More than 50 black cab drivers gathered outside Sheffield Town Hall, protesting against Sheffield’s Clean Air Zone regulations and calling on councillors to extend the temporary exemption until July 2024. The temporary exemption charge of £10 is due to expire at the end of June 2023. Drivers say an extension will give them time to raise enough money to buy new vehicles. Sheffield Live! reporter Baillor Jalloh spoke to black cab drivers Qasim Aslam and Majid Kahn.
Rail travellers returning to work after the festive holidays have faced a blow as train fares have increased by an average of 3.1 per cent in England and Wales. Campaigners calling for the railway services to be re-nationalised gathered at Sheffield station to greet commuters with leaflets about the change. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!
Private bus company Stagecoach have agreed to increase capacity on the busy 52 bus route to Walkley and Hillsborough after complaints from campaigners and local councillors. The company has confirmed it will operate a double decker service on the 52 route at all times and will be monitoring capacity following timetable changes. The announcement follows talks between the company and Labour councillors. Sheffield Live! reporter Azz Mohammed spoke to Hillsborough councillor George Lindars-Hammond.
Police are piloting a scheme to test the eyesight of all drivers stopped and which could be extended nationwide. Failure could lead to a driving licence being revoked. The scheme, being tested in Hampshire, Thames Valley and the West Midlands, follows calls for mandatory eye-testing of all drivers backed by the road safety charity Brake. Azz Mohammed reports for Sheffield Live!
The Bangers and Cash fundraising road rally to support youth housing charity Roundabout has put on display in the Winter Gardens the work of local artists who have painted the bonnets of the rally cars. Local businesses have each bought an ‘old banger’ for less than £650. The four day rally to Monte Carlo is scheduled to take place over four days in September. The painted bonnet artworks are to be auctioned later in the year. Azz Mohammed reports for Sheffield Live!
South Yorkshire’s Freedom Riders organised a standing rally today outside Sheffield’s train station to demand railway bosses reinstate the elderly train concessions passes and to celebrate the campaign’s fourth anniversary. The group was formed in 2014, when free local train travel was taken away from elderly and disabled pass holders. Campaigners persuaded South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive to reinstate the concession. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!
The Siberian cold blast, dubbed the Beast from the East, has led to many school closing and caused widespread travel disruption. More than 550 schools across Yorkshire closed on Wednesday as a result of the wintry conditions. An amber weather warning still remains in place across the country. In South Yorkshire, some roads were also closed due to heavy snow fall. Sheffield Live! reporter Baillor Jalloh spoke to drivers on South Street in Park Hilll.
With cold temperatures and snow arriving from Siberia, gritting lorries have been out in force to prepare for the expected impact on roads and traffic. The met office have predicted the weather will worsen over the course of the week and police have asked people to make journeys only where necessary. Sheffield Live! reporter Azz Mohammed spoke to Lynsey Connelly, highways maintenance operations manager for Amey.
Uber drivers have converged on the company’s office in Sheffield following news that private hire licences acquired in other locations will no longer be transferrable. Previously the company allowed an Uber driver to acquire a licence in one region and to operate in another. Now they have been given just three weeks to acquire a licence locally. Sheffield Live! reporter Azz Mohammed spoke to Uber driver Seun Akinwande.
Homelessness charity Roundabout are celebrating forty years of services by hosting Britain’s first art roadshow banger rally with the theme Bangers and Cash. The charity are inviting forty local businesses to each purchase an old car worth £650 or less and have it painted by a local artist to drive from Sheffield to Monte Carlo. The car bonnets will then go to an exhibition to be auctioned off for charity. Nick Coleman reports for Sheffield Live!