Agenda item

(1)  General Update

(2)  Franchising Update

(3)  Demand Responsive Transport Pilot

Andrew Simpson, Assistant Director Projects, SYMCA, gave the following updates:-

 

Bus Network Update

Recent Changes to the Network

-        Service 114 (First Bus) Rotherham-Stag had had additional journeys introduced during the evening on Mondays to Saturdays and during the day time and evening on Sundays starting Sunday, 12^th April, 2026

-        Service 207 (First Bus) Sheffield-Brinsworth-Rotherham had been re-routed in Attercliffe on journeys towards Sheffield due to a one-way temporary road closure of Attercliffe Road starting Monday, 12^th January 2026 and expected to be until Monday, 12^th October 2026

-        Service X3 (First Bus) Sheffield-Rotherham-Doncaster had been re-routed in Attercliffe on journeys towards Sheffield due to a one-way temporary road closure of Attercliffe Road starting Monday, 12^th January 2026 and expected to be until Monday, 12^th October 2026

-        Service X20 (Globe) Barnsley-Doncaster had been re-routed to serve Wath upon Dearne with changes to the time starting Monday, 13^th April 2026

 

Forthcoming Changes in Rotherham

-        Services 26 and 26A (TM Travel) Crystal Peaks-Thorpe Salvin will have minor changes to the times to assist with punctuality starting Monday, 27^th July 2026

-        Service 70A (TM Travel) Sheffield-Woodhouse-Meadowhall will be run by First Bus instead of TM Travel starting Sunday, 26^th July 2026

-        Service 71 (TM Travel) Sheffield-Harthill will have additional journeys introduced during the early morning and during the evening, daily from Sunday, 26^th July 2026

-        Service 226 (Stagecoach) Barnsley-Thurnscoe will have minor changes to the times from Saturday, 25^th July 2026

 

School Bus Service Changes

-        Service 620 (Stagecoach) Maltby-Dinnington (Dinnington High School) will have minor changes to the times from Tuesday, 1^st September 2026

-        Service 664 (L.L.Travel) Low Valley-Wath upon Dearne (St. Pius X High School) will be run by Wilfreda Beehive instead of L.L. Travel starting Tuesday, 1^st September 2026

 

General Update

-        SYMCA had secured agreements to stabilise the network until September 2027

-        Free School MiCard Travel Update

·        18,514 of young people have a MiCard – 110% of the target uptake

·        Over 1.7m journeys had been made with a Barnsley MiCard

·        64% of the journeys were being undertaken by residents from 3 of Barnsley’s most deprived deciles

·        Total child travel in Barnsley was up 63% compared to the same period last year

·        17 year olds made up the largest age group of those with a MiCard reaching 2,723

·        Sheffield was considering going live in 2027

 

Bus Franchising Update

Rollout 2027-2029

-        The rollout was in 3 tranches Sheffield and Doncaster in tranche 1 (September 2027, Barnsley and Rotherham were tranche 2 and the latter part of Sheffield in tranche 3

 

Areas of Focus: Main Workstreams

-        People

-        Tap and Go Cards

-        Increasing safety

-        Networks

-        Quality of the bus – for tranches 1 and 2 in the process of procuring a new EV fleet

 

Procurement Timeline

-        Phase 1 - 2027

-        Phase 2 - 2028

-        Phase 3 – 2029

 

Where we are today

-        The People’s Network was now launched; new transport brand built around the communities it served

-        All 6 bus depots were now in public ownership

-        Secured additional £33.4m of Government funding that would put 187 electric buses on South Yorkshire’s roads

-        The search was on: procurement to identify the operators who would run services and the manufacturers who would built the fleet was live

 

Fleet Specifications

-        At the end of 2025 over 3,500 people told SYMCA their priorities were:-

·        More space for wheelchairs, people with disabilities, people with pushchairs

·        Low floor, lowering bus, ramps

·        Priority seating

·        Visual and audio next stop announcements

·        CCTV, more cameras, visible cameras

·        More hand holds/grab rails

·        More visible easier to push stop buttons

 

Day One Network

-        When buses come back under public control, the network will stay broadly the same at first.  There would be targeted improvements to some routes and timetables but SYMCA was not redesigning the whole network

 

Day 1 Enhancements Provide

-        Tangible improvements passengers will notice immediately without destabilising the network

-        A clear focus on more buses running on time

-        A more efficient and effective use of resources and assets

-        Deliverable change that avoided over-promising and built confidence in franchising

 

Approach to Development

-        Engagement with local authorities to understand aspirations and priorities

-        Responding to known local priorities and customer feedback

-        Independent assessment of the network

-        Reviewed the known gaps and opportunities for efficiency improvements in the network

-        Asking for public feedback until 17^th May

 

What this means for Rotherham – Phase 2 from 2028

-        Rotherham services being franchised in 2027 as part of Olive Grove and Leger Way:

 

Service	Origin	Destination		Current Depot	Current Operator
137/ 137A	Sheffield CC	Rotherham	1.1 OG	Rawmarsh	Stagecoach Yorkshire
70/70A	Sheffield CC	Rotherham	1.1 OG	Halfway	TMTravel
71/71A	Sheffield CC	Harthill	1.1 OG	Halfway	TMTravel
207	Sheffield CC	Rotherham	1.1 OG	OG	First SY
626	Wales High	Crystal Peaks	1.1 OG	Halfway	TMTravel
X1/X2	Sheffield CC	Maltby	1.1 OG	OG/LW	First SY
X3	Sheffield CC	Doncaster CC	1.2 LW	LW	First SY
X5	Sheffield CC	Dinnington/ Doncaster	1.1 OG	OG	First SY
X7	Sheffield CC	Maltby	1.1 OG	Halfway	TMTravel
X11	Sheffield CC	Doncaster	1.1 OG	OG/LW	First SY
X20	Doncaster CC	Barnsley	1.2 LW	Carlton	Globe Holidays

 

Sheffield CC = Sheffield City Centre

OG – Olive Grove

LG = Leger Way

 

-        Other local bus services would be Phase 2 (Autumn 2028).  School services would mainly be 2029 but a small number in earlier years

 

What this means for Rotherham – Phase 2 from 2028

-        Advance Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), Sheffield Business Park and surrounding employment areas from 2027

·        Doubling service frequency from Sheffield to AMRC

·        3 buses per hour compared to 2 buses per hour between Rotherham and AMRC and extending a service to cover more areas

·        A new direct link between Rotherham and Sheffield Business Park

·        Doubling service frequency from Meadowhall to AMRC

·        Doncaster-iPort-Maltby-Hellaby-Rotherham-AMP-Sheffield Corridor (Service X11) to be a permanent service with additional journeys including a Sunday service

-        Crystal Peaks and Meadowhall

·        Improving access to amenities with reinstated service links

-        Hospital links

·        Improved co-ordination of services and looking at options to achieve a 10 minute service to/from the hospital

-        Equality of service

·        Fixing gaps in service and span of operation caused with the closure of Midland Road

·        Rotherham communities were not impacted due to the legacy decision made by First

-        Electrification

·     Prioritising RMBC’s AQMA areas and recommending X3 (Fitzwilliam Road) was a priority for electrification

 

Next Steps

-        Electrification of depots would begin later this year getting ready for the new electric buses

-        Finalising operator procurement i.e. the operators who would run services for Phase 1 (Doncaster and Sheffield).  The process would take until the end of 2026 to complete with an announcement early in 2027

-        Announcement of manufacturer(s) who would build the buses would be made later (summer 2026)

-        Engagement survey now live to gather feedback on proposed principles for the network to check that SYMCA were focussing on the right priorities for day one.  The survey was open until 17^th May 2026

 

Demand Responsive Travel (DRT) Update

-        RMBC project with SYMCA developing a 12 month Pilot of a Demand Responsive Transport Service focussed on South Rotherham

-        Funded through SYMCA’s Transport Innovation Fund (TIF) to provide short term support to existing services

-        The Service would support connections for:

·     Rotherham Hospital and access to the Town Centre

·     Shopping employment destinations, Dinnington, Meadowhall, Crystal Peaks

·     Local rail and tram interchanges

-        Where other services could support travel expectations customers would be directed to them

-        DRT would be offered where no other public transport options were available

-        Pick-up and drop-offs would operate with physical and virtual stops

-        The contracted booking agent, VIA, was a leading operator of demand responsive transport.  They would provide day-to-day operations, routing and scheduling technology, a customer Smartphone App and a staffed call centre

-        Start date was July 2026

 

Councillor Bennett-Sylvester asked a question with regard to connectivity of the different major bus routes and whether it could be looked at. 

 

Andrew Simpson advised that at the present time network stabilisation was the priority.  Once the franchising had taken place all the factors, including connectivity, would be looked into and determined whether to be feasible.  All the requests were being logged and would be considered in September.

 

Agreed:-  (1)  That the updates be noted.

 

(2)  That the Group be updated on the progressing of the franchising at its October meeting.