Call for action over declining Sheffield bus services

Representatives from First Bus and the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive faced a frustrated audience at the Walkley Community Forum as residents took the opportunity to vent about services in their area including the re-routed 95 and the recently scrapped number 31.

Tim Taylor, director of customer service at the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE), was quick to cite limited funding and regulatory powers as restricting SYPTE’s role.

He said: “We cannot forget the fact that we have had significant cuts to funding in the whole of the South Yorkshire area.

“Our budget at SYPTE has fallen by pretty much half from £104 million to £55 million.

“Contrary to popular belief we don’t run the bus services in South Yorkshire and while I would agree that at the moment the service is failing to deliver, unfortunately the powers we have to take action are limited.”

Mr Taylor attended the meeting on the request of City Region mayor Dan Jarvis and said that all options were being explored to improve services including the possibility of franchising.

Deborah Pickvance of the Walkley Community forum presented data on the 95 route showing there were 10 missing services and waiting times of 52 and 68 minutes on one day..

Mrs Pickvacne said: “I fear this will lead to a vicious cycle, an unreliable service leads to less people using it, which leads to cuts to the service which leads to even less people using it.”

Head of external relations at First Bus, Brandon Jones, confirmed there had been issues with the new route including a change to the signage on a bridge which means the 95 will remain a single decker service even at peak times.

Mr Jones said: “Our network plan is to continue with the service as it stands but we will continue to review it - fixing the reliability is where our focus is.

“There have been issues in the Meadowhall area over the Christmas period but the main issues have been within our control and have been the result of vehicle availability and engineering failures.”

One recurring comment from the forum was disbelief that an area only two miles outside the city centre was so badly served by the transport network.

SYPTE representative Mr Taylor was keen for the audience to channel their frustration into positive action. He said: “Lobby your local councillor, lobby Dan Jarvis and as a partnership maybe we can make a change.

“What I really want to see is people back on our buses for the good of the city and the region as a whole.”