Sheffield campaigners for ‘regular and reliable’ bus services across South Yorkshire protested for change this week.
The ‘Better Buses for South Yorkshire’ team congregated outside South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) on 21 March 2022, chanting their rendition of ‘the wheels on the bus’.
The campaigners are hoping to spread awareness on the human impacts of public transport that ‘just does not turn up’.
The group are calling for the enforcement of ‘franchising’, with the aim of giving the public more control over the bus service, allowing them to prioritise ‘punctuality over profits’.
George Arthur, a campaigner said: “South Yorkshire Better Buses have been putting pressure on Mayor Oliver Coppard to improve our bus services.
“What we really want to see is public ownership of the buses, getting rid of the private companies and bringing everything back to us like it used to be.
“It’s very much a half-way house.”
The 74-year-old worries the current services are inaccessible for both students and elderly people, who rely heavily on buses and are spending a lot of money to ride them.
He hopes franchising would lead to cheaper fares, better routes and adjustments to timetables, meaning work, healthcare and education do not take a hit when ‘unreliable’ buses do not arrive.
The campaign took place at 1pm on Tuesday, whilst an important meeting was taking place between local politicians such as Mr Coppard, and the big bus companies, to discuss the prospect of turning South Yorkshire’s buses into a franchise.
If the scheme is successful, Sheffield will be following the lead of Manchester and Liverpool City Region who are all well underway with the process.
The campaigners were joined by members of Unite’s ‘Retired Members Branch’, Green Party representative Peter Gilbert and climate activists all attended the rally outside Broad Street West.
Janice Brown is a climate activist who feels that we ‘haven’t got time’ to be debating the plans, amidst the ongoing climate crisis.
The 69-year-old feels that the current bus services discourage people from using public transport and resort to environmentally unfriendly alternatives.
She said: “At the moment, public transport doesn’t go where we want, when we want it to, at times that suit people, so people find themselves stuck and end up resorting to cars.
“Even if buses are around, there is a cost of living crisis going on and they are too expensive for lots of people.
“There is also a climate crisis going on and I think it is really vital for the climate as well as the population to actually be able to get that service”.
You can follow ‘Better Buses for South Yorkshire’ on their journey by engaging with their social media campaigns (@BetterBusesSy) and using the hashtag #ReasonsToRegulate.