LCR Bus Franchising

[CX06 EBK (Administrator)]

RE: LCR Bus Franchising
Barney, I am not anti bus but I do not see how services will improve under franchising, you are saying that services were cut due to austerity measures which is fair enough, so suddenly where is all this money coming from to provide all these new services? If its through further council tax increases then you can see why there is opposition to it - my council tax bills have increased at the expense of even a weekly bin collection so you will have to forgive me if I find it hard to believe that services will be increased in any capacity.

As someone who works in the industry, hypothetically would this franchising model allow me to get to and from work any better than currently? As currently it would take 2 buses (at least) and over 3 hours of my time with NO return journey possible and even if it was again I'd have to allow another 3 hours for a return journey. Running a car is at an all time high but to me it is still preferable to having to use public transport as it allows me to go where I want when I want - a franchise model headed by Merseytravel hardly fills me with any confidence of change.

Finally my only other real thoughts are if Merseytravel and the local council are to be the major players in this - what chance have the bus services got for improvement? The council have not just made the city centre unfriendly for cars, they have made it unfriendly for any traffic including buses. Buses constantly running short to maintain some semblence of service because Hanover Street is still a joke, the bus gate is STILL not active.