MAYOR RESPONDS TO BUS FUNDING ANNOUNCEMENT

Published 1 March 2022 at 6:54pm

The Government have announced they will provide a £150 million funding subsidy for local transport authorities and bus operators in England, as a final COVID-19 support package, to help run services until October 2022.

It comes as South Yorkshire’s bus network faced 50% of services being scaled back or cut completely, and local passenger numbers struggle at circa 70% of pre-Covid levels.

Mayor of South Yorkshire, Dan Jarvis, said:

“It’s welcome that the Government have belatedly woken up to the disaster facing our bus services.

“I have persistently pressed Government to put their hands in their pockets, to provide the critical funding we need to avoid a South Yorkshire bus crisis in the shadow of Covid-19.

“Local leaders and I have invested millions while exploring every option to improve our network. Now it is time for Government match our ambition by providing the transformative investment their National Bus Strategy promised, to help us to deliver the bus network passengers in South Yorkshire need and deserve.”