MEP Lyndon Harrison has thrown the switch to send Wirral's new high-tech SMART bus system live.

Crosville's 41/41A and MTL's Wirral Peninsula Buses 18 have come on stream, bringing low-floor buses with easy access for everyone.

Now the final pieces of the £5.5m jigsaw are being slotted into place.

Merseytravel has invested £2m in high quality shelters and 'real time' information, with Crosville and MTL weighing in with £1.5m each in buses.

Wirral Council has funded highway improvements to the tune of £.5m.

'Real time' information gives the actual time the traveller can expect to wait for the bus, rather than relying on conventional timetables.

The routes have been specifically designed to link communities with places of work and leisure, increasing opportunities for jobs and social travel.

Merseytravel Vice Chair Hugh Lloyd said that the SMART concept had proved enormously successful in Liverpool, raising the standard of public transport and encouraging increased bus travel.

The routes - linking Mill Park with Birkenhead, Woodchurch and Seacombe - penetrate 'Pathways', areas designated by the European Union as being excluded from social opportunities.

Wirral MEP Lyndon Harrison said SMART was a revolutionary bus travel package for the 21st century.

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