People are being asked for their opinion on bus services in Merseyside and ideas on how to improve them
19:24, 02 Dec 2025Updated 20:16, 02 Dec 2025
Stockbridge Village, Liverpool.(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Mums waiting at bus stops for two hours, children who can’t get to school and people cut off from other parts of the region – these form part of the “horror stories” of bus travel in one part of Merseyside, according to Knowsley MP Anneliese Midgley.
Ms Midgley was speaking about the frustrations of her constituents and Knowsley’s public transport problems, as she announced a partnership with Mayor Steve Rotheram to launch the Big Bus Survey, a community transport consultation in the borough, aimed at improving the bus network.
The feedback from the survey will be submitted to the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority to inform its spending decisions. Knowsley’s MP said: “I am here at Huyton bus station where thousands of people get the bus every single week.
“Knowsley is one of the worst served areas in the whole of Merseyside when it comes to public transport, but things are looking up because this Labour government has invested £1.6bn to improve our public transport, and I want you to tell me what you need from your bus service. That’s why I’ve launched my Big Bus Survey, in partnership with our Mayor Steve Rotherham.”
More than 10,000 residents in Knowsley use the bus network every day, and figures show 36% of households have no car, and rely on buses for getting around the region.
As a result, Ms Midgley is asking people for ideas on how to shape future transport policies and offer suggestions on how the government’s £1.6bn investment should be spent in their neighbourhoods.
Huyton Bus Station(Image: Knowsley MP)
The Big Bus Survey is a constituency-wide consultation offering residents the chance to share their experience of the bus network, and feedback on what works well and what needs to be improved.
More pertinently, the project hopes to map out where people need to go that they currently can’t, which buses are reliable, and which never show up on time.
Ms Midgley added: “Every day, people rely on buses to get to work, go to school, see their mates, go to the match, do the shopping, or get to their family who need care.
“I’ve heard plenty of horror stories from my constituents, from mums with young kids isolated from their families who can’t get a bus for two hours on a Sunday, Kirkby kids who can’t get to school, people from Stockbridge Village who’ve had the entire world stopped when the bus has been cancelled for days with no warning.
“I want to know what your priorities are for the buses, where you want to go and when you want to travel.”
Speaking ahead of the survey’s launch, Mayor Steve Rotheram said this was an opportunity for people to help create a transport network fit for the future, adding: “Buses are the backbone of our public transport system, with around 82% of all journeys in the Liverpool City Region made by bus every single day.
“Yet for far too long, passengers have been forced to contend with services that are too confusing, too expensive, and too disconnected.
“From next year, that changes. We’ll start the process of bringing our buses back where they belong: under public control. It will give us greater control over fares, routes and timetables, so we can ensure that passengers always come before profit.”
The Big Bus Survey is now live and can be completed online or in hard copy, with local community centres, shops, doctors’ surgeries and libraries being asked to support and promote the campaign and hold copies of the survey form for residents to complete.