Madeira Drive - Cost of Parking

[Lord Bracknell]

As for visitors, Brighton is rammed with cars, especially on Sundays. The pro-public transport policies of the council don't seem to be deterring car-borne visitors.

The seaside holiday came to an end in Brighton in the 1960s, when the hoteliers decided that their future lay in conferences and providing student accommodation.

 

[Garage_Doors]

I live in the depths of the country - almost a mile from the nearest bus route (with a service that is five buses a day, none in the evenings or on Sunday). I do own a car. And I use the train (from a station three miles away) when I travel into Brighton (where I work and where I buy stuff and have the occasional evening or day out).

So after a night out in Brighton, how do you travel the 3 miles home from the station?

 

[Lord Bracknell]

All valid points with rational thinking.
But still feel as residents we are being given a very raw deal on bus pricing and don't like to be forced to use the councils biased chosen method of transport.
Buses would need to become more adaptable,frequent and reliable before I could consider them a viable option for every day travel.
As they ther are now i could not use them.

How "more frequent" do you want buses to be? There are at least 33 buses an hour, in each direction, going along Lewes Road. Some of them run all night, seven days a week.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

So after a night out in Brighton, how do you travel the 3 miles home from the station?

Taxi, from the station, if necessary. Or I park the car at the station.

 

[BigGully]

Although I see a role for public transport, I do find it frustrating when people like LB espouse the virtues of it against the alternative of the car.

Its a loaded dice, they hike the price of parking to unacceptable levels, then tell us that we should of come by bus as its greener and cheaper !!!

I have driven around Brighton for 30 years and generally its not a big problem, admittedly it has its moments.

Maybe LB could let me know how much the council generates from its parking revenues and associated fines ?

 

[BigGully]

Oh and by the way, what about those parking machine in town where you have a charge for your parking and then the machine doesn't give change.

How any fair-minded person could possible install a £20 000 machine that then doesn't give change, so they can rake in extra £1 000's for a service that isn't delivered is shameful.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Maybe LB could let me know how much the council generates from its parking revenues and associated fines ?

The on-street parking surplus in 2010/11 was £7,566,000. The Council spent £8,287,000 on public transport and £3,327,000 on repaying the borrowing costs of transport capital expenditure. Ring-fenced grants worth £2,613,000 were received from the Department of Transport.

 

[Garage_Doors]

How "more frequent" do you want buses to be? There are at least 33 buses an hour, in each direction, going along Lewes Road. Some of them run all night, seven days a week.

That's ok if you live on the Lewes road I guess.

 

[The Large One]

Although I see a role for public transport, I do find it frustrating when people like LB espouse the virtues of it against the alternative of the car.

Its a loaded dice, they hike the price of parking to unacceptable levels, then tell us that we should of come by bus as its greener and cheaper !!!

I have driven around Brighton for 30 years and generally its not a big problem, admittedly it has its moments.

Maybe LB could let me know how much the council generates from its parking revenues and associated fines ?

There's always a moving line between those at one extreme who are vehemently pro-car and anti-public transport, and those who are vehmently anti-car and pro-pulbic transport at the other. This is moving the line along a little away from the former. But not by much. Your experience of driving around Brighton is probably not going to be affected much. Indeed, if this policy works, it might well improve.

This car parking price hike is eye-watering. However, speaking anecdotally, if it's tourism we're worried about, most people who make trips to Brighton probably know it's expensive in the first place - it has been for years - yet still they come. Are cars going to stop coming into the city on daytrips? No. Are people going to stop visiting Brighton from, say, London, on the back of this? Unlikely - the train really is a decent option. A few may stop, but I can't see it killing tourism.

My take on it is one of witnessing the initial reaction to similar fairly (at-the-time) outrageous and radical proposals - the stadium, for one. How much howling when people were asked to recycle? Or how much noise was made when we were given the disgusting eyesores of green wheelie bins? "Outrageous behaviour by the council... etc. etc." Then things settle down and everyone just shrugs and accepts it, and works around it.

What's interesting on here is that for those all appalled by it, while one or two have said that they'll go somewhere else, most will make alternative arrangements - not rely on the car so much, take the bus, considering walking if possible etc. That, I suspect, has been the idea from the council all along.

I am very far from being anti-car. But I am against unnecessary car use. What defines 'unnecessary'? I guess that's in the mind of the beholder. I have my level of what I consider unnecessary for my own purposes, and I'm not in favour of me adding to the traffic or pollution unnecessarily.

As for the question asked earlier about where there is an example of no traffic being a help to visitors. One of Brighton's examples is the North Laine. Not everyone's cup of tea admittedly, but it is still popular - and most roads are closed to traffic at the weekends.

 

[BigGully]

The on-street parking surplus in 2010/11 was £7,566,000. The Council spent £8,287,000 on public transport and £3,327,000 on repaying the borrowing costs of transport capital expenditure. Ring-fenced grants worth £2,613,000 were received from the Department of Transport.

Thanks for that.

What kind of things are the main expenses making up the public transport £8 287 000 cost ?

Is the £3 327 000 repayment interest on a loan or part of an overall repayment on an overall debt, how much is the loan/debt ?

 

[The Large One]

That's ok if you live on the Lewes road I guess.

I must be one of the OK people then. I live between Preston Park and Fiveways. We have 19 buses an hour coming from the city centre going to within 200 yards of my house.

And a train station with 4 trains an hour within 400 yards. Mind you, I could walk - and usually do.

Brighton is pretty well served by public transport.

 

[Garage_Doors]

Brighton is pretty well served by public transport.

At a price, its not a cheaper alternative and favoured more to the visitor rather than the resident. This is what I find difficult to understand.
Why as taxpaying residents do we have to pay more for a bus ride than a visitor arriving at Brighton station.This is a general question, I'm not expecting you personally to know the answer.
Is there a department of the council that i can ask this question.
Anyone know.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

At a price, its not a cheaper alternative and favoured more to the visitor rather than the resident. This is what I find difficult to understand.
Why as taxpaying residents do we have to pay more for a bus ride than a visitor arriving at Brighton station.This is a general question, I'm not expecting you personally to know the answer.
Is there a department of the council that i can ask this question.
Anyone know.

What I do know is that the Council has no say in setting or controlling bus fares. It's the bus company that sets the fares. Their annual revenue is £50.2 million and they carry 47 million passengers a year. Bus patronage in Brighton has grown by around 5% per year since 1993 (ie it has more than doubled), and there was a 3% reduction in city centre traffic in the 3 years to 2009.

 

[desprateseagull]

i think the multi storey in Marina is free- walk or get Volks train along from there? or bus it..

 

[Garage_Doors]

Their annual revenue is £50.2 million and they carry 47 million passengers a year. Bus patronage in Brighton has grown by around 5% per year since 1993 (ie it has more than doubled), and there has been a 3% reduction in city centre traffic in the last 3 years.

What has this quoting revenue, percentages and number of passengers got to do with the question i asked
Its not relevant to the question. Assume your just trying to impress with your knowledge of irrelevant figures?

 

[Lord Bracknell]

What has this quoting revenue, percentages and number of passengers got to do with the question i asked
Its not relevant to the question. Assume your just trying to impress with your knowledge of irrelevant figures?

The question you asked was based on a suggestion that bus fares are set in a way that puts local people off using the service. My assertion is that this is not the case. Doubling passenger numbers is clear evidence that the company is attracting more journeys by both residents and visitors.

 

[The Large One]

My theory is - and it's pure speculation - that bus numbers are climbing in ways that they haven't across the country, so the Go Ahead group wants to milk the Brighton & Hove bus traveller for all it can.

I have no evidence for it, but when you see and know bus fares in other parts of the country are not like ours, it's still a bloody outrage.

 

[Garage_Doors]

The question you asked was based on a suggestion that bus fares are set in a way that puts local people off using the service. My assertion is that this is not the case. Doubling passenger numbers is clear evidence that the company is attracting more journeys by both residents and visitors.

You are incorrect that my question is based on a suggestion that bus fares are set in a way that puts local people off using the service.
People don't choose to use the bus, they either use them or they don't if you have to use a bus, you have to use a bus. locals have to use them regardless of the cost hence why we get charged more.
The question is why is there two tariffs that you keep evading giving reasons of markets forces etc.
In truth, its an unfair system.
You keep quoting facts and figures to try and justify it.
"Doubling passenger numbers is clear evidence that the company is attracting more journeys by both residents and visitors"
So what? are you saying they must be right to charge residents more because more people are using buses?
Passengers are increasing because the number of people living in Brighton is increasing and we are being forced onto buses so its Inevitable they will increase.

Think is best left to rest as you are never going to see the unfairness of it and its certain not worth falling out over.

 

[Garage_Doors]

My theory is - and it's pure speculation - that bus numbers are climbing in ways that they haven't across the country, so the Go Ahead group wants to milk the Brighton & Hove bus traveller for all it can.

I have no evidence for it, but when you see and know bus fares in other parts of the country are not like ours, it's still a bloody outrage.

Inclined to agree, I was in Taunton at the start of the week and their day ticket was £2.15.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Inclined to agree, I was in Taunton at the start of the week and their day ticket was £2.15.

According to the First Bus website, an all day "FirstDay" ticket for the Taunton area is £4.20.

Taunton Area | FirstDayBristol, Bath and the West | FirstGroup plc.