Robin Hood Airport may get more bus links
04.11.06
The introduction of direct bus services between Robin Hood Airport and transport interchanges in Sheffield and Rotherham is being considered, the Yorkshire Post reports.
A direct service to the is already operated from Doncaster town centre and supported with £450,000 a year from the county's passenger transport authority. That organisation, which is responsible for ensuring there is adequate public transport in the county, is now considering the implications of introducing direct routes from Rotherham and Sheffield.
One problem is that a bus service direct from Sheffield would be likely to use the Parkway and motorway junctions which become heavily congested with rush hour traffic. That would mean complete journey times would be over an hour and entail running three vehicles to provide an hourly each-way service. It has been estimated that would cost £360,000 a year to support because no bus operators at present are willing to run a commercial service.
If that service included a loop to include a pick-up of passengers from Rotherham journeys would take considerably longer, according to a report compiled for the authority. However, a Rotherham only service would add a predicted £220,000 to the bill.
If the authority went ahead with those schemes in addition to the existing service from Doncaster it would create an overall annual bill of more than £1m in subsidies and even then there would be no direct link from Barnsley.
Authority officials will carry out more work to identify the best option and potential sources of funding.
