Residents across South Yorkshire are expressing their anger at the unreliability of the bus service, leaving them “isolated” and “cut off.”
Daniella Lambie, a dental nurse from Doncaster, said: “I’m late to work nearly every single morning. I have to arrange lifts or taxis due to the bus firstly saying it’s going to arrive then cancelling at the last minute.”
Daniella is not the only one affected by the quality of the bus service.
Linda Platts from Rotherham, said: “People are struggling to do everyday things. I’ve had to change my doctors due to being unable to get to my appointments. I’m disabled and I cannot afford taxis every time I need to get out. It’s unacceptable.”
Echo Haydes, from Sheffield, said: “I have been late for GP appointments in the past and had to use Uber instead. More recently I’ve had to run, which in my case is more of a mixture of run and limp due to the pain.”
Mayor of South Yorkshire, Oliver Coppard, said: “When I took office as South Yorkshire’s Mayor I made fixing our buses a priority, not just for me but the thousands of people let down every day by our broken bus system. Because for far too long our buses have been unaffordable, unreliable, and now – in the face of sweeping service cuts – inaccessible for far too many across our region.
“I am doing everything I can with the limited powers and money that I have available to protect our services, on behalf of our communities – but it is not enough and I find that hugely frustrating. It is clear we need a fundamental change to how the whole system works; because our buses are no longer working for South Yorkshire.”
While Mayor Coppard is doing “everything he can,” he also admits that “fixing our bus system will not be easy.”
