Greater Manchester is "a decade or so behind" London when it comes to public transport use, the city region's Active Travel Commissioner Dame Sarah Storey has said.

Speaking to the BBC, which first reported her comments, the Paralympic champion said: "People here are driving because they feel they don't have any other choice. It's the work of the Bee Network to shift that, but change does take time."

She said devolved funding meant local leaders could now "make decisions about local places without having to ask permission all the time", and that whether the gap closes within a decade was "down to everybody here in Greater Manchester".

Dame Sarah was speaking at an event in Little Hulton, Salford, marking 50 School Streets across the region. A School Street restricts motor traffic outside a school at drop-off and pick-up times. According to Transport for Greater Manchester's Bee Active site, there are currently 51 School Street schemes covering 56 schools, and the goal is for 70% of primary pupils in Greater Manchester to walk, wheel, scoot or cycle to school by 2030.

Bee Network bosses told the BBC that bus use had risen by about 24% since buses came under local control, that Metrolink was carrying record numbers of passengers, and that local rail services would be brought into the network by 2030.

Sources: BBC News (10 October 2026); Manchester Evening News; TfGM Bee Active: School Streets.

This article was produced with the help of AI tools and checked by an editor against the sources above.