South Yorkshire bus campaigners set to gather tomorrow to reiterate calls for public control
It's due to take place in Sheffield on Tuesday
Tomorrow (Tuesday 9th), local passengers will queue at a temporary bus stop outside a meeting of South Yorkshire leaders in a show of support for public control from 12pm.
The move comes after council leaders indicated they are supporting the “fastest rate” of progress towards the policy of any region, but campaigners are calling for a clear timetable.
Bus franchising, also referred to as public control, would see the final decisions on fares, routes, and standards made by the local authority, not private bus companies.
The system is used in London and Manchester to integrate services and reinvest profits, with private operators only allowed to run services if they win a contract from the mayor.
Oliver Coppard pledged to introduce public control and has been working through a government-mandated process to legally decide on where to introduce franchising.
A report last year claimed that a decision on progress to the next stage, originally due in Autumn 2023 which announces the conclusion of the mayor’s assessment and passes it to an auditor, will now take place in early 2024.
In December, 500 South Yorkshire residents emailed the region's council leaders and mayor asking for them to commit to move forward on this.
In response, Councillor Sir Stephen Houghton, leader of Barnsley Council, emailed activists claiming, “we are taking forward the Bus Franchising Assessment Process at the fastest rate of any Combined Authority to date.”
However, the decision has not appeared on the agenda at the January meeting.
Jenny Carpenter, a member of the South Yorkshire Climate Alliance, has submitted a question to the authority meeting tomorrow (Jan 9):
“Bus services in South Yorkshire continue to deteriorate. Reliability is appalling — it is no joke waiting for buses that don't materialise on cold wet winter days.
“As a member of Better Buses for South Yorkshire I voice our concern at the slow progress of the franchising process.
“Please will you disclose the timetable for the stages involved?”
Campaigners are hopeful that the extraordinary Combined Authority meeting recently scheduled for the 13th of February will reveal that public control has been selected as the preferred option and agree to move to the next stage.
Matthew Topham, a campaigner at Better Buses for South Yorkshire, said: “The Mayor promised to take our buses into public control in his manifesto in 2022.
“With an early mayoral election announced for May of this year, it’s essential that as much progress is made as possible before that point.
“The leaders' commitment to move towards franchising in the fast lane is welcome, but with local people forced to move home, in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, because they can’t rely on buses to get them to work, our region needs them to hit the accelerator again.”
In response - South Yorkshire’s Mayor - Oliver Coppard, said:
“I have said from the beginning that buses aren’t fit for purpose in South Yorkshire and that’s why as soon as I was elected I put in place additional resources to fully assess the bus delivery options, including franchising, as quickly as possible.
"Work on the assessment is well underway and I am committed to take a decision on the next steps of the process as soon as legally possible.”