A formal public consultation will launch after May’s local elections on bringing buses back into public control across the Liverpool City Region.
Last year the region's combined authority unanimously voted to move forward with franchising as a future model for running the bus network and services, one of only two locations in the UK to opt for such a process. Under a franchise system, the combined authority would take control of setting fares and routes in a move to make buses work in the interests of passengers and not for private companies, according to members of the authority.
Following the completion of an internal audit and assessment of the franchising model, combined authority members have agreed to move forward with a public engagement exercise in the summer. Residents, businesses and trade unions will be invited to give their feedback.
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Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram said for all the combined authority has invested in buses, it receives “very little and no say in fares, routes, timetables and in some cases the fleet itself.” The Metro Mayor said 132 commercial services had been lost in Merseyside in the last 13 years.
Bus reform was how the combined authority can best protect and reinvest in its bus provision, according to Mr Rotheram, who described the consultation as a “gateway process” to the next step of bringing buses back in house.
Cllr Graham Morgan, leader of Knowsley Council, said the move to bring bus services back into public control, was a “once in a generation opportunity” and called on the combined authority “to be bold in our ambitions.” Bringing the buses back in house are a key component of the Metro Mayor’s vision to create a London-style transport network across the Liverpool City Region.
In launching the public consultation, the city region would be the second area in the country to do so after Greater Manchester. Under the model, should it be adopted, all bus services that stop in that area must run under a local service contract or have a service permit, unless it is excepted from the franchising scheme or is an interim service.
It is proposed that the whole of the Liverpool City Region would become part of the scheme at the same time. However, bus service contracts would be rolled out across multiple rounds, beginning in St Helens, before moving onto Wirral, North Liverpool and North Knowsley, South Liverpool, South Knowsley, Halton and Sefton.
A final decision on the franchising model is expected later this year, following completion of the 12-week consultation. Mr Rotheram confirmed this would take place after May’s local elections with further details on how to participate to come “in the coming weeks and months.”
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