All aboard! Cheaper bus travel has arrived.
After a year of negotiations I am really pleased to announce that cheaper bus travel has arrived for University of Liverpool students.
Starting this September and until 31st May 2019 - the last day of studies for the majoirty of students - we have negotiated a deal with Arriva which offers an academic year pass exclusively for University of Liverpool students for £325. As their standard academic year pass costs £380 and runs until June 2019, the exclusive pass in effect saves you £55 and a months’ worth of travel you wouldn’t use but would have to pay for.
The cost of travel is a barrier to student's lives all around the country, and University of Liverpool students were being hit particularly hard. On average, we were paying over a £100 more for an academic bus pass than students in comparable cities such as Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds and Lancaster. Our joint research with Merseytravel showed the high cost of bus travel in Merseyside meant many students were not attending university, placements, medical appointments or even just felt unable to travel around their city as much as they wished. This substantial cut in price will begin to address that and make students more mobile in our city.
We could not have achieved this without the help of the Metro Mayor's office and, in particular, Councillor Liam Robinson and Merseytravel. Liam was instrumental in helping us secure meetings and in our negotiations with the Bus companies. I send him sincere thanks on behalf of the Guild and the student body.
Arriva were originally unwilling to address the issue of cost but, after much hard work, we are pleased that Arriva came back to the table with a substantial offer. We look forward to working in partnership going forward to keep tackling the cost of bus travel and seek to improve the service for students at University of Liverpool.
If you require bus travel outside of the standard academic dates listed above, Arriva offer a range of other passes, including weekly and 4-weekly tickets. Just check out their website to find out what works best for you.
See you all on the 699!
Rory
