I recently went on a bus tour of Barnsley East to highlight the challenges with provision and coverage of local bus services.

Watch my first video update of the day here.

In the last year across South Yorkshire we have seen a 15% cut in bus routes.

South Yorkshire bid for £43 million of the Government’s bus improvement fund.

We received £0

The first bus of my Barnsley East bus tour was the No 66. I had to change in the town centre to get my next stop.

I was really pleased that South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard came to Stairfoot a few weeks ago to meet with residents who are concerned about local buses.

Private operators are allowed to pick and choose the routes and services they want, and local leaders, whilst communities don’t get a say.

Watch my next video update of the day here, where I am joined by Shadow Transport Secretary, Louise Haigh MP.

We were then joined by Darfield Councillor Kevin Osbourne on the 219 bus.

We spoke about the fact that while some services are reliable, weekend and evening buses simply aren’t and some areas of Barnsley have had their bus service cut off because of anti-social behaviour.

Next stop was Great Houghton where we were joined by councillors Jeff Enis, Ashley Peace & Ruth Booker to talk about how many routes simply don’t go where residents need them to.

Many parts of the North East ward such as Shafton are poorly connected. We spoke to local bus user Deborah who is regularly disadvantaged by the bus connections.

The story local resident Deborah shared with us is one we have heard time and again.

See what Deborah said  here.

Local buses are simply not working for local people.