Public transport is a consistent issue in South Yorkshire but what else can we tackle?

I met with him at The Star readers’ panel last week, and as the recently-elected mayor of the South Yorkshire Combined Authority, he seems to be hell-bent on improving ongoing issues in Sheffield and the region.

The mayor was born and raised here and is proud to still call South Yorkshire his home. And by evidently caring for the future of the communities in Sheffield, one of the main challenges I think he should face is the ongoing issue of anti-social behaviour on public transport.

People should have a right to stay safe on public transport, whether it be on the bus, tram or train – especially for women who travel alone and in groups. Sadly it feels as though anti-social behaviour is on the rise and has been too difficult to tackle.

Bus connections are also so limited and unreliable at times, that many people like me, who take the bus when running late are left waiting almost half an hour to a full hour for the next bus to finally arrive or just not show up at all.

At times, even when boarding on public transport, crime makes an appearance whether it be fist-fights on buses, attacks on bystanders waiting at the bus stops and even inside where nobody, including the bus driver can do anything about it other than observe.

In my opinion, youth crime and anti-social behaviour should be one of the main issues the newly elected mayor should tackle, and with the his remit of investing in public transport this is one of the main areas he can look at.

The mayor will be looking at the regulation of routes, frequencies and fares and bringing them back under public control which I believe in turn may bring violence on public transport to a minimum, or even better, abolish all together.

And by planning to roll out supertram across the whole region, we may be one step closer to solving the problem.