The Stocksbridge Town Deal Board has selected its preferred bidder to deliver a brand new hopper bus service for local communities across Stocksbridge and Deepcar.
South Pennine Community Transport has been chosen as the preferred delivery partner for the project – enabling the Town Deal Board to work up the detail of the service’s route for this to be registered so the buses can be on the road in the next few months.
The expressions of interest to run the service were received earlier in May, and following the evaluation process South Pennine Community Transport was selected as the preferred partner.
The proposal outlines establishing two new circular services, one covering Deepcar and Bolsterstone and the other covering Stocksbridge, these would interchange with the number 26 which currently operates along with other existing services.
The plan is for the buses to run every twenty minutes from Monday through to Saturday, they will be low floor accessible and demand responsive, meaning they have the ability to divert off their route to drop off or collect passengers.
The local hopper bus service is a key project in the £24.1m investment for Stocksbridge and will hugely improve access for residents to services, shops and facilities in the town as well as linking with the wider transport network.
The Board has consulted widely with local residents about routes they would like to see covered and that information will help to shape the new service. It is hoped it will be operating by the end of the summer into early autumn.
Co-chair of the Stocksbridge Town Deal Board and Project Champion for the Hopper Bus Project, Miriam Cates MP, said: “This is a really important project for the local community and we are delighted to have a fantastic partner to deliver the Board’s vision for what a good local service can provide for our communities.
“Residents will be able to use their bus passes and benefit from the concessionary fares scheme, and we’ll have a service which is accessible and demand responsive. We can’t wait to see these buses on the road making a real difference to improving connectivity in the Stocksbridge and Deepcar area. “
The Town Deal team will be working with South Pennine Community Transport on the timetable and timescales for the new service and further details will be announced in the coming weeks.
To find out more about the hopper bus project visit the project page on the website Buses for Stocksbridge (welcometostocksbridge.co.uk)
Photograph shows Miriam Cates MP, Co-Chair of the Stocksbridge Town Deal Board and Board Champion for the Hopper Bus Project with Steve Whitehouse, one of the drivers from South Pennine Community Transport.