Back Our Buses: Have your say on proposed changes to bus services in Sheffield in public consultation

Bus users are being asked to share their thoughts on a number of proposed changes to Sheffield bus services that, if approved, will come into effect from April 7.

The region’s bus operators, with South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA), are consulting on proposed changes to some commercial services run by First, as well as those supported financially by SYMCA.

It comes one week after The Star launched the ‘Back Our Buses’ campaign in partnership with South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard. The campaign is calling on the Government to give South Yorkshire a fair deal of revenue funding in line with neighbouring regions - this will allow South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority to make improvements to bus routes and services where commercial bus operators cannot.

Bus companies in South Yorkshire are free to decide where and when they will run services, but the region’s bus network has seen significant reductions in the last year alone due to lack of Government funding, and reduced passenger demand.

Mr Coppard has had feedback about the bus network from hundreds of residents and through the Enhanced Partnership Forum, their concerns have been raised to the operators, local authority representatives and employers. 

The operators have identified changes that they feel would improve specific local services and address some of the issues residents have raised.

What changes are being proposed in Sheffield:

• Service 31 is rerouted to Fox Hill (rather than Wisewood/Loxley) to provide a direct link for the community to Hillsborough centre.
• Service 32 is amended to complement the changes to the 31 and M92.
• Service 52a is reintroduced every 30 minutes into Loxley and Wisewood, with service 31 rerouted to Foxhill.
• Service M92 route is changed in Fox Hill to complement the changes to the 31 and 32.  A Saturday service is introduced.
• Service X1/X10 and X78 switch routes between Sheffield and Rotherham to provide more capacity on Brightside Lane.  Tram-train continues to provide additional journeys along the Attercliffe corridor.

Both of the consultations are open from today, February 5, to February 15. 

To have your say on the proposed changes to First’s commercial services, visit: firstbus.co.uk/south-yorkshire/news-and-service-updates/have-your-say

To have your say on the proposed changes to the SYMCA’s tendered bus services, please visit: travelsouthyorkshire.com/April2024.

As well as calling on the Government for funding for South Yorkshire, Mr Coppard with the SYMCA is currently undertaking a franchising assessment process which would see the region’s bus network brought under public control.

The SYMCA has said that funding from the Government’s Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) and subsequent funding allocations means South Yorkshire has been given the equivalent of £10 per person in funding. But across the border, West Yorkshire has received £40.

Of £500m funding for transport given to the region over the past five years, only £7.8m was revenue funding. Capital funding can only be used to invest in bus lanes and junction improvements.

Previously, the DfT said: "South Yorkshire has been allocated more than half a billion pounds over five years to improve local transport, with almost one and a half billion pounds to follow from 2027, including an extra £543m from reallocated HS2 funding.

"Reallocated HS2 funding has also already provided an extra £7.8m for South Yorkshire specifically to improve bus services, with more to come as part of a long-term plan to improve bus services across the North and Midlands.

"This comes on top of the Government’s £300m package to protect bus routes into 2025, and nearly £600m spent to single cap bus fares at £2 until the end of 2024."