Community Transport fare rises from 1 September 2024
The four Community Transport (CT) providers in South Yorkshire have informed South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority of their decision to apply a price rise to their services from Sunday 1 September 2024.
Community Transport provides services to people who cannot use standard public transport due to disability, age and frailty or geographic isolation; people who would otherwise be unable to travel, or who would struggle getting to a bus stop.
The Door-2-Door bus services use fully accessible vehicles to take people from their home to a pre-booked, local destination. There are three types of service available:
- ShopperBus – services run on a predetermined day and take people to and from a shopping location for a flat return rate
- Dial-a-Ride – services run to a destination of choice and fares depend on distance
- Group Travel – journeys booked by groups, using their own or a CT driver; can consist of a whole eligible group going on a trip, or individuals picked up separately to go to one destination. Fares depend on distance or type of hire i.e. with or without the group’s own driver
SYMCA provides an annual grant to Community Transport operators in South Yorkshire to support the provision of these services.
The current CT fare structure has not changed since 2020 for Dial-a-Ride and 2018 for Shopper Bus fares and due to a reduction in patronage compared to pre-Covid levels, increasing costs and SYMCA not increasing its grant compared to previous years, providers are proposing a modest fare increase in 2024/25.
What are the price changes?
From Sunday 1 September 2024 Community Transport services across South Yorkshire will increase in price.
A summary of the changes is shown in the table below:
| Service Type | Journey Length (Miles) | New Fare for 2024/25 |
| Dial-a-Ride | 0 – 2 | £2.80 |
| 2.01 – 4 | £3.40 | |
| 4.01 – 6 | £3.90 | |
| Additional miles | £1.00 | |
| Shopper Bus | Flat Fare | £3.00 return |
| Group Travel | Charges vary by operator |
How are these changes being communicated to the community?
The new prices will be introduced from Sunday 1 September 2024 and we will be providing details of the fare changes on our dedicated Travel South Yorkshire webpage travelsouthyorkshire.com/en-gb/journeyplanning/Door-2-Door from Sunday 1 September.
