Leader of Oldham Liberal Democrats councillor Howard Sykes MBE has said he is “delighted” that the move to allow dogs onto Greater Manchester’s trams could be made permanent as early as this Friday (13th January).
The trial period for ‘none-assistance dogs’ ended in October but as continued until Greater Manchester’s Transport could reach a final decision. The committee is due to meet on Friday and is expected to vote in favour of permanently allowing dogs on trams after an overwhelmingly supportive response to a public survey on this issue.
Councillor Sykes – who is a long-standing advocate of the policy – said, “I’m delighted that the trial period has been such a success and that the feedback from passengers has been overwhelmingly positive.”
“This will be a great step towards encouraging public transport use. I first called for dogs to be allowed on trams back in 2015. This is a positive, if long overdue policy. We need to ensure that any issues highlighted through the survey or during the trial period are properly addressed. But overall, there should be no ‘paws for concern’. This is excellent news for dog owners in Oldham and across Greater Manchester, who can now use trams along with buses.”