The Greater Manchester Local Transport Plan is a statutory document prepared under the Transport Act 2000. It is a 5-year strategy for the management, maintenance, development and monitoring of the County's transport system and is put together by the ten City and Metropolitan Borough Councils and Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority (GMPTA) with the input of local stakeholders. It provides a basis for bids to Central Government for the resources needed to implement the strategy.
The First Local Transport Plan (LTP) covered the period up to 2006. Progress on this plan has previously been reported each July in an Annual Progress Report, and a Delivery Report covering all 5 years was produced in July 2006.
The Second Local Transport Plan (LTP) which was submitted in March 2006, covers the period up to 2011. Progress on the Plan will be extensively monitored, and will be reported biennially.
Each of the ten constituent Councils in Greater Manchester is a transportation planning authority, and in addition, the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority, comprising representatives of these authorities, is the public transport planning body.
In the Greater Manchester conurbation, however, there is such a complex pattern of interlinked movements that the development of the transport system must be addressed on a whole area basis. Major improvements to Greater Manchester's public transport system, and the management of the highway network which links the ten Council areas could not be achieved properly without an overall plan. Government guidance therefore requires that in such cases, a joint plan should be prepared. The eleven authorities have consequently worked together to produce, implement and monitor a single Greater Manchester LTP, continuing the spirit of co-operation on packages of improvements over the last 15 years.
