Brighton and Hove City Council has won the top award at the National Transport Awards.
The council was named Transport Authority of the Year award for demonstrating excellence, innovation and progress.
Judges visited the city in May and, on Thursday night in Manchester, the council won recognition in particular for the way it works with Brighton and Hove Buses.
The judges also praised the council’s innovation in promoting travel choice.
Brighton and Hove’s transport team works with employers to provide travel options for employees and supports car clubs by providing free parking spaces.
The team has developed a local website – Journey On – to enable residents and visitors to plan journeys and get information on the latest innovations.
The council has taken on powers for bus lane enforcement, allowing more than 3,000 buses to run to a more accurate timetable.
The city had the first bus fleet in the country to be 100 per cent equipped with satellite tracking.
And a link to traffic light software gives priority to late running buses at main junctions.
The award came a day after Brighton and Hove Buses topped the first national survey of bus passenger satisfaction by independent watchdog Passenger Focus.
The survey found 92% of Brighton and Hove passengers were satisfied with the service they received.
Roger French, managing director of Brighton and Hove Buses, said: “I am delighted that this first ever bus passenger survey shows our passengers are the most satisfied in the country and have given us such a fantastically high rating.”
“This is particularly important as the survey looked at many aspects of the services we operate including punctuality, frequency, helpfulness and attitude of the driver and value for money.
“It was also very comprehensive with a sample size of over 1,400 participants in Brighton and Hove.
“The survey results demonstrate the success of our partnership work with the city council as well as neighbouring county councils over many years is delivering a bus network which not only encourages more passengers to travel by bus, but is also delivering the highest standards of satisfaction.”
The survey results in full can be found here.
Councillor Geoffrey Theobald, Brighton and Hove’s cabinet member for environment, praised the council’s transport team for its success at the National Transport Awards.
He said: “This was a well-deserved award for a team that is dedicated to providing good-quality transport choices for local people and visitors.
“This is big morale boost for the staff who give excellent service at a time when public resources are limited.”
The council was also highly commended for “cycling improvements” in recognition of its work to encourage cycling in Brighton and Hove.
Cycling in the city has risen 27 per cent since 2006 partly as a result of a package of measures such as
- advanced stop lines to give cyclists priority at traffic lights
- cycle training in schools
- a bike club for young people
- extra cycle parking spaces and
- special events such as Bike Week.
Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said: “The National Transport Awards are all about celebrating excellence and achievement in the transport world.
“The nominations’ shortlist for this year shows this is an industry that abounds with talent, innovation and enthusiasm.
“I would like to pay tribute to the winners for the work that they do and the difference they make.
“With their dedication harnessed to the full, we can make our vision of a world-class British transport system a reality.”
Southern won the award for travel information and marketing for its Loco Toledo campaign.
