THE transition to a paperless bus support service in St Helens had a “minimal impact” on passengers, a transport boss has said.

St Helens was the first area in the Liverpool City Region to ask people to find information through online tools rather than using paper leaflets such as bus timetables and maps.

The trial saw the paper documents removed from St Helens’ Merseytravel Centre and 16 other outlets such as health centres and libraries.

Laura Needham, bus strategy performance manager, gave an update on the trial to Liverpool City Region’s transport committee on Wednesday.

She said: “In January we saw the introduction of the joint inspectorate in the city centre and also the withdrawal of paper timetables and leaflets in St Helens.

“With the latter, a series of digital workshops, customer engagement and support ensured there was minimal impact for our customers.”

The scheme is expected to contribute towards savings of £140,000 a year if it is rolled out across the Liverpool City Region.

During the meeting, Ms Needham also said that improving punctuality remains a core focus of the Liverpool City Region Bus Alliance, which is partnership between Arriva, Stagecoach and Merseytravel.

She added that a recent bus passenger survey reported a two per cent rise in satisfaction with journey times across the city region.

Following the meeting, a Merseytravel spokesman said: "Early customer feedback from our engagement sessions has been positive so far however residents in St Helens can still give their views on the pilot, by speaking to a member of staff at a Merseytravel Travel Centre.

"A full report, including recommendations on the way forward, will be shared with Merseytravel’s Transport Committee later in the year."