 Transport Committee visits Liverpool to hear about health of bus services

14 January 2019

In a public evidence session, MPs will question representatives from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and two bus companies, Arriva and Stagecoach, on how services are developed and run in the city through the Liverpool City Region Bus Alliance.

The Committee will also use their visit to Liverpool to ask about fares and funding, workforce conditions and what is being done to increase bus use.

The trip will inform the cross-party committee's inquiry into the health of the bus market, which is examining how services are run in England outside London amid a sharp decline in usage over the past 25 years.
 
Bus travel accounts for almost eight out of ten public transport journeys in Merseyside. Passenger numbers have fallen since the start of the decade although they are now coming back up from a downward trend. Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram launched a consultation on how to improve services in October and responses to the Big Bus Debate are currently being analysed.

Witnesses

Monday 14 January 2019, Merseytravel HQ, 1 Mann Island, Liverpool, L3 1BP

At 1pm:

Matthew Goggins, Head of bus, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Merseytravel
Howard Farrall, Regional Managing Director, Arriva Merseyside
Rob Jones, Regional Managing Director, Stagecoach Merseyside

Question and answer session

At 4pm, the evidence session will be followed by a question and answer session offering members of the public the opportunity to ask about the Transport Committee's work and the role of Parliament.
 
The meeting is the fourth evidence session in the buses inquiry. The Committee has previously visited Leicester and Bristol to hear the views of passengers and local authorities.

Further information

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