Children's South Yorkshire bus fare increases 'to save services'

The rise in ticket prices for children and young people would "save as many routes as possible", the mayor said

Bus fares for children and young people in South Yorkshire are to increase.

Children's tickets will rise from 80p to £1 and a cheaper fares scheme for 18 to 21-year-olds will be scrapped.

The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) said the "difficult" decision would protect bus services after the loss of government funding.

Mayor Oliver Coppard said: "It's a dreadful position for us to be in but, make no mistake, this is because of government funding cuts."

He added: "It's an absolute disgrace. I've written to the Transport Secretary seeking an urgent meeting to ask him to intervene and give South Yorkshire the funding we desperately need."

Under-18 concession fares would rise on 1 November, when the Zoom Beyond pass for under-21s would also be scrapped, SYMCA said.

This would "save as many routes as possible", including school bus services, the authority said.

Oliver Coppard said government funding cuts were "a disgrace".

South Yorkshire had lost 50% of local bus support funding from the Department for Transport (DfT) and had missed out on a share of £1bn government cash to improve services last year, according to the mayoral authority.

Mr Coppard warned that meant the region's buses were "going to get even worse".

He added: "The money we have to fund routes and concessionary fares comes out of the same pot, so we have to prioritise what we can do with that money.

"We've now maxed out our reserves and we have done that to protect services for the next two years - but we're in a spiral of decline."

The mayor also criticised a decision by TravelMaster, which is responsible for South Yorkshire's multi-operator and multi-modal transport tickets, to make passengers buy some tickets with cash instead of card.

He said he would write to TravelMaster asking for the move to be reconsidered.

A DfT spokesperson said: "South Yorkshire has been allocated more than half a billion pounds over five years for its local transport network.

"This comes on top of the government's £500 million package of support to cap bus fares at £2 until the end of October 2023, £2.50 until the end of November 2024 and protect bus routes into 2025."