LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Give people chance to return to public transport

This directly undermines the transformational change government and operators say they want — hamstringing efforts to get people back on the buses and instead recklessly locking in the damage Covid has done. Rather than levelling up places like South Yorkshire, they are letting us down.

Passenger numbers are still well below pre-pandemic levels, and we understand that creates genuine pressures. But with Covid-19 cases still very high, and work from home mandates only just lifted, assumptions about the prospects for a full recovery are premature — and rushing to hike fares and cut services now will guarantee there will not be one.

The operators received millions in public subsidy to keep them afloat during the pandemic. The least they owe the people of South Yorkshire is to work in good faith to delay and minimise cuts as far as possible, to allow a managed approach and give people a chance to return to public transport. Failure to do so will only add to concerns about the deregulated system, call into question the worth of newly negotiated Enhanced Partnerships, and reinforce the case for examining franchising as an alternative.

The government made the “central aim” of their National Bus Strategy “to get overall patronage back to its pre-Covid 19 level, and then to exceed it”. In practice, they are recklessly pulling the rug from under the recovery, and with it the contribution buses could make to supporting our economies, cutting carbon emissions and promoting inclusion. They've added fuel to the fire by reneging on a promise to invest £3 billion in improving services, diverting much of it to pay for emergency Covid support.

Instead of fuelling decline, we ask government and operators to work with us on a strategy to manage the challenges we face and avoid long-term harm. That means government needs to fully fund the plans we set out in our Bus Service Improvement Plan. It means the operators need to look beyond their most immediate bottom line, and help us deliver a fare cap, free travel for under 18s, and millions of pounds of investment in new green buses and route improvements. But all those plans will be sabotaged if they allow South Yorkshire’s bus services to fall off a cliff edge in a few weeks’ time.

We are fighting for a better, brighter future for South Yorkshire’s buses. We’re investing our local resources to make it happen, but we can’t realise the transformation we need if government and operators do not do their bit. If they walk away at this critical moment, they will bear responsibility for the consequences.

Dan Jarvis MP, South Yorkshire Mayor; Cllr Sir Stephen Houghton, leader Barnsley Council; Mayor Ros Jones, leader Doncaster Council; Cllr Chris Read, leader Rotherham Council; Cllr Terry Fox, leader,Sheffield City Council