South Yorkshire: Mayor puts transport at the heart of plans

South Yorkshire’s mayor has vowed to make transport his top priority in his first re-election speech.

Oliver Coppard said he wants to integrate buses, Supertram, walking and cycling by 2028.

He is pursuing franchises to bring buses back under public control, with depots and the fleet owned by the City’s Combined Authority.

Mr Coppard said he “refused to accept a situation” where South Yorkshire people “can’t access opportunities in South Yorkshire”.

The review commissioned by the combined authority found that less than 1% of people in South Yorkshire lived within a 30-minute journey on public transport of the Advanced Manufacturing Research Center in Waverley.

In a speech at the center on Tuesday, Mr Coppard said: “It’s not right.”

“Today, on my first day as Mayor of South Yorkshire, I am setting out my vision to connect the people and opportunities of South Yorkshire, through an integrated public transport network that puts people at its centre,” he added.

Mr Coppard said this would include a commitment to start “developing an integrated public transport system in South Yorkshire, connecting our buses, our South Yorkshire Supertram network and our active travel network, by 2028”.

The mayor said there was “talent and opportunity” in the region, but South Yorkshire’s “full potential” could only be unlocked by “connecting the two”.

Plans to extend the Supertram will be set out in 2025 and will be subject to public consultation, before proposals are submitted to the government.

The Mayor is also looking at using trams to operate between Sheffield and Stocksbridge and along the Barrow Hill line, which runs between Chesterfield and Sheffield.

Further connections in Sheffield, including to hospitals, are also being investigated.

All trams will be refurbished by March 2027, with an entirely new fleet in place by 2032, he said.

Coppard said he would also focus on developing an aviation hub of Doncaster Sheffield Airport alongside plans to reopen the airport.