An aspiring politician has started a petition asking for improvements to the bus service in Bevendean.
Jacob Taylor, one of Labour’s newly selected candidates for Moulsecoomb and Bevendean ward at the local elections in May, wants a more frequent and reliable service on the 48 route.
Since he started the petition last Thursday (26 January), 102 people have signed.
Mr Taylor said that people in Bevendean were “fed up”. He said: “It’s a starting point to be able to properly record how many people are really annoyed about this and want to change it.
“People have said that they have tried to write letters in the past but there haven’t been any improvements and, if anything, people have suggested that post-covid it has got worse.
“We need the bus company to really acknowledge that because this is an infrequent route to a part of town that’s not connected, it can’t be the service to get deprioritised and the bus drivers get taken off it in the morning.”
The Labour Party said that the petition was started as part of efforts to listen to residents’ concerns on the doorstep before the Brighton and Hove City Council local elections.
The petition said that cancellations of buses could lead to loss of earnings, fines for missing appointments and absences from education.
The petition asks Brighton and Hove Buses to increase the frequency of the 48 bus to every 15 minutes (four buses an hour) during the working day.
Residents also want the bus company to prioritise drivers for the 48 and assign newer buses to the route.
Several signatories have commented on the online petition.
Joe Walker said: “The 48 service is abysmal. How many times I’ve needed to get a taxi home on a cold evening because I don’t want to wait for a bus that’s been cancelled again.
“The service for older people and the disabled is shocking as there are huge accessibility issues getting to the back end of Bevendean.”
Catherine Berman said: “I’m signing and support this wholeheartedly. I have no choice but to depend on the 48 service. I’m over a mile walk from any other bus service and often struggle with my mobility.
“I have been left waiting far too many times with buses just not turning up and also been caused severe back pain by rickety buses when they do actually run.”
Brighton and Hove Buses commercial director Nick Hill said: “Like many bus operators across the UK, we have been suffering with a shortage of drivers in recent months which has unfortunately affected the service provided. We apologise for this.
“The situation has improved recently following a successful recruitment campaign and the service operation has been much better over the past month, with 99 per cent of the scheduled journeys on route 48 operating, and an on-time performance of 88 per cent.
“We will continue to monitor usage on route 48 and will review the frequency if the demand can justify it but our current priority is to ensure a high quality of operation of the current level of service.”
