Back Our Buses: Sheffield man left ‘seething’ as cuts to evening service sees him walking miles in the rain

A Sheffield man has lashed out at a bus operator after cuts to evening and weekend services has seen one community reliant on owning cars to socialise. 

Adam Woolf, aged 64, is calling for changes to the bus network in the city after service cuts made last year to his local services have seen those without access to a car, such as the elderly, disabled and ethnic minorities, disproportionately affected.

Musician Adam lives in Gleadless Herdings, and is unable to drive due to medical reasons. Since retiring as a care assistant he has been meeting with other musicians and playing gigs in the city centre and Chapeltown - but the recent cuts have left him with increased difficulty travelling on the evenings and weekends.

On several occasions in the past couple of weeks, Adam has been left "seething" after his bus - the 1a or the 11 service run by First - has been late, or been missing altogether. This has forced him to wait in the pouring rain and cold conditions.

"If I was still a shift worker in care, it would be impossible to do now," he said. "I used to have problems on Sundays even before the cuts, and I got a lot of stick from management about it."

One evening even saw Adam walk from The Moor to his home in the pouring rain, a distance of around three miles, after his bus failed to show up after a gig. The only alternative was to pay £10 for a taxi home.

Other occasions have involved the 1a service allegedly changing to an 11 service while on route, meaning it can end its service at Arundel Gate without travelling the distance to Chapeltown.

Adam said he lodged a formal complaint to Travel South Yorkshire, the public transport brand of South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA).

But he said: "SYMCA has no way of monitoring the reality of the private bus companies’ treatment of the negotiated timetable, except through individual complaints - and as long as people feel unable to speak up because they are so used to being treated badly, these companies act without scrutiny."

Bus operators in South Yorkshire are privately-owned, which means they are in control of what services they offer, and when. With a decline in bus users over recent years, bus firms have had to make cuts to ‘unviable’ services, typically ones which are underused.

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A spokesperson for First South Yorkshire said that the 1a service runs every 15-20 minutes throughout the week, and extends beyond Chapeltown to High Green on Sundays every 30 minutes in the day. The 11 service also runs every 15-20 minutes, and every 30 minutes on Sundays in the day. 

The spokesperson added that South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) pays the firm to run evening and Sunday services on both routes every two hours.

Adam, who is originally from London, is calling for a similar franchised system to be used in South Yorkshire.

Earlier this week, South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard announced that the move towards taking back public control of the transport system is one step closer, and he hopes that a final decision will be made by the end of the year.

With the franchising scheme estimated to cost around £5mil, SYMCA is unable to fund any additional services.

This is why The Star, in partnership with Mr Coppard, is calling on the Government to give us a fair share of revenue funding. As part of the ‘Back Our Buses’ campaign, we are asking residents affected by poor public transport to share their experience so we can highlight the need for better buses.

In a previous statement, the DfT said: "South Yorkshire has been allocated more than half a billion pounds over five years to improve local transport, with almost one and a half billion pounds to follow from 2027, including an extra £543m from reallocated HS2 funding. Reallocated HS2 funding has also already provided an extra £7.8m for South Yorkshire specifically to improve bus services, with more to come as part of a long-term plan to improve bus services across the North and Midlands.

"This comes on top of the Government’s £300m package to protect bus routes into 2025, and nearly £600m spent to single cap bus fares at £2 until the end of 2024."

SYMCA responded that all but £7.8m of this amount is capital funding, which has been received for projects such as investments in bus lanes and junction improvements. It has reiterated that without revenue funding in line with other regions, it would not be able to fund the improvements to ongoing services and routes that South Yorkshire needs.

Do you have a story about Sheffield buses? Please share your story if you are 18 or over, anonymously if you wish. Email: [email protected] with your name, phone number and a summary of your experience.