Approximately one third of bus routes in Sheffield are vulnerable to being wholly or partly cut at the beginning of October. South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) are seeking feedback on what services are most important to you. This will inform which service might receive limited support from public money.
You can fill in the survey here.
Alternatively, anyone without access to the internet can call the Traveline team on 01709 515151 who will be happy to help you complete the survey over the phone or paper copies will be available at their interchanges.
Additionally, we would like to hear any accessibility issues or concerns for specific to disabled people that you feel are not captured in this survey. Feedback on general principles such as particular times of day where services really matter or general impact on journeys you make are particularly helpful as it is unlikely we will be able to campaign for specific routes. One example might be the impact of fewer services increasing the chance of the wheelchair space already being taken causing delays. Please email your thoughts to consultations@disabilitysheffield.org.uk and we will work with Sheffield Transport 4 All to take this forward.
If you want more detail then the following summary from SYMCA indicates the depth of the issues and what to expect:
“What is SYMCA doing in response to the service cuts?
We are doing all we can with the limited powers and money we have to protect bus services and have already stepped in with emergency funding for school buses. This includes paying bus companies to run services through a contract where there isn’t a profitable route. But the scale of cuts being made by bus companies means our budget can only buy back around half the network at risk.
Between April 2022 and March 2023 our budget to support the bus network is £11.9 million. It would cost around £23 million to pay bus companies to replace all the services they plan to remove.
We, therefore, want to make sure we are making the best use of our budget – the council tax we all pay for public transport – to run bus contracts where people rely on them most. We want members of the public in our region to tell us what kinds of bus services are most important to them.”
