The number of bus passengers has risen by thousands over the past year as Sheffield City Council celebrates one year since they launched the fully electric bus services.
Four brand new, fully electric buses and an expanded route were launched back in March 2024, called Sheffield Connect. It also offers a second city-centre service.
Since then, more than 78,000 passengers have used the completely free hop on, hop off service, helping them to get around the city.
Since the relaunch, figures from the first nine months state that more than 40,000 passengers used Sheffield Connect Route 1, the main route, compared with 16,500 passengers before the service went electric.
Councillor Ben Miskell, Chair of the Transport, Regeneration and Climate Policy Committee, said: “The success of Sheffield Connect is another example of how our city centre is transforming. With more people living, working and visiting Sheffield, we’re creating a city centre everyone can be proud of.
“People have told us they want a quick, easy and free way to get around everything the city centre has to offer — and that’s exactly why we introduced this service. Now we want to encourage even more people to jump onboard.”
Cllr Miskell also said how it now reaches the ‘fabulous Heart of the City’ development.
He said: “We’re transforming the city to make bus travel more attractive, as we move towards bus franchising that has just been announced by South Yorkshire’s Mayor’s Oliver Coppard.
“The success of our two Sheffield Connect services shows that when you provide a high-quality, reliable service, people will use it. The introduction of four fully electric buses has also helped to improve the air we breathe in the city centre — something we’re determined to build on.”
Sheffield City Council have been granted an £11.3 million fund which will be partially dedicated to electrifying even more of Sheffield’s buses and ‘enhancing the passenger experience’ in the upcoming future.