We need a decision-making South Yorkshire Transport Board.

News from Better Buses for South Yorkshire

Supporters of the Better Buses for South Yorkshire campaign were very pleased to be invited to the event in Sheffield, which launched the South Yorkshire People’s Network. This is a great choice of name for our future publicly controlled transport system, which will end Thatcher’s failed privatisation of our bus services. We have suffered 40 years of bus companies ripping us off and destroying vital services, leaving many communities isolated. At last, we end the power of the bus companies to make decisions based only on the drive to increase profits, not on the needs of communities.

The move to public control, which will begin in the autumn of 2027 and be completed across our region by 2029, means the mayoral authority will take control of bus routes, timetables and fares and own the bus depots and fleets.

Free fares for under-18s, now being piloted with great success in Barnsley, will be introduced across the network. (Sheffield Greens are calling for this to apply up to age 22) Money from profitable bus routes will be used to fund loss-making parts of the network, safeguarding routes which under the present system would be scrapped by private operators.

This is a positive step forward which will undoubtedly improve bus services, as we are seeing in Greater Manchester. There, Andy Burnham has introduced lower fares, more routes, night buses and improved frequency and punctuality, which has encouraged more people to use buses. But ultimately, we need full public ownership to return to the great transport network we had in the 1970s. This would give us a real “People’s Network”!

At the event, South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard declared, “We will create a public transport system moulded by those who use it…… putting people at the heart of plans.”

BBSY agrees that those impacted by decisions about services, including passengers and bus workers, should be actively involved in making those decisions.

Next Tuesday, 24^th March, Better Buses for South Yorkshire is holding a rally outside the SYMCA offices in Sheffield before handing over a petition calling for public involvement in planning our bus services. It has been supported by many organisations across South Yorkshire, including Tell the Truth Sheffield, trade unions, climate groups, churches and community groups, and signed by over 1200 individuals.

We are calling on SYMCA to set up a decision-making South Yorkshire Transport Board, including representatives of bus user groups, workers in the industry, community organisations, disability groups and other civil society bodies to work alongside the Mayor and elected council representatives.   This will ensure that the experiences and views of people and communities most in need of good public transport are at the heart of plans and decisions.

For details of the rally or for more information about our campaign,  contact BBSY on betterbusesforsy@gmail.com

Tell the Truth Sheffield warmly welcomes the investment in new electric buses and free fares for under-18s, but it has taken the Mayoral Authority far too long to get to this point. We need to continue the push for bus users to have much greater say in the running of public transport and full public control of all our public transport as soon as possible. Please come along to the rally on Tuesday, 24th March at  11 Broad Street West, Sheffield, S1 2BQ