The Students’ Unions (SU) campaign to reverse the cuts to South-Yorkshire’s ‘Zoom Card’ scheme, which discounts bus and tram transport for young people, has labelled the response of the region’s Mayor, Oliver Coppard, as “very disappointing”.
The campaign sprung up in response to the South-Yorkshire combined authority’s decision, in November 2023, to raise the discounted fare from 80p on buses and trams to £1.50 for most of Sheffield’s bus services and £2 for trams.
The SU has since begun an effort to lobby Coppard to reverse the cuts, this included co-hosting a protest with Sheffield Hallam’s equivalent body and issuing an open letter to the Mayor in winter of 2023.
Leading the campaign, Jo Campling, the Student Union’s Welfare and Sustainability Officer, said: “I am so disappointed over the lack of progress on reinstating Zoom Beyond passes for 18-21 year-olds.
“Despite consistent efforts from our officer team along with Sheffield Hallam’s to engage Mayor Oliver Coppard through email and event invitations, there has been no response. This is very disappointing as he represents 60,000 students in his mayoral authority”.
She continued: “This lack of engagement comes at a critical time when students are facing immense financial pressures due to the cost-of-living crisis. Travel remains a significant expense, and access to affordable public transport options like Zoom passes is crucial”.
Coppard has previously blamed the increase on budgetary restraints imposed by the actions of central government.
South Yorkshire lost 50% of the funding from the Department for Transport that it had previously received to provide reduced fares for residents of the region aged between 18 to 21. It also missed out completely on £1bn offered by the government for investment in regional transport.
In response, Campling says that whilst “the understanding is that funding constraints might be a contributing factor, the officer team refuses to accept silence as an answer”.
