Communities across South Yorkshire are benefitting from public control of the tram system, four months on from the day when control was regained.
The Supertram was brought back under public control at the end of March this year, and now people across the region are seeing the benefits of the improvement and investment plans that are being delivered on. More than £33 million is being invested in the network by the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, with over £23 million of that coming in this financial year alone.
Some of the improvements that have been realised since the network returned to public control include:
- 4.5% increase in passenger journeys compared to the same time last year
- A huge reduction in fare evasion, dropping from 8% to less than 0.4% of journeys
- Introduction of handheld ticketing machines for conductors, making purchasing tickets easier and quicker
- 20,000 downloads of the Travel South Yorkshire ticketing app, as well as more than 40,000 ticket purchases
- Trialling more trams at peak times along key routes
Working together with Supertram, the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority and the Mayor are looking to deliver a bigger and much improved tram network, that will be completely integrated with other transport modes, as part of a drive to give South Yorkshire a world-class transport network. By delivering this, communities can be connected to the most important opportunities for them.
Oliver Coppard, Mayor of South Yorkshire, said:
“After 27 years South Yorkshire’s Supertram came back under our control in March. Now, just over four months on we are making huge strides in our journey back to a public transport system that puts people first, connects our communities and helps us to build a bigger and better economy in South Yorkshire.
“Since March, 20,000 people have already downloaded our new app to buy tickets, trams and trams stops are getting a well needed deep clean and our conductors have new handheld ticketing machines which make buying tickets on the tram easier.
“But this is just the start of our journey to a truly integrated transport network that connects all our communities to the huge opportunities that exist right across South Yorkshire."
Image credit: iStock
