Arriva to work with community groups to help improve local services

Arriva Merseyside has pledged to work with a community group to improve bus services in the area.

Representatives from Arriva attended an event organised by Liverpool Citizens, part of the Citizens UK scheme.

A number of issues were discussed in the founding assembly, including bus services.

Richard Hoare, area director for Arriva North West attended and made the following pledge:

“We pledge that we will work with Liverpool Citizens for the common good of the city.

“We will be accountable for the commitments we make. We will meet regularly and engage collaboratively in a spirit of public service.”

Arriva Merseyside operates more than 500 vehicles, employing in excess of 1,500 colleagues, who work together in making sure more than 1.5 million passenger journeys are delivered.

It is the largest bus operator in the region.

During the Liverpool Citizens assembly, the group flagged up some issues with a couple of routes, which Mr Hoare said he will look into and report back.

Following the meeting, he said:

“We will be doing further listening in early 2025 and plan to engage further with Liverpool Citizens on particular challenges affecting our communities in relation to buses.  

“We look forward to building a positive and constructive relationship with them and the Arriva team going forward.”

Liverpool Citizens is an alliance of cross-sector, local organisations working together for the common good to empower people in their communities to make change. 

Liverpool Citizens is part of Citizens UK which brings together people and organisations to build a better, fairer society through community organising.

Frank Burns, member of Liverpool Citizens Transport Action Group and a staff member at the Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, stated:

“At Liverpool Citizens, we listened to members of our community who shared their experiences with the cost and reliability of local bus routes, which have affected their ability to get to work and school on time.

“They spoke of cancellations and delays that were having a significant impact on their lives.

“We are grateful to Arriva for attending our Founding Assembly on 18th November 2024 to hear these stories and understand the challenges our community is facing. We look forward to building a constructive relationship with Arriva in early 2025 to work together on addressing these issues and improving local transport.”

Find more information on the Arriva website.

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