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Buses hit by £2.4m cuts
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THOUSANDS of bus passengers could be left stranded without services in South Yorkshire when Government funding is slashed in less than three months’ time.
Routes to rural areas, early morning and late evening services, and buses which operators claim are poorly-used are all in the firing line.
Bus companies receive an annual payment from the Government called the Bus Service Operators’ Grant, which subsidises fuel costs. It is worth £12 million to South Yorkshire’s transport firms each year.
But the payment is being slashed by 20 per cent - the equivalent of £2.4 million - in April.
South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive said the reduction would have a ‘big impact’ - and said consultation was underway with operators.
The county’s biggest bus operator, First, said it had already taken steps to prepare for the cut including imposing an average five per cent fare rise.
And a spokeswoman for rival firm Stagecoach said: “We will work hard to minimise the impact on customers.”
Among routes which could face the axe is the number 6 from Fulwood to Darnall, in Sheffield, which has already been reduced from half hourly to hourly and has no late evening journeys.
Nether Green pensioner John Keenan, aged 77, who fought to save the service, said: “The impact of its withdrawal or further downgrading would be really bad for elderly passengers who cannot walk uphill to the nearest high-frequency route, the 120.”
Jacqueline Milner, secretary of Sheffield Pensioners’ Action Group, said: “Whatever is cut is going to have an impact on somebody and it’s very sad things have come to this.
“It is true you sometimes have buses with very few people on them - but those passengers rely on the service.
“I hope any cuts are carefully managed to ensure areas still have some service. I suspect the worst-affected areas will be those served by rural routes such as the 61 and 62 around Dungworth and Stannington.”
Passengers in Sheffield city centre were also concerned at possible reductions in services.
Janet Whyte, a retired carer from Inkersall, near Chesterfield, said: “People in rural areas like ours need buses more than in the city because there’s no alternative transport available.”
Andrew Patterson, 21, a student from Dore, said: “Services should optimise where they go in terms of picking up passengers, reducing the impact of cuts.”
Paul Cormack, a retired Sheffield Hallam University lecturer, of Totley Rise, said: “These kind of cuts show the present Government isn’t serious about green issues or protecting those who cannot afford cars.
“It could save money instead by cutting the number of free passes to pensioners - there are lots of pensioners who could afford to pay.”
The extent of the grant cut was revealed to a meeting of councillors who oversee public transport in the county.
South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive director of customer experience, David Young, said: “We are working with operators to find the best way to deliver a network that suits people’s needs, and will be introducing new initiatives this year to try to get more people using buses.”
Vulnerable routes:
Services away from main roads in Sheffield:
n 1 Sheffield outer circle service
n 6 Littledale - city centre - Fulwood
n 4 Millhouses - Sharrow - city centre - Darnall
n 84 city centre - Ringinglow
n 39 city centre - Meersbrook - Woodseats - Chancet Wood
Rural routes:
n 61/62 Hillsborough - Dungworth - Bradfield
n numerous in north Derbyshire, south Rotherham, Barnsley, Doncaster
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Comments
There are 27 comments to this article
Page 1 of 2
yorkielass1
Saturday, January 28, 2012 at 04:37 PMI find it ironic that a lot of the "rate payers" of Sheffield shouted loudly re Sheffield Councils subsidised brilliant transport system very forward thinking in my view , are now the very same people who clog up the 51 service by the time it gets to Crosspool. Of course these people don't see this as a "benefit' subsidised by the tax payer.
Los Blancos Galactico Rossoneri Mancunian
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 10:48 PMCut 52 & 120 apart! They need a divorce! Also vulnerable services are 7, 30, 49, 66, 77, 81, 85! These are at risk of being axed!
kayte
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 05:34 PMWith regard the comments about the 52 bus service - this is indeed currently a joke. From the day it started running to Hillsborough (rather than turning round at Crookes) it has become totally unreliable. I use this service and it's not at all uncommon to wait at Crookes for twenty minutes plus and then five (a selection of First and Stagecoach) vehicles arrive in procession. These then hurtle down Crookes Road like 'Deathrace 2000' only for some of the latter end of the convoy to sit at Broomhill for five minutes because they are ahead of time. For the life of me I cannot understand why both company's vehicles are scheduled to run at pretty much the same time. Invariably the vehicle in the lead is crammed so it's like travelling in a third world country with the one behind virtually empty.
kayte
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 05:23 PMDoes the plank who attempts to dictate that 'all pensioners who can afford to pay should be made to pay' realise that these are the pensioners who have other options (cars) and would stick two fingers in the air (metaphorically) and never use the buses. After all the adverse effect of more car useage on the environment 30 to 40 years in the future isn't exactly going to impinge on them is it?
PaulSheffield
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 04:47 PM@22 so you chose to ignore the post regarding the wanton waste by Laybout ? They couldn't run a pi555 up in a brewery never mind a transport company @CrytalPeaks.... why should a pensioner that's saved all his life then be punished and subsidise the scroungers and those that have chosen to shirk work and responsibilities all their life..... You know the more this financial mess bites the more I am starting to get pleasure out of seeing you left wing scroungers get your comeuppance.... there's no money left, you can't invent it, you can't borrow it any more you can cry all you want times are a changing. Get used to it!
N P Johnson
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 04:32 PMAt the time when it was subsidised it was a public service, run by the local council, accountable to the voters. A service doesn't always have to be profitable, but has to benefit the community. Again, the Grantham Grocer forced privatisation of bus services in the name of "free market economics". But inevitably, if you do that, the private companies will be drawn to the busy, profitable routes, where, as someone has said, 3 buses owned by different operators arrive at once, competing for passengers. Meanwhile, rural routes and services outside peak hours are abandoned. If you haven't got your own private petrol car, too bad. Reverse privatisation, and have a co-ordinated transport policy combining buses, trams, and local trains.
crystalpeaksman
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 04:17 PMIts about time those pensioners who can afford to pay were made to pay,and use the money to improve the service.
Sir Taxedalot
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 04:17 PMI wouldn't give the bus companies a penny in subsidy. They are private profit making companies in a competitive environment. It's not the tax payer's responsibility to prop up unprofitable businesses. You moan and groan about the banks taken over by tax payers and giving tax payers money to NHS contractors but you don't bat an eyelid when private companies like Stagecoach and Wurst Bus are propped up entirely by tax payers money. Come on, sort yourselves out and try being consistent in your beliefs.
PaulSheffield
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 03:41 PM@NP... And the 30million a year we still pay for the fiasco of the world student games was is money well spent is it? Labour like their supporters are only gods at spending money that's not theirs or they haven't earned ... Oh and if they can afford to go out and get bladdered they can afford the full fare home wouldn't you think?
N P Johnson
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 02:40 PMIt's ludicrous that it's come to this. At a time when there's so much concern over climate change, and peopleare being encouraged to leave their cars at home to avoid congestion and pollution, and reduce the menace of drink driving by providing alternatives, such a retrograde step is being taken. There was a time when buses in South Yorkshire were subsidised and ridiculously cheap. Maybe excessively so, but it was brought to an end by a grocer's daughter from Grantham that most Sheffielders didn't vote for. Having a viable and affordable public transport service is in EVERYBODY's interest, for the reasons given above. And yes, if necessary, public money should be made available to ensure that vital services remain.
PaulSheffield
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 02:11 PM@12 - Why should pensioners bus passes be means tested ??? So I work hard all my life save my money pay my taxes and pension etc and then when I retired I have to pay for my bus pass while some scrounging immigrant or single parent mother with 8 kids gets theirs free Yeah !!! good idea...
PaulSheffield
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 02:03 PM@ 12 - Not everything I like Ukip has a policy for same with any party I am for making as many cuts as possible to save us money. OAP's have bus passes so they will be fine so do the disabled as for the rest of them pay the going rate or get a bike.....
seenitall
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 01:09 PMfreedom ....pay us'twirlies. a decent pension...not one of the meanest in the developed world ...and there would be no need for free bus travel.Give us back our self respect instead of younger people bleating on about free travel. It comes out of taxation and unless it has completely missed you we also pay taxes!
Darnall Resident
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 12:59 PMCuts could be made, as post 10 states. the examples you give with 120 and 52 buses are not exactly true. If all routes like the 120 and 52 used double deckers, a 10 to 15 minute frequency may be acceptable, but as it stands now the 52 during peak times are 4 every 20 minutes, with the empty 2nd,3rd and 4th buses passing the 1st packed bus. I also agree that pensioners free bus passes, should be means tested.
freedom
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 12:57 PMOld people can still travel for free, these private companies are raking it in at the expense of the taxpayer.
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