The CT difference

A unique combination of four key attributes makes CT different from other transport providers.

Not-for-profit

CT is about people, not profits.

Surpluses may be made from activities such as contracted transport services, operated through wholly owned trading subsidiaries.

However, these surpluses are never paid to private shareholders (because CTs and their subsidiaries don’t have them). Instead, they are ploughed straight back into subsidising services for the most excluded, helping to bring them within the means of those who can least afford them.

Local and accountable

The management committees that run CT are elected by and from local people.

They therefore have their finger on the pulse of the needs of local people and community groups

Independent

CTs don’t have shareholders; they are community-owned and managed.

CTs are social enterprise or registered charities - independent of private companies or public authorities

Professional

Community transport works to the same exacting operational standards as bus (PSV) operators, which are regulated and inspected by the Vehicle Inspectorate.

Today, CT in Greater Manchester remains as true to the core ethos of CT as it was in the beginning.

There is a close match between the sector’s aims, and those reflected in the policies of Central Government, Local Government and strategic Transport Authorities. In Greater Manchester, the CT sector works very closely with Transport for Greater Manchester