The Bee Network app is being updated - here's what passengers can expect

A series of planned improvements to the Bee Network app has been announced by transport bosses. A map of the various Metrolink zones has just been added, giving commuters live updates of the tram network's statuses, and a 'disruption alert' function for both trams and buses is also due to be installed soon.

Transport for Greater Manchester said passengers will be able to pay through Apple and Google Pay from next month and it's been confirmed that from early in the new year, journey planning will be available.

The function - long called for by commuters - will allow them to plan and track their journeys on public transport through the app and receive alerts when their destinations approach.

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It comes after an eight per cent increase in people using buses across Greater Manchester was revealed a month on from the launch of Bee Network buses, with punctuality said to be slowly improving. An average of almost 100,000 people day, sometimes as high as more than 120,000, are now said to be boarding buses.

Transport bosses and Andy Burnham, meanwhile, spoke out at a meeting of Greater Manchester's Bee Network Committee to address what the mayor of Greater Manchester called a 'common criticism' in terms of buses.

Bus franchising - marking the real start of Greater Manchester's Bee Network, a plan for a London-style integrated transport system - launched on September 24.

For the first time since 1986, private operators will have no say over routes, fares, frequencies, timetables and overall standards, giving