Sheffield region mayor Dan Jarvis has ordered a bus services review in the region, to understand why bus usage in the county has significantly decreased.
The review, which will collect information about bus passengers, operators and local politicians, will be chaired by Sheffield MP Clive Betts and will be a year-long process.
The mayor noted that the review would also look into the effectiveness of private bus companies.
Speaking to the BBC about the privatisation of bus services, Dan Jarvis said: “The privatisation of buses has not been successful here in South Yorkshire and across the north of England.”
The number of bus journeys in the UK decreased by 90 million in 2018. In South Yorkshire alone, the number of weekly timetabled services has fallen by a quarter, according to data shared with BBC’s Inside Out by basemap.co.uk.
The introduction of the Bus Services Act 2017, however, means that metro mayors now have the powers to re-regulate bus services, which would allow them to make decisions over fares and bus timetables, something which private bus operator Stagecoach says it is vehemently against.
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