Bus fares could soon cost as little as £2 per journey under new plans from Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram

Mayor Steve Rotheram has announced that bus journeys across the Liverpool City Region could soon cost as little as £2 under new plans.

If agreed, some passengers would see a saving of up to 13% in the cost of a single journey regardless of which service they use, taking away the hassle and confusion of the region’s complex ticketing system.

The Mayor has also said that young people should to continue to benefit from all day unlimited travel on bus by freezing the MyTicket at £2.20 until 2025.

Plans are also in the works to simplify the region’s wider ticketing system under a ‘tap and go system’ that would daily fare caps that would allow for greater freedom and flexibility with passengers guaranteed to always pay the cheapest fare.

Earlier this year the Liverpool City Region took an important step towards the major reform of its buses after local leaders voted to confirm franchising as the preferred model for running the network – a landmark move that would reverse the industry’s deregulation in the mid-1980s.

Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region said:

“One of the reasons that I ran to be the first Mayor of the Liverpool City Region was the opportunity to revolutionise our broken, fragmented public transport system. Hundreds of thousands of people rely on buses to get about every day – yet far too many tell me that they are too expensive, too unreliable and too confusing.

“We took a major step forward on this earlier this year, when we chose franchising as our preferred model for running our region’s buses. This latest announcement will help ease the burden on people – especially during the cost of living crisis – by making it cheaper for them to get about.

Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram

“This is just a down payment on my wider ambitions, though. I’m fighting to win London-style funding that will allow us to revolutionise our buses, trains and ferries and bring them together into a transport network that is better connected, faster, and cleaner.

“If it’s good enough for the capital, then it’s the very least that we should expect here in our region. This is the difference that devolution, with proper local decision making, is making to our region.”

The proposals will be discussed at the Combined Authority meeting on Friday 10 June and are subject to agreement with the bus operators and for an initial three-year period.

Subject to confirmation, the £12m Bus Services Improvement Plan (BSIP) allocation will be used to fund these measures which are designed to encourage more people to use the bus by helping them travel further for less as well as helping the environment.

However, it is only the start as more funding is needed to realise the ambition set out in the BSIP and deliver the bus services that local people have asked for including additional evening and weekend services as well as more hydrogen buses.

Aligned to the region’s Vision for Bus, this latest round of investment is a key part of Mayor Rotheram’s pledge to reform the region’s transport by building a London-style system that will make travelling around quicker, cheaper, greener and more reliable.