Bus journeys in Liverpool City Region to be capped at £2 to ease cost of living pressures

Adult fares will cost £2 a journey across the Liverpool city region from 18 September. Credit: Liverpool City Council

Bus passengers across Merseyside will soon be able to travel anywhere in the city region for no more than £2 a day.

The new adult single fare will cost a maximum of £2 and a MyTicket, which allows young people under 19 unlimited travel on the region’s bus network, will be frozen at £2.20.

It is hoped the move, which is set to come into force on 18 September, will help people with cost of living pressures, with some users saving up to 13% per journey.

The new reduced fare has been agreed with bus operators for an initial three-year period and funded by the £12m Bus Services Improvement Plan (BSIP).

Andy Burnham introduced a similar measure in Greater Manchester, with the mayor enforcing a daily cap of £5 on the region's tram system from 4 September.

Liverpool's busses one step closer to public control
Bus fares to be capped in Greater Manchester by September
Mayor Rotheram hopes Liverpool's bus network will become quicker, cheaper, greener and more reliable. Credit: PA images

Plans are also underway to introduce a 'tap and go' system that would allow for "greater freedom and flexibility" for passengers travelling across the city region.

Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region said: "With the cost of living crisis placing more and more pressure on households, we’re using the power of devolution to bring the price of a single bus ticket down to its lowest level in years – putting money back into the pockets of our residents.

"This is just a down payment on my wider ambitions for our region’s buses. I’m working to take back control of our network, so that we can reinvest any profit we make back into our public transport system – putting passengers before profit."

Mayor Rotheram previously pledged to reform the region’s transport by building a London-style system that will make travelling around quicker, cheaper, greener and more reliable.

In March 2022, the Combined Authority voted to confirm franchising as the region's preferred model for running the network - a move that would reverse the industry’s deregulation in the mid 1980s.

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