Reader's letter: "With services this unreliable, why would anyone want to use Sheffield's buses?"

MP Louise Haigh’s campaign for better buses in Sheffield is a great idea, but unfortunately it doesn’t go far enough. The list doesn’t include all the buses in Sheffield so it is impossible to send every complaint to the website.
By Eilis Coffey
Published 11th Oct 2021, 09:16 BST
A Star reader has suggested the city's bus services are too unreliable and too expensiveA Star reader has suggested the city's bus services are too unreliable and too expensive
A Star reader has suggested the city's bus services are too unreliable and too expensive

The list does include the 51, so I was able to record the missing bus on September 15 on Redmires Road, which meant I had to wait for 25 minutes.

However, it doesn’t list the 83a and the 120 which are the two buses I use most often, so I was unable to record the times the 83a was missing completely, as it was at 8.47 on September 13 and at 11.47 on September 24, and, as this bus only runs every half hour, it’s a long wait when one just doesn’t turn up.

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In fact the rush hour on September 13 was particularly bus-free as there was no 120 for 35 minutes and no 83a for one and a quarter hours as the bus which followed the missing 8.47 didn’t turn up until 9.32 instead of 9.14. (I don’t think I can count the 83a which came along at 9.15 saying ‘Sorry, Not in Service’). This was similar to today’s rush hour when again there was no 120 for 35 minutes between 15.45 and 16.20.

Sheffielders are always being encouraged to take the bus instead of adding to pollution by cluttering up the roads with their cars, but with a service this unreliable, why would anyone want to? (And don’t get me started on the cost of taking a bus, which must also be a real deterrent).

Eilis Coffey

Sheffield, S10

Related topics:SheffieldLouise HaighREADER