Only the desperate use the buses now

Things started going wrong some years ago when some man had the idea of changing the bus numbers. Passengers didn’t know which bus to get on so gave up using them.

Then they changed again and again, losing more and more passengers. My own route has had five changes of bus numbers in around eight years, so now only the desperate use them.

I am lucky enough to have travelled all over the world and as my husband has an interest in public transport wherever we go we use buses and trains – it can be fun some times.

Where other systems differ from Sheffield’s is that if we return four or five years later the numbers of the buses and most of the routes will be the same, hence large passenger numbers.

Sheffield needs to keep a set network with bus numbers returning to the original 7 for Stannington, 82 for Middlewood 88 for Fulwood and so on.

If changes are needed the route should be tweaked and not the number, (the 52 has never had a number change and passenger numbers still remain high on this route), and if demand is there another route is added not wholesale demolition as has happened over the last few years.

Pond Street could be more utilised with buses finishing there but then possibly a round city bus connecting the city centre.

S Thompson

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