These cuts to bus funding in Sheffield and South Yorkshire are levelling down – Yorkshire Post Letters

CAMPAIGNERS turned out in force at the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority offices last week to call for buses to be brought back under public control.

A decent bus service is clearly critical to enabling people to get around conveniently and affordably. It is also an essential part of a more sustainable future transport system.

So it is particularly appalling that the Government has decided to halve the funding being made available to support its bus strategy. While recently announced cuts to Northern rail investment plans have been much greater, these new cuts break previous promises even more blatantly.

Only last March a press release announcing the Bus Strategy claimed the “£3bn bus revolution” would mean “buses will be more frequent, cheaper, greener and easier to use as the Government continues its levelling-up agenda”. Now officials have written to local transport authorities explaining that the total funds available are just £1.4bn.

This risks making any “revolution” a slow one and demonstrates how thin the Government’s commitment is to both its levelling-up and climate policies.