Many of you will have seen recently that Merseytravel are leading a series of comprehensive reviews of bus networks across the Liverpool City Region (LCR). During these reviews we have been running drop-in events across the city region and an online survey, where bus users are able to give their views on the proposals for the bus services.



I wanted to give a bit more detail about the background to the reviews, and the bus network in the city region as a whole. I hope this helps to give people a better understanding about some of the challenges that we face that make these reviews necessary. I also hope it shows how they present a great opportunity to simplify the network into one that is more logical and less confusing to people who don’t currently use buses.

We’re working closely and innovatively with bus operators through an Alliance with Arriva and Stagecoach - the two biggest operators in the City Region - and other local bus operators to consider the network together as a whole. We’re focussing on the customer in terms of quality of buses, more consistent ticket pricing and looking at what we can do to grow the number of bus users.

The LCR, like all areas outside of London, currently has a deregulated bus system. This means that individual operators can set up a route and set the prices for them. It also means that they can withdraw routes, if they don’t feel that it’s commercially viable. Around 85% of bus services in Merseyside are run by bus operators in this way. The other 15% of bus services are specified and funded by Merseytravel. These routes are usually where there is a gap in the network or where there is a significant social need, such as to and from hospitals. Merseytravel set the fares on these routes and you can easily identify them on public timetables.

In the past, bus routes tend to be reviewed on a piecemeal basis, meaning that the commercial routes and supported routes (ones funded my Merseytravel) are reviewed separately by each individual organisation. Now, for the first time, we are considering both commercial and supported routes together with bus operators.

The Authorities within the Liverpool City Region, including Merseytravel and the Districts, are not immune from the financial pressures faced by local authorities across the UK. We have less money to spend on services and are having to prioritise the delivery of services. This may mean change for some people. However, working innovatively with operators means that we can do more to adapt services to address service requirements, helping to soften the impact of a reduction in money available for bus services. This is a different approach to many other areas with similar challenges.

The Bus Alliance aims to provide the city region with an improved, more efficient and joined up service. The agreement also sees a commitment from operators to provide modern bus fleets, meaning passengers will see improvements onboard such as Wi-Fi and USB charging for mobile devices.

The Bus Alliance deal was signed in September 2016 and supports the approach we are taking to networks. The Alliance has already delivered improvements for customers. These include a new £1.7m bus station for Kirkby and a programme of bus stop and shelter improvements in areas such as Liscard and West Kirkby. New 24/7 bus services have been introduced on two routes (86/86A and 1/N1), with vehicle investment and timetable improvements delivered on services to Liverpool John Lennon Airport. However, we are not stopping there and we have more planned over the next year like a 4-weekly young person’s ticket being introduced from April 2017 which builds on the success of Myticket – a £2 all day bus ticket for young people. Operators will invest £18m further fleet replacement which will have a direct impact on improving air quality in the region.

Bus users on our network are some of the most satisfied of any major city region in the UK. The Transport Focus Bus Passenger Survey is used to measure customer satisfaction levels on local bus services in Merseyside and Halton. The results of the latest survey, carried out in September 2016, were released earlier this week at Merseytravel’s offices in Mann Island. They show that the overall customer satisfaction has increased from last year to 90%. This compares with average satisfaction rates of 85% in other metropolitan areas.

Between 2013/14 and 2015/16, bus patronage (fare paying) has grown 9.7%. This means that we are on course to meet the Alliance’s target of 10% growth by the end of 2017/18. Young person’s patronage is a particular success, having grown by over 80% between 2013/14 and 2015/16. This is partly down to the success of ticketing changes such Myticket, which I mentioned earlier.

Encouraging more people to travel by bus will drive investment and will mean less reliance on the public purse. The city region’s public transport has to reduce in costs by finding savings and working with the operators will help to ensure the network continues to improve despite this. We believe this is the start of an exciting journey for buses in the City Region, one that can only be furthered with the new devolved powers and options that we will get from the Bus Services Bill currently going through parliament.

Councillor Liam Robinson
Chair of Merseytravel Committee