Arriva and CPT comment on Liverpool Bus Lanes suspension

Howard Farrall, Area Managing Director, Arriva Merseyside said: “Following our letter to the Mayor’s office, Liverpool City Council has now requested our views on the proposal to suspend all bus lanes in Liverpool for a trial period of nine months.

“The bus operators have had no involvement in the process for implementing a trial of withdrawing bus lanes and have been given no evidence from Liverpool City Council to justify such a trial.

“Together with Merseytravel the operators have looked at the effectiveness of bus lanes and have now passed on these findings and are keen to discuss the proposals with the council.

“We have said repeatedly that we would welcome any review of the effectiveness of bus lanes and would be prepared to work with Liverpool City Council and other stakeholders. However, they have not invited any participation until now and, given that they have gone ahead with the decision to suspend the bus lanes with effect from 28th October, it is evident that whatever our views, they will be disregarded.

“We are pleased that the CPT has come out in support of the bus operators and recognises the impact that would be felt on city centre movements if the bus priorities were removed.

“We also welcome the recent support this matter has received from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department for Transport, Norman Baker MP, who has written to put pressure on Liverpool’s directly elected mayor, Joe Anderson, to drop a trial suspension of every bus lane in the city.”

Comment from the CPT:

“CPT was alarmed to learn of the Mayor of Liverpool’s proposal to suspend bus lanes in the city. Buses play a crucial role in allowing large numbers of people to access work, education, local amenities and leisure activities. Priority measures such as bus lanes enable services to move freely and keep to time, providing an attractive alternative to taking the car, which in turn helps ease congestion and improve local air quality.

“If the removal of bus lanes in Liverpool reduces the reliability of services, passengers will be lost and the viability of services would be severely compromised.

“CPT hopes the Mayor of Liverpool will work with the industry to resolve any particular issues on the effectiveness of certain bus lanes rather than imposing a city-wide suspension which would be bad for passengers, the industry and the economic well-being of Liverpool.”