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South Yorkshire bus campaigners will continue to build “a head of steam” in support for public bus ownership by holding an event outside a major regional transport meeting next month.

The Better Buses for South Yorkshire campaign plan to hold an event outside the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority offices on May 9, when SY Mayor Oliver Coppard will meet bus company representatives in a bi-monthly meeting. This comes after the Better Buses campaign travelled to London last week to picket the Department of Transport as part of national climate change protests in the capital.

Fran Postlethwaite, convener of Better Buses for South Yorkshire group, said: “There will be an event, rather than a protest, outside the next meeting [on May 9] to pinpoint that fares are something that we could regulate and have much more control over.”

Better Buses for South Yorkshire has held previous events outside meetings of the Enhanced Partnerships Board, of which the 9 May meeting is one, and from the last event decided to choose a campaigning theme for each one. The event outside the last meeting, in March, was themed “Regulate for Reliability” and the May one will be “Franchising for fair fares”.

South Yorkshire bus campaigners will continue to build “a head of steam” in support for public bus ownership by holding an event outside a major regional transport meeting on May 9. Members of Better Buses for South Yorkshire are pictured here at a previous demonstration in Sheffield.

Ms Postlethwaite added: “What we chose for the meeting in March was ‘regulate for reliability’ because lack of reliable buses is a major issue.” At the event on May 9, issues such as ‘Hopper Fares’ will be raised as potential solutions for the issue of fares.

Transport is a key issue in South Yorkshire and is a stated priority for Coppard. He has pledged public ownership of trams, introduced the £2 capped ‘Mayor’s fare’, and accelerated the bus franchising process.

At the South Yorkshire Transport Summit in March, Coppard said: “For the first time in decades, South Yorkshire is returning democratic control to its transport system. Through the Mayoral Combined Authority, we are beginning that integrated, strategic thinking for the region – and showing our communities what a renewed, responsive transport system could look like.”

The Mayoral Authority is currently looking at the case for bus franchising and will launch a three-month public consultation at the start of next year. A lot of the Better Buses’

campaigning, then, is about building up support for the idea ahead of this public consultation.

People in the campaign are pleased with Coppard’s engagement with the transport issue. Ms Postlesthwaite and George Arthur, who is active in the campaign, said they were both

largely happy with Coppard’s progress, and told the Star that he signed their ‘Better Buses Pledge’ before he was elected. “We’re supporting what he’s doing, really, he’s moving as quickly as is possible under the existing legislation,” Ms Postlethwaite added.

South Yorkshire bus campaigners to continue pressure for public ownership

People in the campaign are pleased with Coppard’s engagement with the transport issue. Ms Postlesthwaite and George Arthur, who is active in the campaign, said they were both

largely happy with Coppard’s progress, and told the Star that he signed their ‘Better Buses Pledge’ before he was elected. “We’re supporting what he’s doing, really, he’s moving as quickly as is possible under the existing legislation,” Ms Postlethwaite added.