Congestion charge in Brighton & Hove

[gullshark]

My brother and his family (2 adults, 3 children one aged below 2) were thinking of going to East Grinstead on Friday from Shoreham. What would be the cheapest way of doing this on the bus and where should they buy their tickets from?

Why on earth does someone wanna go to EG! I lived there 20 years...

I have a couple of gripes with the buses in B&H, first of all is the price of a return ticket is extortionate, second of all the price structures are confusing (i.e seemingly random short hop routes) and where I live near hove station it's cheaper to get the train return (£2.40) than the 7 bus (£3.60) so I generally do that.

 

[ali jenkins]

Why on earth does someone wanna go to EG! I lived there 20 years...

I have a couple of gripes with the buses in B&H, first of all is the price of a return ticket is extortionate, second of all the price structures are confusing (i.e seemingly random short hop routes) and where I live near hove station it's cheaper to get the train return (£2.40) than the 7 bus (£3.60) so I generally do that.

The priceing is simple.

£3.60 all day travel around Brighton and Hove.

There is a 'Centre Faire' area where it is cheeper but Im not sure about the price.

 

[desprateseagull]

if B&H buses / the council, or UK govt SERIOUS about getiting people out of cars, then bus fares need to come down-

Brighton is MORE expensive than London, ffs!

come on Gordon- polish that one good eye, and have a look at sorting out / slashing the tax, duty etc on public transport..

..even if its just til the next election.

 

[gullshark]

£3.60 around B&H, or £4.20(ish) if you want a SuperSaver

£1 for some of these random journeys
http://history.buses.co.uk/pdfs/shorthop.pdf

£1.50 for centrefair

Night buses have different prices too
N7 and N25 is £2.20 (or £1 if you have an existing saver)
Nightclub buses N98, N99 the fare is £3.00
and on the N29, N69 it is £5.00


So yeah, it's not *that* simple, it would be so much better if it was £1.80 single and £2.50 return rather than having to faff about with different price points.

 

[The Large One]

if B&H buses / the council, or UK govt SERIOUS about getiting people out of cars, then bus fares need to come down-

Brighton is MORE expensive than London, ffs!

come on Gordon- polish that one good eye, and have a look at sorting out / slashing the tax, duty etc on public transport..

..even if its just til the next election.

You think that's going to have an effect?

Even taking off VAT completely, that would still make bus fares £1.57.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

A £3.60 all day travel ticket generally (I would imagine) doesn't benefit many residents of Brighton & Hove. It is ridiculously expensive for a journey from surburbia to the centre and back, particularly for a travelling party.

I quite like the idea of a congestion charge, but only if a decent P&R system is not feasible to at least ease/tackle congestion.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

You think that's going to have an effect?

Even taking off VAT completely, that would still make bus fares £1.57.

Bus fares are zero rated for VAT purposes.

 

[The Large One]

Bus fares are zero rated for VAT purposes.

OK then.

Taking off VAT, bus fares would be £1.80.

 

[8ace]

You think that's going to have an effect?

Even taking off VAT completely, that would still make bus fares £1.57.

No fuel duty for public transport or letting them use red diesel may make a difference.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

No fuel duty for public transport or letting them use red diesel may make a difference.

There's already a significant fuel duty rebate for local bus services - an effective refund of more than 40p a litre.

And the government announced TODAY that the rates of refund will be improved next year for operators who achieve fuel efficiency improvements.

 

[desprateseagull]

i recal the bus prices changing from a zone system to a fixed £1 a ride.. was a while back, much fuss and frivolity..

no mention of fares ever coming DOWN though, despite wholesale fuel costs falling..?

 

[Lord Bracknell]

no mention of fares ever coming DOWN though, despite wholesale fuel costs falling..?

Fuel costs are only 11 per cent of total bus operating costs, though.

Brighton & Hove Buses fully hedge their fuel costs. They are paying 9.3 per cent more for fuel in 2009/10 than they were last year. It's only next year (2010/11) that fuel will be cheaper (down 12.8 per cent on 2009/10).

The saving is enough to fund a 1.4 per cent reduction in fares next year (and the saving in fuel costs might do no more than counterbalance other cost increases that the company will face).

 

[BensGrandad]

Why did the Corporation buses, which if memory serves me were blue and white, stop in Brighton. I lived in Worthing but remember them and the trolley buses in Brighton.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Why did the Corporation buses, which if memory serves me were blue and white, stop in Brighton. I lived in Worthing but remember them and the trolley buses in Brighton.

When privatisation was forced on the bus industry (as an outcome of the 1985 Transport Act), Brighton Council sold their bus undertaking to the management and workforce. This company (the blue buses) was subsequently bought by the Go Ahead Group, who had previously acquired the Brighton and Hove Bus and Coach Company, by purchasing that company from the management buy-out team that had bought it when the Brighton area part of Southdown Motor Services had been privatised.

After the Go Ahead Group bought the Brighton Blue Bus operation, they merged their two companies in Brighton into one - and that's the Brighton and Hove Bus and Coach Company that we see today.

Up until 1970, Brighton Corporation buses were painted in the same red and cream livery as the buses run by Brighton, Hove and District, one of the three companies who were partners in the Brighton Area Transport Services (BATS) Agreement (the third was Southdown). When the National Bus Company merged BH&D with Southdown and decided to paint all their buses green, the Corporation decided to adopt a distinctive livery of its own - hence the blue buses.

The trolley buses had been run as part of the original 1939 BATS agreement and they were red and cream, whether they were run by Brighton Corporation or BH&D.

 

[Gwylan]

Up until 1970, Brighton Corporation buses were painted in the same red and cream livery as the buses run by Brighton, Hove and District...

That's only partly true: they were red and cream but the corporation buses were considerably red, more maroon, than the district buses. It was a different make of bus too but I'm not enough of a bus geek to know the difference.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

That's only partly true: they were red and cream but the corporation buses were considerably red, more maroon, than the district buses. It was a different make of bus too but I'm not enough of a bus geek to know the difference.

Brighton Corporation:-

Brighton Hove & District:-

 

[Gwylan]

Ed, those precede the time I'm talking about.

My memory dates from coming back from school circa 1968- 71. I had to get a 49 bus (a corporation one) home to Moulsecoomb and would wait with my mates who had to get a 6 (a district one). My eyesight was terrible but I could tell the difference between the two buses from some distance, even though I wouldn't see the number until the bus was virtually at the stop.

 

[8ace]

There's already a significant fuel duty rebate for local bus services - an effective refund of more than 40p a litre.

And the government announced TODAY that the rates of refund will be improved next year for operators who achieve fuel efficiency improvements.

Never knew that, interesting.

 

[Brovion]

When privatisation was forced on the bus industry (as an outcome of the 1985 Transport Act), ....

And therein lies the problem. If I was running the country I'd renationalise all transport companies and give the buses back to the local authorities. Brighton could then run a comprehensive, fully-integrated, affordable bus network geared around people not profit. It would run at a stonking great loss which would be covered by parking charges (residents permits on all streets and public car parks). See how that goes and then maybe introduce a congestion charge (with out-of town car parks) later.

 

[glasfryn]

And therein lies the problem. If I was running the country I'd renationalise all transport companies and give the buses back to the local authorities. Brighton could then run a comprehensive, fully-integrated, affordable bus network geared around people not profit. It would run at a stonking great loss which would be covered by parking charges (residents permits on all streets and public car parks). See how that goes and then maybe introduce a congestion charge (with out-of town car parks) later.

sounds great and maybe would not run at a loss (increased fares for late night/early morning) ect but I'm afraid all the time you have the certain political parties around its not going to happen unless Brighton suddenly goes over to the party with green logo