Sheffield City Council will introduce four free-to-use electric buses in the city centre from next month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From Monday 8 April, brand new, zero-emission buses will replace the existing Sheffield Connect buses. Stops will be conveniently situated within a short stroll of key activity hubs, connecting with the current tram and train networks.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sheffield Connect is free to ride if you have certain passes or tickets. Without those, it’s only \u00a31 for a single journey with cash and contactless payments accepted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tommy Roberts, 20, a student at the University of Sheffield, said: \u201cFree buses are a good thing, but they\u2019d be more useful to have them around student areas than Cathedral. Uni is here, not at the cathedral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEspecially because they took away the Zoom card, so I don\u2019t get the bus anymore. It\u2019s not worth it, when it used to be 80p. So it\u2019s cool to have free buses but that money could be used to help students, like bringing back the Zoom card.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zoom card users had to start paying \u00a32 rather than 80p for some fares after a funding cut for Sheffield transport on November 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kelly Coles, 47, a housing officer working in Sheffield, said: \u201cIt would benefit me and make it easier for the environment while I work in the city centre, as I would be able to leave the car at the office and travel around the city for free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt will help my workplace financially as we wouldn\u2019t have to claim petrol back for journeys, and since it\u2019s a charity, that would allow the money to be used elsewhere and to help our residents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With a frequency of every seven to eight minutes, travellers can simply arrive and board, enhancing the speed, cleanliness, and cost-effectiveness of their journeys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Caroline Dix, 27, a PhD student in Public Health and Economics, said: \u201cI\u2019m just conscious that if there\u2019s not that \u2018barrier\u2019 for entry, then people will spend more time on them, making them busy. In this sense it doesn\u2019t encourage walking at all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The debut of Sheffield\u2019s zero-emission buses, backed by South Yorkshire\u2019s Mayor Oliver Coppard, aligns with the city council\u2019s goal of limiting carbon emissions throughout the region.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mayor Oliver Coppard said: \u201cWe\u2019re delighted to see the very first fully electric buses arrive in South Yorkshire. They are just the first of many that will start operating in the region over the next few weeks, with the support of the Mayoral Combined Authority.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sheffield City Council will run four free-to-use electric buses in the city centre from this April.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":633,"featured_media":58333,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[41,1196,21,55],"tags":[1193,1413,456,260,1412,822,263,141,1414,1236,1411],"class_list":["post-58313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","category-front-page-highlights","category-news","category-top-story-3","tag-bus","tag-carbon-emissions","tag-climate-change","tag-environment","tag-low-carbon","tag-oliver-coppard","tag-public-transport","tag-sheffield-city-council","tag-south-yorkshire-mayor","tag-transport","tag-zero-emission"],"yoast_head":"\n