Sheffield Greens urge residents to push for 'full public ownership' of buses after budget raises fare cap
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The party has welcomed the “long overdue” movement towards public control of the region’s buses after the opening of a 12-week consultation on bus franchising by the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA).
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Hide AdPeter Gilbert, councillor for Ecclesall ward, said it was a positive step but “franchising isn’t the final destination”.
He added: “I would urge the councils, the Mayor and the people of South Yorkshire to push to follow London in investigating using new powers from Central Government to set up an authority-owned operator, to achieve full public ownership of our buses.”
The Sheffield Greens said full ownership of the bus network would ‘cut out the middle-men’ and would equal a return to “running our own services, as we did prior to 1986, when our buses were the envy of Europe”.
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Hide AdThe party expressed disappointment in the decision to raise the bus fare cap to £3 from £2, as announced before the budget speech on Wednesday, October 30, 2024.
Government ministers stated the move has extended the cap for another year, as it was due to expire at the end of 2024.
Local Greens demanded the government reverse the increase and fund the £2 cap for “the foreseeable future”.
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Hide AdGreen Party public transport campaigner Thomas Atkins-Withers, from Jordanthorpe, said: “For a government that says it doesn’t want to increase costs for working people, it's unbelievable that they are raising the bus fare cap to £3.
“As someone who comes from an extremely deprived area, where 46 per cent of households don’t have access to a car, it's clear who this is going to affect the most, and it isn’t the wealthy.
“We are in a situation where a government supposedly for working people would rather increase a basic living cost, rather than tax their wealthy friends. This shortsighted choice is only going to prevent people from using public transport.”
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Hide AdThe Prime Minister confirmed the cap would rise in a pre-budget speech in Birmingham on Monday, October 28, and was confirmed before parliament the following day by the Department for Transport (DfT) and Secretary of State Louise Haigh MP.
In a written statement, the DfT said: “This will particularly benefit passengers in rural communities and towns and will save passengers up to 80 per cent on some routes.
“The cap means no single bus fare on routes included in the scheme will exceed £3 and routes where fares are less than £3 will only be allowed to increase by inflation in the normal way so that some fares will remain below £3. The fare cap will help millions access better opportunities and promote greater use by passengers.”
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