00:00So, Mayor of South Yorkshire, Oliver Coppard. Quite the day today, we're on board a vintage Sheffield bus. Why would that be?
00:10Because we're going back to the future. We used to have a world-class public transport system in South Yorkshire when I was growing up here.
00:15We used to have 2P bus fares, buses all over the place, connecting up our communities.
00:20And then, as a result of privatisation over the last 40 years, we've lost that.
00:24And we're now in a place where our bus network simply isn't good enough.
00:27So, today, we've taken the decision to bring our buses back under public control from 2027, so we can be back in charge of routes and fares and timetables.
00:35Fantastic. So, when can people expect to start seeing the results of that?
00:39So, 2027 is when the whole change will start happening. It then takes three years for that to come into full effect right across the whole of South Yorkshire.
00:46But we're already making moves in that direction, aren't we?
00:48Because we've brought the tram back under public control and investing, frankly, tens of millions of pounds in the tram network.
00:54It's not had that investment for years. I know it's not good enough yet, but we're getting there because we're investing so much money in it.
00:59The buses will be next in 2027, and at that point, you can start creating an integrated transport network where those services work together in tandem.
01:06Can we have the 2P bus fares back?
01:08I'd love to bring the 2P bus fares back, just for my own nostalgia, frankly.
01:12Look, we've just introduced a free travel pilot for under-18s in Barnsley.
01:16So, from later this year, every young person in Barnsley will travel for free on the buses, and that's really good news.
01:22And that's a pilot, something else I promised last time I ran for election.
01:25So, we'll learn from that pilot in advance of 2027, because that's the sort of thing I want to be able to do across the whole of South Yorkshire.
Comments