Liverpool City Region Bus Franchising

[Barney]

RE: Liverpool City Region Bus Franchising

(26/07/2023 14:32)iMarkeh Wrote:  With bus lanes and bus priority schemes as well, they would benefit the existing routes so how much time would actually end up being gained by not serving some stops? The main way to save time on the express routes is missing out a deviation to the straight route (such as the X1 not diverting off into Birkenhead). I can't think of any deviation that these routes make off the main road which an express route wouldn't also take (10 diverts into Prescot but an express bus would likely do that too. 86 diverting off up Catherine Street/Renshaw Street/Hanover Street but an express bus not diverting that way is likely to lose a lot of passengers as many people seem to board/alight in these areas).

For the specific routes that you mention, here are my thoughts.
10 yes, maybe but then which way do you send it as Edge Lane and Prescot Road are full of traffic lights and congestion.
20 basically follows the train line and if a certain hypocritical metro mayor would modernise the ticketing system to make it easier for people to get multi modal tickets, there would be hardly anyone on the 20 travelling the longer distances.
82 corridor has the 500 already which is limited stop along Aigburth Road. I always said though that the X1 should serve Speke Morrisons as I think that would have been a game changer.
86 corridor I am not sure how well an express bus would work as the speed of the buses fully depends on if both operators are running properly and with drivers who actually want to run on time and try to run a proper service or if someone is playing silly sods with drivers holding back to avoid picking up etc etc. If everyone ran properly, the 86 corridor wouldn't be half as bad as then buses would be stopping less. (disclaimer, I know that traffic affects punctuality too but it's well known on the 86 corridor that there are a good number of lazy drivers sit back and let everyone else pick up passengers)

Again, we really are going off topic - the possibility of bus franchising - but my suggestions regarding limited stop services in the Liverpool area is based on my memories of limited stop services in the 1970s. In that period, I regularly travelled on the 500 from Aigburth Vale to Walton Vale in 35 minutes. Even though the Merseyrail system has been extensively enhanced to Hunts Cross and Kirkby since then, it is no longer possible to do that same journey in anything less than an hour.