Sheffield Bus Network Changes - September 2019

[Fudbeer 12]

Andy is on the money as usual.

 

As a regular visitor to London their bus service is superb but it is heavily subsidised,

 

They are also very forward thinking with the Oyster card and no cash rule speeding boarding.

 

Some but not all services in Sheffield are very good I use the 86 every week and its nearly always on time and they have clean and many new busses however they are often nearly empty when I use them.

 

Many things need to change to get people who have a choice of car or bus to leave the car at home.Would take the bus all the time if I worked at peak times as it is quick and regular but when I work till late am not prepared to wait for half an hour in all weathers when the traffic is light and its easier to take the car.

 

Sorry to see the 86 going to first on Sundays and evenings as its a great service and more reliable than first in my experience.

 

 

Edited July 23, 2019 by Fudbeer

[Funky_Gibbon 42]

23 hours ago, Fudbeer said:

Such a shame to see the decline of our once great bus service.With more and more using cars and the roads getting ridiculously congested there seems no end to it.Its a sad fact that many times when using the bus in the early evening there are often only a few passengers on or even just me sometimes.Clearly not worth them running these services.

But that's exactly why these services should be run as a subsidised public services and not as a business. I didn't start getting taxis all the time because I want to, I started because someone decided that the route through the area where I live wasn't profitable enough to run before 7am or after 9pm and that between those times it should go on a route that took it through half of Sheffield and turned a 30 minute journey into an hour long journey from home to workplace. There might be great business reasons for doing that and putting those buses on 'profitable' routes but it causes the very lack of passengers they say justifies cutting back the service. Turning parts of the city into dead zones that lack a public transport option that satisfies the social/work needs of the population of that area just creates more congestion and more pollution as people are forced into cars.

[Andy C 86]

2 hours ago, Funky_Gibbon said:

But that's exactly why these services should be run as a subsidised public services and not as a business. I didn't start getting taxis all the time because I want to, I started because someone decided that the route through the area where I live wasn't profitable enough to run before 7am or after 9pm and that between those times it should go on a route that took it through half of Sheffield and turned a 30 minute journey into an hour long journey from home to workplace. There might be great business reasons for doing that and putting those buses on 'profitable' routes but it causes the very lack of passengers they say justifies cutting back the service. Turning parts of the city into dead zones that lack a public transport option that satisfies the social/work needs of the population of that area just creates more congestion and more pollution as people are forced into cars.

It is the public sectors failings that are causing the actual problems though - council needs to provide congestion free routes for the buses.

 

The longer the journey the less frequency can be provided with the same number of buses. As the journey gets longer and less reliable then less people use the buses causing more congestion which makes the journey time longer and it all goes into a vicious circle of decline. Routes get merged to still provide a reasonable level of service with the resource available.

 

To fix the problems the council needs to act and stop pandering to the "council isn't car friendly" brigade. More bus priority measures and proper enforcement of existing ones needed.

 

If the council aren't prepared to act, then the council running the buses wouldn't make any difference. Except it would be the taxpayer losing money rather than a private business.

 

Of course, the council is limited in what they can do these days in that they are suffering more and more funding cuts thanks to the Conservative government's austerity policy which is also damaging the economy (less employment means less commuters on the buses of course).

Edited July 24, 2019 by Andy C

[RollingJ 2,042]

Excellent response, @Andy C👍

[Michael_N 36]

12 hours ago, Andy C said:

It is the public sectors failings that are causing the actual problems though - council needs to provide congestion free routes for the buses.

 

The longer the journey the less frequency can be provided with the same number of buses. As the journey gets longer and less reliable then less people use the buses causing more congestion which makes the journey time longer and it all goes into a vicious circle of decline. Routes get merged to still provide a reasonable level of service with the resource available.

 

To fix the problems the council needs to act and stop pandering to the "council isn't car friendly" brigade. More bus priority measures and proper enforcement of existing ones needed.

 

If the council aren't prepared to act, then the council running the buses wouldn't make any difference. Except it would be the taxpayer losing money rather than a private business.

 

Of course, the council is limited in what they can do these days in that they are suffering more and more funding cuts thanks to the Conservative government's austerity policy which is also damaging the economy (less employment means less commuters on the buses of course).

Perfectly summed up Andy. You only have to look at the mess in London to see that even with public subsidy, the bus Network is failing and losing passengers and revenue due to congestion.

[Andy C 86]

A reminder the 1st September changes are listed here: https://www.travelsouthyorkshire.com/servicechanges/

 

Note in addition to that there are some City Centre route changes already implemented due to the permanent closure of Castlegate as part of the Grey-to-Green regeneration scheme - see https://www.travelsouthyorkshire.com/disruptions.aspx

[verydull 10]

Sorry to bother you Andy but I don't suppose you know if there is a map of all the bus stop names. The new stops for the 56 and so forthe are only bus stop numbers so pretty useless unless you know where they are

[Andy C 86]

20 hours ago, verydull said:

Sorry to bother you Andy but I don't suppose you know if there is a map of all the bus stop names. The new stops for the 56 and so forthe are only bus stop numbers so pretty useless unless you know where they are

They're on the network map you can download here: https://www.travelsouthyorkshire.com/SheffieldBusNetworkMap/

 

Alternatively search for the bus stop on the live next departures facility https://tsy.yorkshiretravel.net/lts/#/liveDepartures

[SHFS6 10]

Some odd changes effecting Hillsborough/Walkely/Upperthorpe.

 

Removal of 31 will cause issues.

 

And first running the 57 in the evening? Does this mean if I get a return ticket on my way to work on the stagecoach 57 that I can't use it when returning in the evening on the first 57? 

 

 

No wonder so many people are ditching public transport in favour of private vehicles. Probably benefits the government as tax from vehicles must be a good source of income.

 

I don't think this is just a Sheffield issue it's nationwide even in the South East and London. 

 

The proposition that we will all be ditching our cars anytime soon is nonsense,  just look at London which has perhaps one of the best public transport systems in the world. Yet there's more than 2.8 million cars in that city! 

 

If a city that is so well catered for can't do without a vast number of private vehicles, then the rest of the country doesn't stand a chance. Especially when factoring in distances and the scarcity of public transport options.

[Andy C 86]

22 hours ago, SHFS6 said:

Some odd changes effecting Hillsborough/Walkely/Upperthorpe.

 

Removal of 31 will cause issues.

 

And first running the 57 in the evening? Does this mean if I get a return ticket on my way to work on the stagecoach 57 that I can't use it when returning in the evening on the first 57? 

 

 

No wonder so many people are ditching public transport in favour of private vehicles. Probably benefits the government as tax from vehicles must be a good source of income.

 

I don't think this is just a Sheffield issue it's nationwide even in the South East and London. 

 

The proposition that we will all be ditching our cars anytime soon is nonsense,  just look at London which has perhaps one of the best public transport systems in the world. Yet there's more than 2.8 million cars in that city! 

 

If a city that is so well catered for can't do without a vast number of private vehicles, then the rest of the country doesn't stand a chance. Especially when factoring in distances and the scarcity of public transport options.

The 57 sees insufficient usage in the evening to be commercially viable so those journeys run under tender to SYPTE with the bidder willing to run it with the lowest taxpayer subsidy getting the work. This time First has won the contract. Most people these days buy the Citywide passes valid on any bus or tram in Sheffield regardless of operator. 

 

31 is currently run commercially by Sheffield Community transport Monday to Friday daytime with stagecoach operating a subsidised contract evenings and weekends.  SCT have withdrawn their service as it is no longer financially viable,  there are changes to other routes to provide an alternative (135 and 52a principally). Carr road will be left without buses but that's often blocked by parked cars. 

 

Some of the changes have been forced by SYPTE having a reduced budget to fund socially necessary services due to conservative government austerity policy,  others by worsening road traffic congestion causing longer journeys and less efficient and costlier operating conditions. There has also been changes in demand to reflect. 

[Retro Queen 1]

I have heard from reliable sources that the 32 bus (TM Travel) which goes to Shirecliffe and already only runs once an hour and goes off at 7.00 pm is now going to be taken off and not replaced.

 

I catch this bus now and again but mainly catch the 98 from where I live but what about the people further up Shirecliffe? This is the only bus they can catch. Is this some sort of joke. Are they expected to walk everywhere or spend money on taxis, not everyone has a car.

 

It makes me wonder how many more buses are going to be taken off the roads.

[Retro Queen 1]

Just seen this thread. Do you know if the 32 going to be run by First will be more regular? Will the 18 bus still go to Meadowhall and Hillsborough and again be regular (I have been told it will only be every hour).