Skip to main content

Liverpool City Region Bus Alliance agreement signed

UK public transport operators Arriva, Stagecoach and Merseytravel have signed a new agreement that will deliver more than US$32 million (£25 million) worth of investment in Liverpool’s bus services in year one of the five year partnership. The Liverpool City Region Bus Alliance will provide the region with improved, more efficient, joined-up and better value services. The agreement also sees a commitment from operators to provide modern bus fleets with an average age of no more than seven years. Pas
October 4, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
UK public transport operators 476 Arriva, 805 Stagecoach and 8509 Merseytravel have signed a new agreement that will deliver more than US$32 million (£25 million) worth of investment in Liverpool’s bus services in year one of the five year partnership.
 
The Liverpool City Region Bus Alliance will provide the region with improved, more efficient, joined-up and better value services. The agreement also sees a commitment from operators to provide modern bus fleets with an average age of no more than seven years.
 
Passengers will benefit from a range of new services and customer-focused improvements, including improved smart ticketing and wi-fi and USB charging on all new buses so passengers can charge their mobile devices on the move.
 
The formal signing of the Bus Alliance agreement also releases additional Government OLEV funding for 72 new, greener buses across the City Region.
   
The two operators will partner fully on a range of initiatives including marketing campaigns, on-bus cleaning and customer service training. The agreement promises improved links to the city’s John Lennon Airport, and a new night bus service will continue to be piloted.
 
To encourage significantly more people to use buses across the city region both operators will also sign up to clearly defined targets around punctuality and passenger satisfaction.
 
The Liverpool City Region Bus Alliance is a key element of a comprehensive bus strategy for the region. Built around the idea of ‘multimodal’ transport for customers, changing between rail and bus services will be simplified making journeys easier and more enjoyable for passengers. 

Related Content

  • March 27, 2015
    Smart travel gains momentum across the UK
    UK Transport Minister Baroness Kramer has announced three initiatives to accelerate the introduction of smart ticketing across the country. At a meeting with the Smart Cities Partnership, the minister announced that over US$900,000 will be invested over the next two years to extend smart ticketing across the rail network in the West Midlands. She also presided over the signing of a concordat that sets out the basis for cooperation between bus operators and members of the partnership to start delivering
  • January 25, 2018
    Manchester seeks smart but not selective transport solutions
    Smarter transport relies on better communications both with travellers and between transport providers. Andrew Williams reports. Inrix’s prediction that the cost of traffic congestion will rise by 63% to £21bn per year by 2030 clearly illustrates that, in addition to the ongoing inconvenience and inefficiency, ongoing gridlock is a significant drain on the economy. It is against this backdrop that a Cisco-led consortium has launched CitySpire, a smart transport programme that uses location-based services a
  • September 27, 2012
    First phase of Leicestershire bus smart card system completed
    In Leicestershire, UK, the first phase of a US$3.6 million bus smart card system has been rolled out to all concessionary users, in a scheme that the Council says will improve and modernise bus travel throughout the county. The new OneCard system is now in use by elderly and disabled bus passengers. Electronic chips fitted to OneCard passes can be swiped on scanners on First, Centrebus and Arriva buses to register journeys, meaning passes no longer have to be shown. Passengers top up their cards with cash w
  • April 9, 2014
    Buses services benefit from seamless Wi-Fi data transfer
    Ted Bowser explains how the almost total Wi-Fi coverage at Ride-On’s new bus garage is providing big benefits for the operator and passengers alike. The ability to download and upload data to and from the various systems on board buses has become central to mass transit operators’ business model. So when Ride-On, the public transportation system in Maryland’s Montgomery County, was moving one of its three depots into a bigger and purpose-built facility, connectivity was a key consideration.