Liverpool Bus Reform Must Be “For Passengers” — And Safe and Sustainable for Drivers Too

Mayor Steve Rotheram has recently stated that buses in the Liverpool City Region will be run “not for profit, but for passengers” as franchising begins from Autumn 2026.

📌 ITV Granada report:

https://www.itv.com/news/granada/2026-01-23/mayor-promises-buses-will-run-not-for-profit-but-for-passengers

As a frontline bus driver with 19 years’ experience, and as the elected Branch Secretary of the RMT Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Bus Branch, I welcome any serious attempt to rebuild bus networks around public need rather than commercial pressure.

However, I am also writing publicly to place an important message firmly on record:

Bus reform cannot succeed unless it is safe, transparent, and sustainable for the workforce who deliver it every day.

Franchising must not simply be a change in governance.

It must be a change in safety culture, accountability, and operational reality.

A Passenger-First System Must Also Be Driver-Sustainable

A bus network cannot truly be “for passengers” if it is built on unsafe or unrealistic working conditions.

Drivers across the country face the same structural pressures:

Tight timetables

Congestion and roadworks

Passenger demand surges

Fatigue and staffing shortages

Increasing abuse and assaults

Performance regimes that blame

individuals for system failures

If franchising simply rebrands these pressures under a new contract model, then it will fail both passengers and staff.

1. Unrealistic Timetables and Running Times

One of the biggest daily safety issues in the bus industry is unrealistic scheduling.

Routes are often planned so tightly that lateness becomes unavoidable.

Drivers are then placed under pressure — sometimes informally blamed — for delays that are structural, not personal.

No reform can claim to be “for passengers” if it is built on timetables that cannot be operated safely in the real world.

Will Liverpool’s franchising model ensure running times are properly assessed, achievable, and designed around safe operation?

2. Safety Must Always Come Before Punctuality

Drivers are consistently told — correctly — that safety comes first.

But too often, lateness is treated as a performance issue rather than a planning issue.

Under franchising, will the Liverpool City Region guarantee that punctuality regimes will not become disciplinary tools against drivers?

Safety must never be compromised for paper targets.

3. Workforce Protections Under Contract Change

Liverpool’s first franchised contracts have been awarded to major operators such as Stagecoach and Go-Ahead.

That raises unavoidable workforce questions:

How will TUPE protections be enforced when contracts change hands?

Will pay, pensions, and conditions be safeguarded?

Will union recognition and collective bargaining remain secure?

Drivers cannot be treated as transferable commodities while the system is reorganised.

Will the Mayor commit publicly to strong employment protections across the franchised network?

4. A Passenger-First Network Must Also Address Fatigue and Retention

A sustainable bus system requires:

Proper breaks and recovery time

Realistic duty schedules

Retention of experienced staff

An end to chronic fatigue and understaffing

Meaningful consultation with unions and drivers

Franchising must not reproduce the same pressures under a different branding.

5. Safety Transparency Cannot Be Optional

Another critical issue is being missed nationally:

Bus safety performance data is still not routinely published outside London.

Transport for London has published quarterly safety data since 2014 — collisions, injuries, fatalities and incidents — and transparency has improved accountability.

Yet the new Bus Services (No. 2) Act did not make this mandatory nationwide.

That means Combined Authorities now have a choice:

Embed safety transparency from the outset

Or allow it to remain discretionary and hidden behind claims of “commercial sensitivity”

My FOI Request: Liverpool Now Part of the National Spotlight

This is not a theoretical issue.

Across England, Combined Authorities have made commitments on safety reporting — only for progress to stall behind exemptions and delays.

That is why I have now submitted Freedom of Information requests across multiple regions, including Liverpool City Region, to establish:

what safety data is being collected

what governance structures exist

whether publication is being planned

and whether transparency is being embedded into franchising from the start

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has now formally acknowledged my FOI request.

This is part of a wider national effort to ensure franchising does not expand without safety accountability.

Public control must come with public scrutiny.

An Open Letter to the Mayor: 

Commitments Must Be On Record

In response to Mayor Rotheram’s public comments, I am also issuing an Open Letter directly to him, asking for clear commitments in writing, including:

realistic timetables that can be driven safely

safety before punctuality and performance pressure

workforce protections under TUPE when contracts change hands

union involvement in the franchised operating model

quarterly publication of bus safety performance data

confidential reporting protections for drivers

These are not abstract policy questions.

They are the operational foundations of whether franchising succeeds in practice.

Liverpool’s reform will be judged not by branding or slogans — but by whether safety and accountability are built into the system from day one.

Conclusion: Reform Must Be Held to Account

Mayor Rotheram, franchising may offer a historic opportunity to undo decades of fragmentation in bus services.

But the measure of success for drivers will be simple:

Will this new system deliver safe schedules, fair treatment, protected jobs, transparency, and a genuine workforce voice — not just new contracts for operators?

Bus reform must be:

For passengers

For drivers

For safety

For public accountability

Anything less will repeat the mistakes of the past.

The public deserves better.

And the workforce delivering these services deserves better too.

The spotlight is now on Liverpool — and on every Combined Authority introducing franchising.

This is a moment for leadership, not delay.

Lee Odams

Bus Driver (19 years’ service)

Branch Secretary, RMT Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Bus Branch

Secretary, RMT National Industrial Organising Conference of Bus Workers

Next Updates

I will publish further updates as FOI responses are received, and will continue pressing for mandatory safety transparency and workforce accountability across every region moving toward franchising.