PROPOSALS for commuters to travel across Merseyside on any bus for a flat fee will be considered next week.

Aimed at encouraging more passengers to use buses and making ticketing simpler for customers the report will go before the Merseytravel Committee next Thursday.

It will outline the following proposals:

• All solo ticket types to be valid for use across Merseyside

• Price changes for all existing and new solo products

• Introduction of a new solo four weekly Young Person’s ticket

The proposals would result in the removal of ‘zones’ giving customers greater freedom to travel across Merseyside as many times as they want with one ticket.

The proposed fares would be up to a third cheaper for people who currently buy all area tickets, resulting in significant savings for those customers.

Solo ticketing would also become simpler for everyone as customers would not have to work out which zone they need and it could support more access to work and leisure opportunities.

Reviewing zonal structures and pricing to simplify the customer ticket offer is a key objective of the ‘Bus Alliance’ – Merseytravel, Arriva and Stagecoach who together operate 90 per cent of commercial bus services in the region.

Chief executive Frank Rogers said: “These proposals represent a significant step forward in improving the bus offer and giving customers greater freedom, at affordable prices across the network.

“The current zonal system for Merseytravel tickets dates back to the 1970s and doesn’t represent modern travel patterns. Simplifying fares would make ticketing buying more straightforward and easy to understand – one way of encouraging people to try the bus.

“Not only do we want to make the experience better for those who already use it, but remove those perceived barriers for those who may otherwise give it a try if routes were simpler, make fares easier to understand, broaden people’s horizons and support better access to work and leisure opportunities.

“Following on from recently introduced services and offers, including being able to load some Arriva and Stagecoach tickets onto Walrus cards plus the new adult One Day Solo ticket that can be used on any bus, any time, we are continuing to work together with operators to improve the customer experience.”