Buses in Sheffield will return to full public ownership by 2027 through South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard’s return to bus franchising.

Mr Coppard announced his decision yesterday to ‘go back to the future’, where the last time buses were under public control was 1986.

Bus franchising proposes that bus networks, fleets, routes, timetables, service standards, tickets and fares will be controlled by South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority – SYMCA.

Ben Miskell, Sheffield City Councillor, Chair of the Transport, Regeneration and Climate Policy Committee, said: “We are also investing in measures to improve journey times through our Connecting Sheffield Programme.”

According to SYMCA, more than 7,800 people had input on proposals to take back bus services into public control, with nine out of 10 people who had their say, supported strongly, or partly to bus franchising.

Connor Williams, a frequent commuter, said: “I feel as though several of the key bus routes in Sheffield are incredibly reliable especially those that run frequently, however, I have found that less frequent buses can be much less reliable.

“In order to achieve frequency, there will need to be government subsidies in order to make these routes economically viable to run through in the long term, once buses have become a more popular mode of transport, hopefully they will be fully self sufficient financially.”

Mr Williams added that while buses moving to public ownership will bring new benefits, he applauded the SC1 and SC2 routes that already run around Sheffield city centre, charging no fares for passengers.

Mr Coppard outlined how important buses are for communities and how the last 40 years has ‘taken apart’ public transport with increases in fares, depletions in passenger numbers and also routes.

Mr Coppard said: “Franchising will is a critical step in creating a public transport system that works for our residents and is truly fit for the future.”