Petition launched over proposed bus cuts in South Yorkshire

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Rotherham councillors have launched a petition calling on the government to extend emergency bus funding to Rotherham, after it was revealed that as many as one in three services could be at risk from October.

Councillor Chris Read, leader of Rotherham Council, previously called for the government to extend its Covid funding for local bus services beyond October as it emerged that services locally would be lost, including the possibility of commercially-run evening services ending altogether in the borough.

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Figures released by the Mayor of South Yorkshire, Oliver Coppard, showed that as much as a third of South Yorkshire’s bus network could be at risk.

Cllrs Amy Brookes, David Roche, Denise Lelliott, Dave Sheppard, Victoria Cusworth and Saghir Alam, outside Rotherham bus station with the petition

The labour councillors are seeking a continuation of £40 million a year for the next three years from the government to maintain the current bus network whilst passenger numbers return to pre-Covid levels.

A further £85 million would enable improvements to the network including improvements to ticketing and travel time information.

Coun Read said;“Especially at a time when the government is in disarray, it’s really important that we send a message loud and clear from Rotherham – and the rest of South Yorkshire – that we are not just accepting that the Conservative government has given up on our bus services.

“People are quite rightly telling us that cuts on this scale will have a big impact on their lives, their ability to get to work and to see their families. The more support we’re able to demonstrate, the stronger and louder the case we can make.”

“This would be a dead easy change for the government to make – all they need to do is to keep giving the emergency support they’ve made over the last two years through Covid.

“We’re really asking them to stick with the policy that they’ve had, and give our buses the change to recover passenger numbers.”

Anyone wishing to add their name in support of local bus services can do so online at www.rotherhamlabour.co.uk/buses.