Bus cancellations in South Yorkshire double in a year as passengers warned of more cuts

New figures show the number of cancellations more than doubled between 2021 and 2022, rising from 8,304 to 23,986.

Over the period, the number of services which ran also fell by 18 per cent, to 838,969. And according to the latest data, one in five bus journeys are not running on time.

Matthew Topham, from the Better Buses for South Yorkshire campaign group, said: “These figures will come as no surprise to passengers and communities in our region. But they’re more than just numbers.

“Behind each of them are lives turned upside, from workers feeling unsafe walking home in the dark after a cancellation to children too exhausted to learn as they must wake up an hour early to guarantee they arrive at school on time.”

“The most consistently reliable bus companies in the country are in public ownership, like Blackpool and Warrington. That’s because privatisation has left companies trying to squeeze profits out of their timetables, workers, and vehicles — all increasing the unreliability.

"The bus bosses will say it's just traffic: that's far from the whole story.”

It comes after passengers were warned more services could be cut next year, as operators like Stagecoach and First Bus have seen the number of paying passengers plummet and they are now struggling with inflation, rising fuel costs and driver shortages.

The Government has agreed to extend a £2bn scheme which provides financial support to operators across the country during the pandemic, until March.

South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard’s office said that when the scheme ends, it will need to provide operators with more than £1m a month of taxpayer cash to prevent them from cutting services which are not profitable.

He is also waiting on the outcome of an assessment which will look at whether buses should be brought back under public control.

In his election manifesto, the Labour mayor said he will “work every day to bring the buses back into public control, where they belong”.

South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority had drawn up a Bus Service Improvement Plan, which aimed to make services more frequent, more reliable and more affordable.

It applied for at least £430m of funding to support this plan from the Department for Transport, but was told in April it will receive nothing, because its bid lacked ambition.

Downing Street announced that almost £1.1bn will be provided to support bus service improvement plans in 31 areas of the country, including two in Yorkshire.

West Yorkshire submitted a bid for £168m, but was been given £70m. While York Council wanted £48m and got £17.4m.

It came after then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced £3bn last year for a “bus revolution” outside London that aims to end to the “fragmented, fully commercialised market”.