Your Officers have been campaigning for a better public transport deal for students, with a particular focus on the region's rising bus fares. Since beginning our campaign, the Government announced that the single bus fare cap would rise from £2 to £3, which was put in place at the start of this calendar year. We've continued to act on student feedback around buses in Sheffield, collecting your input and taking it to the South Yorkshire Combined Mayoral Authority (SYCMA) and Oliver Coppard to make sure your views are heard.

With many of our students commuting from across the region and/or being mature (aged over 22) and therefore unable to access the existing Zoom pass due to age restrictions, we've had two main requests around student bus fares:

1. Reduce student bus fares to £1
2. Extend student bus fares to all of South Yorkshire (instead of just within Sheffield)

In response to the recent rise in single fare cap from £2 to £3, we changed our first ask to 'Keep the existing student bus fare at £1.50'.

We're pleased to say that First Bus have frozen student bus fares at £1.50 across Sheffield. This is a great step in the right direction and we're grateful to First Bus for recognising the importance of affordable transport for Sheffield's students. We're now working to get this offer matched by other bus operators (here's looking at you, Stagecoach!), and will keep you updated on progress.

We'll be discussing issues around public transport at the next Sheffield Students' Assembly on Thursday 8 May, where Hallam students will have chance to put their questions to South Yorkshire Mayor, Oliver Coppard.

Grab your free ticket to have your say.