Bus services need saving from the council, according to the Conservatives, who plan to put the matter to a vote at Hove Town Hall this week.
The leader of the Tory group on Brighton and Hove City Council, Alistair McNair, is calling for a debate on the topic at a meeting of the full council on Thursday (23 July).
Councillor McNair intends to propose a motion to “save our buses” after the council said in March that it was looking into taking “greater control over fares, timetables and routes”.
But a Sussex mayor is due to be elected in 2028 and, working with a new Sussex-wide strategic authority, will have more say over the sector.
Locally, bus services have been run by private companies for about 40 years, with most of them operated by Brighton and Hove Buses, part of the Go Ahead Group.
Passenger numbers have soared since then while some have criticised the cost of fares although bus company bosses have pointed to rising fuel costs and the continuing investment in a modern fleet, with a switch to hybrid and electric-powered buses.
The Bee Network, in Manchester, was noted as a reason to consider franchising – where the council allocates routes to operators.
But the Tories said that, while services in Manchester increased by 19.4 per cent, Bristol’s private bus services went up by 33 per cent.
Councillor McNair’s notice of motion said that the council was seeking government funding for a feasibility study to look at bus franchising, giving rise to concerns that council time and money would be diverted from more pressing issues.
The Conservative leader said: “Brighton and Hove Buses are among the best and most heavily used bus networks outside of London.
“The network has scored 90 per cent overall for passenger satisfaction because of the frequent service, a modernising fleet and easy payment options.
“Due to policies of the current administration, buses are expensive, especially since the decision to phase out the 50p unaccompanied child fare.
“Short-hop fares have increased by 30 per cent because subsidies have been cut by the council for most areas.
“Franchising may expose the council to high costs at a time of severe budget constraints, leading to a worsening service.”
His motion, supported by fellow Conservative councillor Anne Meadows, calls for a report to the cabinet to explore the option and implications of postponing any feasibility study until the elected mayor for the new strategic authority is in place in May 2028.
If the feasibility study were to go ahead, Councillor McNair said that all parties should be involved in the study – “and the mechanism to ensure a widespread public consultation whose findings are adhered to”.
The full council is due to meet at 2pm on Thursday (23 July) at Hove Town Hall. The meeting is scheduled to be webcast.
Trying to fix a problem rhat doesn’t exist. How very council. Plenty of other thibgs with greater need tp fix.
Well , it’s not totalled “not broken” as routes and timetables are based on profitability for Go Ahead. If they do not make economic sense, but are required for “social reasons”, the council (i.e. us tax payers) has to pay for them.
If routes are wanted for any other reason, they are declined.
Having the council decide on what routes it wants and at what frequency could open up new ones that would provide faster services – for instance cross-city routes that require interchange in Brighton town centre, that are currently so time consuming that thy make private transport so attractive.
For example
Portslade to Hangleton by bus 25 minutes, car 5 minutes
Portslade to Patcham by bus 52 minutes, car 12 minutes
Portslade to Lewes by bus 73 minutes, car 22 minutes
Portslade to Eastbourne by bus 105 minutes, car 50 minutes
Don’t forget the 28/29 that for reasons unknown to anyone with a brain, terminate at Churchill square and don’t go into Hove… They should at the very least go as far as Sackville and turn around there.
Any time I hear the handful of Tories on the council moaning about anything I immediately want to support whatever they’re arguing against. They’re such an irrelevance locally it’s a wonder they bother at all. Of course the only wards they do represent are the ones with the big houses and driveways full of cars so why the bus network would be of concern to them I’ve no idea
What!!!! All you can do is moan about the councilors party rather than add to debate about the issue raised in the article!!! Strange person…..
I think what they’ve done to the number 50 is appalling! turned it into a 20 which changes routes depending on time of day! I still dont know where the thing goes.
I agree, I think we have a very good service. The company clearly invest in new buses each year . The council need to concentrate on sorting out what they are obliged to deal with and leave the bus service alone. If it isn’t broken don’t fiddle with it!
Utterly insane that the council are considering this. Brighton’s bus network is one of the best in the country and as the old saying goes “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” applies here. There are very few places in England outside London where you can get a bus 24/7 to quite a wide range of places within the area. Most of the buses are pretty modern by other companies standards and the range of routes is also excellent, now with two express routes across the city (1X and 3X). As soon as council officers get their hands on the services you can expect unneccesary meddling with timetables and routes, constructed by people who have no idea what they are doing because they’ve never run a bus service in their life. Please Brighton & Hove Council, leave our buses alone and concentrate on improving the services you already try and run!
Well the X routes were forced through by the council and not the bus company, so maybe the council are right to take over ?
Hello
The council did not force the X routes through.
They have no input on routes that are run privatley.
It is difficult to understand wasting precious time trying to fix something that isn’t broken. Surely councillors have more pressing issues that they can have a cup of tea and biscuits over rather than the repositioning of a few bus-stops and tweaking a few routes and timetables?
Bizarre how obsessed this Labour administration is with buses.They will lose the May 2027 election as all they seem to care about is shoving in red routes for buses and taking over buses with no consideration for disabled people, residents or businesses.
Well they obviously do, hence the red routes. Which benefit the majority of residents… The only people upset are a handful of clowns
More fiddling while Rome burns around them and next year’s election is looming. They have messed up the roads, bus information boards and bus stops enough when that money could have been used for free bus fares for children. They don’t seem to care the city has hungry children and parents depending on food banks.
Idiot comment
What’s wrong with our bus service???????? Uhmmm! Nope, not that, err!!!!!! No not this, oh yeah, NUUUTTTHHHIIINNNGGG!!!!! LEAVE THEM ALONE! Please🙃
So your going to look at the Manchester model, which pretty much everyone on planet earth has agreed has worked an absolute treat and try and make out it doesn’t work if it was applied to our city, not through any actual evidence but because of the fact it takes power away from a french owned ‘private company’ and places it locally with our own council… Sounds about right for the conservatives.
They have totally mucked up two routes with no prior warning. One being the 50 that seems to change its route half way through the day & now goes to queens park where hollingdean people might go once a year for a change of scenery and another one that the turns are so stupidly worked out through north laines the bus has crashed into a shop twice. PUT THE BUSSES BACK HOW THEY WERE WHEN THEY WERE WORTH USING.
If private road traffic requires significant investment for road maintenance, traffic management and everything else that goes along with it, then why can’t that money be better spent on free buses for all, which would erase most traffic (and emissions) overnight. Why wouldn’t you do that?
Estonia, Spain, Luxembourg, Malta. It just works.