Talks of Liverpools bus network being "council" run

[Barney]

RE: Talks of Liverpools bus network being "council" run

(02/11/2014 13:13)wirralbus Wrote:  But would those links come back if the service was reregulated , I highly doubt it , Merseytravel , TfGM will just use the basis of the present route network as the baseline .

At the moment - and for a good while to come, I suspect - all of this is total speculation. Having said that, IF re-regulation does happen one aspect of bus operation that I would like see is that all services run 18/7. Under the current legislation, bus operators can opt to run services at the times that they choose so that they can maximise profit and leave it to the ITA, in this case Merseytravel, to 'fill the gaps' at evenings and weekends.

I can only comment on services operated by Arriva out of Bootle depot but this is a case in point. At the present time the 54 and 62 operate daily but only until early evening whilst the 56 and 58 only operate M-Sat until early evening. At other times a patchwork of tendered services operated by a number of smaller operators run which invariably confuses all but the most knowledgeable of bus user. My understanding of this proposal is that a successful franchisee would have sole rights and obligations to run specific services at specific times as is the case in London. Surely, this can only be a good thing.