Manchester City Council is currently developing a city centre transport strategy in close co-operation with the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) and would like your views.

The public consultation runs until 26 March 2010 with the full consultation document available HERE.

By 2020 it is expected that an additional 50,000 people will be working in the city centre and to sustain this we need to ensure that the city centre is fully accessible.

Now, the latest Transport Strategy for the city centre aims to support the economic success of the last 15 years by identifying key transport policies to deal effectively with the future needs of a growing city.

One of the key objectives is to ensure that the city's transport system can cope efficiently with the expected increase in employment, through boosting the capacity and efficiency of public transport and improving facilities for cyclists and pedestrians.

Councillor Richard Cowell, Manchester City Council's Executive Member for Environment said: "We have worked closely with a number of organisations in putting together our view of how transport should support growth in the city centre.

"The diversity of the city centre and the number of stakeholders who have an interest in its future means that there will be a range of views on what the right mix of measures is and whether our proposals are the right ones.
"The success of this strategy is essential to the continuing economic success of the city - and therefore it is important that we have your feedback on it."

Councillor Keith Whitmore, Chair of Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority, said: "Manchester city centre is key to the prosperity and economic growth of Greater Manchester; but to secure its continuing success we need to ensure that it is properly served by its transport system.

"This consultation allows for everyone - businesses, commuters, residents and other interested parties - to examine the proposed transport strategy and to have their say."

You can make your comments on the strategy to: transport.consult@manchester.gov.uk or you can write to Transport Strategy Consultation, Transport Policy Unit, Manchester City Council, Room 308, Town Hall, Manchester M60 2 LA.