus with an increased frequency)
• 2pm-3pm: Rally & Speeches, Greater Manchester Mayor’s Offices.
• 3pm-4:30pm: “Bus Regulation: The Musical” talk, screening & discussion, Manchester Art Gallery