On Monday the 1st of August the new City Connect bus service is due to start operation in Sheffield City Centre. This will connect major transport stops and some of the locations cut off from public transport since the closure of Pinstone Street to traffic. Now that the most negatively impacted spots are served by this service between 9:30am and 6pm (4pm Sundays) we are hopeful that more disabled and other members of the public will be able to access the city centre.
Sheffield Transport 4 All, the Access Liaison Group, and Disability Sheffield raised concerns with access shortly after the introduction of the road closure Pinstone Street during the period where social distancing measures were taken by the council. Those changes resulted in some locations being up to 400m further away when taking account of hills as well as distance. Therefore, we are glad to see the council has responded to the significant negative impact on access for disabled people as well as other citizens.
The timetable and further details of the route can be found on the Travel South Yorkshire website here
Once the service starts we hope it will prove popular and cover what people need to access the city centre or change between buses. The service is free to holders of disability and other bus pass holders as well as anyone who has purchased a SY bus or tram ticket that day. This hopefully means the service is free for the majority of disabled people especially if already using public transport to arrive in town. For anyone else who wishes to use the service a £1 single fare applies.
If you do have any issues or feedback then please do get in touch with us at consultations@disabilitysheffield.org.uk so we can share feedback with partner groups and the council.