Thousands respond to bus franchising survey

Hundreds of people responded to a consultation on buses within hours of it being launched.

The 12-week consultation, headed by South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard, is asking people for their views on whether buses should be brought back under public control.

Currently, private bus companies control how buses are operated, but if franchising goes ahead the Mayor would take over responsibility for setting routes, fares and timetables.

Since it launched on 22 October nearly 3,000 people have responded, with735 responses in the first 24 hours.

Coppard said the figures were "more than some other regions have had in total across their 12-week consultation periods".

“We want to hear from people who live and work in South Yorkshire, as well as those people who use our transport networks from further afield, and there’s still nine weeks for everyone to tell us what they think about our proposals to take back control of our buses," hr said.

“It’s vital that people have their say by filling out either the short or long version of the survey, or by coming along to one of our drop-in events which are happening right across the region.”

Matthew Topham, of the We Own It bus campaign group, said he often heard from passengers with complaints.

“We have heard from people who had an NHS appointment that they had been waiting months for, the bus didn’t turn up in time, and they ended up missing the first 10 minutes. It’s the stress that causes, " he said.

“People have told me that their boss has said if they are late to work again they will be fired when it’s no fault of their own, the bus system means that they can't get to work on time.

“People also say the cost of multiple bus fares for a single journey means that it's actually getting so expensive, even with the £2 fare cap, that they can't get to college affordably.

“It cuts down these opportunities for healthcare, education, work that we need to be building up if we're going to have a thriving South Yorkshire.”

The consultation will close at midday on 15 January, 2025.

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