Sheffield Bus Partnership
This was the first in the county's partnerships which saw a complete rewrite of the timetable as we know it. The objectives of the scheme are to simplify the network (normally that means cut!) and allow passengers the opportunity to buy tickets which are valid regardless of whether you're presented with a Souter bus or a Fearnley bus for example (other operators are available as they say!).
The first tranche of changes went down like a lead balloon. The Sheffield Star newspaper had enough material to keep them going until the turn of the decade with stories of people stranded along with the usual pictures of octogenarians stood at bus stops and pointing miserably at the timetable.
The issue in Sheffield was that some routes had been around since cobbled streets and their numbers were changed to more unfamiliar ones. Gone were the likes of the 93 for example and replaced by a new numbering system which in fairness can be unsettling. The end result unfortunately was somewhat of a disaster and various tweaks were made to the network which is now seeing what we need; improvements in customer numbers and a growing confidence in the bus network.
So, following a somewhat shaky start, the comments in the newspapers slowly dissipated and larger vehicles are being employed on routes that need them. Frequency increases must now be considered on some services which shows that although "they got it wrong" at first (that's a general first, nothing to do with the area's most dominant operator!) the new network is settling down and the Partnership can be viewed as something of a success. For now at least.
Rotherham Bus Partnership
Quite a different beast to tackle, Rotherham has seen a fall in growth over the years, not helped by First losing the tenders some years ago to run evening and Sunday services on some of its routes, mostly replaced by Stagecoach initially as well as TM Travel. The latter still takes quite a few of the tenders with Stagecoach no longer providing the 14 for example. A solution was always going to be the idea of multi-operator ticketing and the network didn't really have the same sort of upheaval as seen in the South Yorkshire capital. Some improvements have been made lately but these have been fairly limited to organising the Barnsley to Rotherham corridor. First have been providing the 22 for a number of years now and Stagecoach have been competing with them on what Souter's boys will believe is home turf. The former 22 is now the 22a/22c with the link to Meadowhall being the 22m, although this isn't advertised and ridiculously, Travel South Yorkshire don't feature this in their timetables, choosing to merge the 22m with the X78 (more on that later).
It has to be said that there doesn't seem to be the same tenacity employed here as with the Sheffield version, although I'm led to understand that developments in the Rotherham network are afoot, mainly as it doesn't appear to have changed travel numbers all that much. Frequencies haven't really altered which suggests that whilst it may not be broken in the first place, we are still not managing to budge the bums-on-seats numbers. A significant rethink is perhaps required and almost a Sheffield-style rip up of the existing network and start again might well be on the cards.
Doncaster Bus Partnership
If Rotherham's scheme is at junior school, then Doncaster's should be referred to being in the infants as it's only been in place now for four weeks. Again the same offering with multi-operator tickets has been employed and in the main has been well received. Doncaster is perhaps one on its own. It's rather spread out for a town and you're struggling on a one-operator ticket. For example, to get from Stainforth to Bawtry you would be looking at a ticket price of almost £10.00. This cuts that journey price by over 50% so the financial benefit to the customer is quite significant.
Doncaster has been a network that has, like its Rotherham neighbour, struggled to increase passenger numbers and in many cases it's been a downward trend. Quite a significant number of alterations have been made here, including Rossington receiving a circular service once more, a loss of the direct service 91 to Doncaster Airport, merged into the busy 57 for Cantley.
It would be unfair to suggest whether the network changes have worked after such a short space of time but the Doncaster Bus Partnership has had impacts across the rest of the borough as I'll mention shortly.
Barnsley Bus Partnership
Somewhat forgotten about in the South Yorkshire transport map, mainly because historically of course, SYT was generally about Sheffield, Rotherham and Doncaster with Yorkshire Traction (or Tracky as it was more affectionately known) doing its own thing across Barnsley and the Dearne Valley. Now it's their turn and whilst multi-operator tickets won't necessarily be as important as in Sheffield or Doncaster, there is a need for a review and the network consultation begins tomorrow until the end of July. I will discuss this in a bit more detail in a future blog.
Stagecoach did significant work to rationalise their network following the purchase of 'Tracky' and largely it's been fairly stagnant. The town does have quite a good network currently and it's difficult to see what changes will be made. Could this be the one that is more evolution rather than revolution as per Sheffield?
South Yorkshire Bus Partnership?
Of course, many of these changes have happened and involve services that bridge the gap between one town/city boundary and another. The X78 crosses three of the four Bus Partnerships and a significant number deal with two so it's not impossible that next year once all the Partnerships have bedded in that we will see all four merge into the South Yorkshire Bus Partnership. This should help when changing routes that straddle areas.
X78
Arguably the most famous route in South Yorkshire is the X78. What was once a 10-minute service end-to-end is now a hybrid of 10 minutes between Sheffield and Rotherham with a 15-minute frequency out to Doncaster. The reason was to coordinate the 22* collection of services from Stagecoach towards Conisbrough along the A630. As it's only been altered in the last few weeks, again it would be unfair to make a comment on the changes so soon. However the frequency between Doncaster and Rotherham seems to be reasonably correct and doesn't seem to suffer significant overcrowding as a result of the reduction.
From the Sheffield end, you now get an uneven service towards Doncaster with the xx:10, xx:20, xx:40, xx:50 going to the timetabled end with the xx:00 and xx:30 terminating at Rotherham. However it is arguable how many passengers actually do the journey end-to-end so potentially a good use of resources.
I intend to review the networks again and comment on the changes for Barnsley in due course. What is apparent however, is that the Sheffield model after all its problems is bearing fruit. Whether the same can be said for the other three remains to be seen. Rotherham Mk2 is not too far away and the results of the Doncaster model will be interesting. Barnsley will, for now, remain a mystery!
