January 2020 Bus Service Changes

[overtheborder 0]

On 02/11/2019 at 17:53, Andy C said:

To be fair things are moving towards the Travelmaster ticket range rather than operator specific (for many bus connections in Sheffield or Rotherham are with a different operator) so with both bus and tram passengers on the South Yorkshire Connect tickets (£6.80 for a day ticket or £23.50 for a weekly ticket) valid on all buses and trams in the county, the cost is the same for both tram and bus and flexibility is enjoyed. It does of course cost more if you want to include trains too.

 

In terms of direct services, the X1 is proposed to be reduced to 2 buses an hour Sheffield-Meadowhall-Rotherham (with some extras Meadowhall-Rotherham) but that is alongside the X78 offering up to 4 buses an hour and the tram offering up to 3 departures per hour - so 9 an hour in total across X1/X78/TT.  Within Sheffield, the Attercliffe area is also served by buses 9, 9a, 52, 52a and 208 along with the Yellow route tram. I think there will still be plentiful provision!

 

 

 

Just to remind the proposed changes to Sheffield buses for January: (They are all basically Rotherham or Chesterfield bound buses)

 

First buses:

X1/X10: Sheffield-Meadowhall-Rotherham-Maltby-Doncaster: Change to frequency and service pattern

74: Sheffield-Manor Top-Handsworth-Waverley-Catcliffe-Brinsworth-Rotherham: Change of route via Meadowhall

208: Sheffield-Tinsley-Dinnington: Change of route via Wickersley

 

Stagecoach buses:

43: Sheffield-Dronfield-Dronfield Woodhouse-Chesterfield: Change of route between Whittington Moor and Chesterfield via Newbold and change to timetable/service pattern

44: Sheffield-Coal Aston-Dronfield-Chesterfield: timetable change

72: Sheffield-Crystal Peaks-Killamarsh-Renishaw-Staveley-Chesterfield: Replaced by service 80 with some changes to route with The Moor in Sheffield and Chesterfield Royal Hospital served by the new route.

 

Additionally taking place in December at the National Rail timetable change there is a change to the tram train timetable.

 

Been a while since i was in Sheffield but are any of the bus services you mentioned ran by different operators at different times of the day? There was one in Wigan that ran with one operator until around 9pm, then switched to a different one, making the earlier tickets invalid. Not sure if that's the case in Sheffield now but i'm not really sure that type of thing puts the bus user first.

[Andy C 85]

12 hours ago, overtheborder said:

Been a while since i was in Sheffield but are any of the bus services you mentioned ran by different operators at different times of the day? There was one in Wigan that ran with one operator until around 9pm, then switched to a different one, making the earlier tickets invalid. Not sure if that's the case in Sheffield now but i'm not really sure that type of thing puts the bus user first.

Yes. This tends to happen when a commercial service doesn't operate in the evening because there isn't enough demand for fares taken to cover costs at that time but the local authority has decided that there is a strong social or economic need in those communities for a bus service so they provide a subsidy. However the local authority has to put that work out to tender and the operator offering to provide the service at the lowest cost wins the contract.

 

In south Yorkshire we do however have the Travelmaster ticket range that works on all bus operators so you can buy a ticket that works on both the daytime and evening operator. 

 

[overtheborder 0]

9 hours ago, Andy C said:

Yes. This tends to happen when a commercial service doesn't operate in the evening because there isn't enough demand for fares taken to cover costs at that time but the local authority has decided that there is a strong social or economic need in those communities for a bus service so they provide a subsidy. However the local authority has to put that work out to tender and the operator offering to provide the service at the lowest cost wins the contract.

 

In south Yorkshire we do however have the Travelmaster ticket range that works on all bus operators so you can buy a ticket that works on both the daytime and evening operator. 

 

Is the Travelmaster more expensive Andy? I think that's what i was getting at, albeit worded it a little ranty

[Andy C 85]

22 hours ago, overtheborder said:

Is the Travelmaster more expensive Andy? I think that's what i was getting at, albeit worded it a little ranty

Having reread the question, none of the buses involved in the January changes have more than one operator, but routes do exist where that is the case.

 

Travelmaster is of course more expensive than single operator tickets as more services are included in the price and are therefore more flexible,  however they way things are changing is Travelmaster is positioned as the normal price and single operator tickets are a discount option if you can stay loyal to a single operator. 

 

For example for commuting Sheffield to Rotherham a South Yorkshire Connect Travelmaster pass for the week is £23.50 valid on all buses and the tram whilst a First only weekly pass is £20. 

[catmiss 12]

Just an update on the previous changes to 31 and 95 Sheffield services. I received another letter from Paul Blomfield’s office re his dissatisfaction with SYPTE response, almost a carbon coy of the one I got, and his intention to follow this up if he is re-elected😯

[Andy C 85]

Not sure the 95 is much to do with SYPTE - it is a commercial business venture of First's that receives no public subsidy.

 

The 31/31a/31c is more complicated. Under the bus partnership the Mon-Fri daytime service was run commercially by Sheffield Community Transport who were able to do it on very thin margins by utilising resource they had connected to various contract services. SYPTE only had to tender and find a subsidy for the evening and weekend service which Stagecoach had the contract for. Unfortunately SCT lost all their SYPTE contracts to other operators and no longer had the resource to operate the 31 on the same basis. Due to government austerity cuts SYPTE does not have the budget to provide a full replacement for the 31/31a/31c, they've covered the Upperthorpe, Langsett and  Wisewood/Loxley bits with extensions/diversions to other buses (52a, 61, 62 and 135) but that has left the bits of Walkley not served by the 95 or 135 uncovered.

 

Unfortunately public funding for tendered services has been cut and cut whilst the costs of operating buses has increased, not helped by increasing traffic congestion.

 

Sheffield needs a bigger budget for provision of community buses that cannot be operated commercially - with that in mind consider who you vote for in the general election.

[Michael_N 36]

On 29/10/2019 at 15:20, Michael_N said:

There are currently 2 bus consultations running with First South Yorkshire and Stagecoach Yorkshire across a number of services in the Sheffield/Rotherham and North Derbyshire areas. The info has been posted below and you can view their websites to fill in the consultations by clicking on the following links:

 

First South Yorkshire - https://www.firstgroup.com/south-yorkshire/routes-and-maps/customer-consultation-proposed-service-changes

Stagecoach Yorkshire - https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/yorkshire/proposed-changes-in-chesterfield-jan-2020

 

The changes in detail are as follows...

 

First South Yorkshire:

 

113	Service withdrawn
116	Frequency change to operate every 30 minutes.
Service 22a/22c	Frequency change to operate 20 mins at peak times, every 40 mins each way during daytime.
Service X1/X10	Service X1 to operate 4 buses an hour Rotherham to Maltby, with 2 buses per hour extending to Sheffield via Meadowhall. Service X10 to operate 2 buses per hour Meadowall-Rotherham-Maltby-Doncaster
Service 208	Service diverted to also cover Wickersley
Service 74	Service rerouted to Operate Rotherham, Brinsworth, Meadowhall, Sheffield

Stagecoach Yorkshire: 

 

Service 43
This service will be rerouted to serve Newbold, running via Newbold Road, Littlemoor and St John’s Road, creating new links to Whitttington Moor and onwards to Dronfield and Sheffield, without the need to travel via Chesterfield town centre. Buses will run twice an hour during Monday to Saturday daytimes over the full route with an extra bus per hour between Dronfield and Sheffield on Mondays to Fridays. When combined with service 44, there will be a bus every 15 minutes (every 20 minutes on Saturdays) between Meadowhead, Woodseats and Sheffield.

Existing services 50, 50A and 50B will continue to provide up to four journeys per hour on Sheffield Road to Sheffield. In addition service X17 will continue to provide a fast link from certain stops on Sheffield Road to Sheffield.  The link between Sheffield Road and Dronfield will be maintained by service 44 albeit on a lower hourly frequency.

Service 44
A revised timetable will be introduced to coordinate with service 43 (see above) but will still run every hour during the daytime.

Service 51

Buses will run every 30 minutes during Monday to Saturday daytimes. Bigger buses will be introduced. The extension to Chesterfield rail station will be withdrawn due to low usage. Hourly service X1 Chesterfield – Clay Cross - Alfreton – East Midlands Outlet - Nottingham provides an additional fast journey per hour between Clay Cross and Chesterfield along the A61.

Service 70
This service will be withdrawn due to low usage.Alternative facilities exist for some customers on services 50, 50a, 50b, 53, 74a and 80.

Service 72
This service will be replaced by service 80 with a revised timetable between Brimington and Chesterfield and will run as service 80 via Chesterfield Royal Hospital. In Sheffield the route will extend to The Moor to better serve the growth areas of Sheffield City Centre. Between Staveley and Chesterfield buses will run via Hady and Chesterfield Hospital, creating new links.

Service 74
The timetable will be revised to coordinate with service 77, providing direct buses every 15 minutes during the daytime between Brimington and Chesterfield. Service 74 will continue to operate every 30 minutes between Chesterfield and Staveley, but will be reduced to operate hourly between Staveley and Duckmanton with one journey per hour operating to Mastin Moor instead as Service 74a to provide two buses per hour between Lansbury Avenue and Chesterfield with service 80

Service 80
The timetable will be revised. One bus an hour will be extended beyond Brimington via Staveley, Mastin Moor, Renishaw, Killamarsh and Crystal Peaks to Sheffield (replacing service 72). In Sheffield, buses will serve The Moor. New links will be created to/from Chesterfield Royal Hospital.

Reminder, the First South Yorkshire consultation closes this Friday, 15 November. Stagecoach Yorkshire consultation has already closed.

[Andy C 85]

Indeed, if you use the Rotherham buses do have your say https://www.firstgroup.com/south-yorkshire/routes-and-maps/customer-consultation-proposed-service-changes

[bassett one 449]

wish we could go back to low cost bus travel,buses on time,top service in the sixtys/seventys,when we run events this is always a problem ,everyone wants to go by car and not just our events ,other big event like ours in graves park ect,causeing havoc to bus services,we need to go back to basic ,make a bus a cheaper option and make it under 1 owner and make it reliable,then we can move forward,but thanks andy c ,your posts do help most

[Andy C 85]

16 hours ago, bassett one said:

wish we could go back to low cost bus travel,buses on time,top service in the sixtys/seventys,when we run events this is always a problem ,everyone wants to go by car and not just our events ,other big event like ours in graves park ect,causeing havoc to bus services,we need to go back to basic ,make a bus a cheaper option and make it under 1 owner and make it reliable,then we can move forward,but thanks andy c ,your posts do help most

In the 60s and 70s car ownership was very low, the roads were fairly empty and buses received high public subsidy. Demand was also very simple with everyone basically wanting to travel to work and shop in the City Centre.

 

The current bus services in Sheffield by today's standards are cheap (a weekly pass is from about £2 a day) - too cheap to make any money and reinvest in the service, with no subsidy. The majority of the network is run commercially, although under the current voluntary bus partnership between the operators, SYPTE and council the network is co-ordinated.

 

The main problem buses  have these days is they are getting more and more delayed by traffic congestion. Much of this is down to council policy over the recent years - they've invested in building the inner ring road and they've allowed loads of new multi storey car parks to be built in the City Centre, making going by car much more attractive, whilst investing very little in new bus priority measures or enforcing the existing ones properly.

 

When journey times get longer or less reliable, it requires more buses to provide the same level of service, which requires more drivers, more fuel, more vehicles = more cost. That extra cost cannot be justified when little money is being made with the fares being too cheap therefore the services are cut to match the existing resource.

 

Additionally those bus services that cannot run commercially but are considered socially and economically important to the local communities and operate under a tender arrangement with SYPTE and get a subsidy to operate are suffering cuts due to the government austerity policy, with the local authorities having a shrinking budget to support such bus services whilst the cost of operating them is getting higher.

 

As traffic and service gets worse, more people go by car instead, making traffic even worse...

 

As for events, it is up to responsible event organisers to include traffic management in their event plan. What parking have you provided - on site, nearby or park & ride? Have you arranged for parking restrictions on roads near the event? Have you worked with public transport operators to promote their options for travel to the event? Have you provided your own shuttle buses? Of course as an organiser you can do very little about those that don't give a toss and park inconsiderately regardless of what the highway code says, however thinking of Lowedges festival when buses cannot get down Gervase or parts of Lowedges Road due to double parked cars and have to be diverted away from Lowedges - if a bus cannot get through, then neither could a fire engine, which is potentially a safety concern for your event. I do appreciate for community events a lot of the above isn't viable or practical within the budget but you hope the council would see the benefit in working to help. 

 

Going back to Rotherham buses, bus companies and SYPTE have struggled to find the right network in terms of where significant numbers of people actually want to travel to. In some areas there is a split between Rotherham town centre, Parkgate, Meadowhall, Sheffield City Centre and out of town industrial estates plus the challenge of new developments (including housing estates) that haven't been built with buses in mind!

Edited November 13, 2019 by Andy C

[historybuff 10]

The proposed rerouting of this service is quite alarming.  The information I have is as follows: ….from 26 January 2020 the service will be rerouted to serve Newbold running via Newbold Road, Littlemoor and St John's Road, creating new links to Whittington Moor and onwards without the need to travel via Chesterfield town centre.  There is no mention of where the bus finally terminates.

 

Does this mean that people living in Dronfield on the 43 route will no longer be able to reach Chesterfield to shop or get to the hospital?  Will somebody in the know clarify please.

 

 

[Andy C 85]

18 hours ago, historybuff said:

The proposed rerouting of this service is quite alarming.  The information I have is as follows: ….from 26 January 2020 the service will be rerouted to serve Newbold running via Newbold Road, Littlemoor and St John's Road, creating new links to Whittington Moor and onwards without the need to travel via Chesterfield town centre.  There is no mention of where the bus finally terminates.

 

Does this mean that people living in Dronfield on the 43 route will no longer be able to reach Chesterfield to shop or get to the hospital?  Will somebody in the know clarify please.

 

 

It will still go to Chesterfield as it does now, just take a different route between Whittington Moor and Chesterfield. These means people that live in Newbold wanting to travel to Sheffield or Dronfield can get a direct bus rather than set off in the wrong direction to Chesterfield and double back, presumably there has been feedback from local residents suggesting demand in the area for travel towards Sheffield.

 

Don't forget this was a consultation (which has now closed), the confirmed changes haven't been announced yet. Keep an eye on stagecoachbus.com.

Edited November 25, 2019 by Andy C