SO the chief executive of Merseytravel wants to "encourage more people to use buses" by introducing a flat fare across the region (Globe, March 1).

Instead, he should be doing the opposite – bringing back the old "fare stages" to encourage folk to walk a few stops to save a little on fares.

These certainly encouraged us to walk to the next stop or two to save a little money – and gave us exercise!

Kenneth J Burnley, Irby.