Mayor Steve Rotheram has announced that bus passengers in the Liverpool City Region will soon be able to travel for no more than £2 per journey, in an effort to help residents save money during the cost of living crisis.
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| Tom Harrison (Bus Ambassador) |
By the 18th of September, adult single prices for all services will be limited to £2, making regional travel more affordable.
The cost of a MyTicket, which allows young people under the age of 19 to ride on the region's bus network all day, will also be frozen at £2.20 until 2025.
Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region said:
“More than 400,000 journeys are taken by bus in our region every single day yet, far too often, people tell me that they’re still too expensive, too confusing and too unreliable.
“With the cost of living crisis placing more and more pressure on households, we’re using the power of devolution to bring the price of a single bus ticket down to its lowest level in years – putting money back into the pockets of our residents.
“This is just a down payment on my wider ambitions for our region’s buses. I’m working to take back control of our network, so that we can reinvest any profit we make back into our public transport system – putting passengers before profit.”
The new single adult fare, which is part of the Mayor's bigger plan to transform public transportation in the city region, will result in savings of up to 13% for some customers compared to the present cost of their journey.
There are also plans to simplify the region's often-confusing ticketing system through a 'tap and go system,' which would allow for greater freedom and flexibility while guaranteeing passengers always pay the lowest fare.
Earlier this year, the Liverpool City Region took a crucial step toward major bus reform when local authorities voted to approve franchising as the preferred model for operating the network - a watershed moment that would reverse the industry's deregulation in the mid-1980s.
The new reduced and simplified fare has been agreed with bus operators in the Liverpool City Region for an initial three-year period. It is being funded by the £12m Bus Services Improvement Plan (BSIP) allocation, secured by the Mayor and Combined Authority from government earlier this year.
Following the Department of Transport's confirmation of this funding last week, additional investment is now being sought to help realise ambitious plans for the region's bus network. Local residents have requested more evening and weekend services, better integration with the wider transportation network, and more zero-emission hydrogen buses.
This current wave of investment, which is aligned with the region's Vision for Bus, is an important element of Mayor Rotheram's vow to change the region's transportation by developing a London-style system that will make travel faster, cheaper, greener, and more reliable.
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