Commuters hit out at rise in Sheffield bus fares

The new prices came into force on Sunday, February 3 – just four weeks after fares increased across South Yorkshire. 

Stagecoach said most single and return fares will rise by 10p or 20p while the cost of a Sheffield Day Rider, which allows unlimited travel on Stagecoach buses in the city, a will rise from £4 to £4.20.

A weekly Day Rider, allowing seven days travel on Stagecoach bus services, will also rise from £14 to £14.50, while a 28-day pass will set passengers back £56 – up £2.

This has angered many passengers who said they would like to see a better service in place to match the regular rises in fares. 

Many Star readers took to Facebook to complain about the increases. 

Kerry Pennington posted: “Maybe if the buses were reliable and came on time maybe people wouldn't mind a small fare increase but every day without fail buses are late.”

John Machin said: “Already costs us over a pound a mile on the bus, you can run most cars for a lot less than that, even with just one person in. Totally disgusted. It’s about time our politicians acted.”

Steve Eyles: “High fares, no shows, smelly dirty busses one of the reason why I have a car.”

Marie Marriott said: “The only thing that ever comes down is rain so it does not surprise me every year everything goes up.”

Carol Douglas said: “And they wonder why there are more cars on the road...The more they charge, the less people use them and the more they put prices up to cover the loss. It's not worked over the last 30 years, maybe they should try putting them down and attracting more people instead.”

James Wilson commented: “What again? It's supposed to be public transport, the inexpensive environmentally friendly alternative. It will be cheaper to go by helicopter at this rate.”

John Young, commercial director at Stagecoach Yorkshire, said of the fare changes: “We strive to keep fares as low as possible for all our customers, with a wide range of tickets and discounts available across our services. 

“However, we face a challenging economic environment due to rising operating costs and cuts to public sector spending on buses, meaning we have had to reassess our pricing strategy.

“The money from fares is reinvested into improving our services throughout the region so that we can offer our passengers the most convenient and safe travel options.”