Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram says proposed cuts to bus routes and services in the region show why a change to our transport region is needed.
Local operators are proposing a full list of changes and reductions to bus routes and services in the city region from September. The changes are proposed as bus companies respond to challenges posed by reduced passenger numbers and rising inflation.
Dozens of changes have been proposed across the region, including a number of reductions to services into Liverpool city centre on weekends, two services withdrawn in St Helens while some routes between Knowsley and Liverpool will be changed. Some services are also being reduced in Sefton.
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More than a dozen services across the combined authority region will have services reduced, mostly on evenings and weekends, with 16 impacted across Liverpool alone, including the 80A to Liverpool Airport cut back to every 40 minutes and a reduction of frequencies between Halewood and Bellevale on the 79. Following the two week consultation, a new timetable will be published on August 1 to come in effect a month later.
Mayor Rotheram was first elected in 2017 on a key pledge to fix the region's 'broken' public transport system and implement a new, London-style, interconnected network. He took a major key forward with that earlier this year with the announcement of plans to take the region's buses back into public control through a move known as franchising.
Under franchising, local leaders will have powers to set routes, timetables and fares based on what is best for the public. The argument being that deregulation of the buses from the 1980s onwards have allowed bus operators (outside London) to make these decisions based purely on what makes best commercial sense for them.
But franchising will take a while to get over the line and in the meantime, cuts are proposed to local services. Mayor Rotheram said the latest plans show why the changes he wants to make are so important.
He said: "The simple fact is that these changes are being put forward by private bus companies who are having their funding stopped by the government. Under the deregulated system we’ve got now, bus operators are able to cut and withdraw routes, leaving some communities cut off, while we are powerless to stop them.
“It is one of the main reasons that local leaders are progressing work to franchise the region’s buses and put the public back at the heart of public transport. Under franchising, we’d have the power to set routes, timetables and fares.
“It’s an arduous process, but it will be worth it when we’re able to deliver better buses as part of a London-style system that makes getting about the region quicker, cheaper, greener and more reliable for local people. We’ll be making our final decision as soon as we possibly can.”
You can read the full list of proposed bus service changes here.
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