Liverpool City Region Bus Franchising

[moreton407]

RE: Liverpool City Region Bus Franchising

(26/06/2023 08:50)Walton 46 Wrote:  Although the proposed franchising scheme is going to cost a few bob in the short run, I think it will be worth it in the long run for the following reasons:

1) At the moment, some parts of the city region only have a bus service every 90 min Monday - Saturday or 2 hourly evenings and Sundays. Under the proposed scheme, all bus routes will have a minimum 1 bus an hour between 5 am and Midnight, a vast improvement on today.

2) At the moment, The LCR doesn't have night buses. There have been calls to reinstate the the ones which where withdrawn when Covid came in, but the bus companies have refused to do so. Night buses are important for two reasons: firstly, supporting the Night Time Economy - giving people more options to get home instead of forking out £20/£30 for taxis. And secondly, breaking down barriers to employment. My brother went to a jobs fair at the airport in February but found he couldn't apply for any of the jobs on offer because they all had morning shifts starting at 3am. My brother doesn't drive so his only of getting to the airport for 3am would be taxis.

So whilst, the franchising scheme will require significant investment in the short term. It will deliver an improved bus service in the long run.

1) Services that are run every 90 minutes or two hourly are MErseytravel services, why don't Merseytravel just increase the frequency.

2) I agree that the region needs night services, but again why don't Merseytravel just subsidise these routes?

Surely it would be cheaper for Merseytravel to subsidise increased frequencies or new night time services that to subsidise an entire bus network across Merseyside and Halton?