New era begins under bus service agreement

A new era for improving bus services in Brighton & Hove began on 21 April with the first meeting between the council and the city’s four bus operators under a new Enhanced Partnership (EP) agreement. Under the new agreement, the council, along with Brighton & Hove Buses, Stagecoach, Compass Travel and The Big Lemon will work together to deliver the city’s Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP).

Brighton & Hove City Council was awarded £27.9 million to implement the plan last year. The BSIP has already helped to deliver lower fares for young people in the city until 2025, improved the links between its Bristol and Meadowview Estates and, from the 23 April, increased the number of Big Lemon and Breeze bus services.

Through the EP, the partners will look to improve things like journey times and reliability by way of infrastructure changes such as bus lane improvements, support efforts to make bus travel cheaper and easier, and make the journey experience more enjoyable, with improvements to bus shelters.
Operations Manager for The Big Lemon Colin Morris said: “We are delighted to be working with the city council to improve services on routes 16, 47 and 52, offering evening services on all routes and Sunday services on the 47 and 52. We know that many people cannot use the buses in the evenings because they do not continue late enough, and we hope that by offering later running services we will be able to welcome new passengers onto our buses.”

Commercial Director of Brighton & Hove Buses Nick Hill added: “We are delighted to offer an enhanced service on the Breeze route 78. The changes will enable local residents and visitors to get to the picturesque Stanmer Park in a sustainable way seven days a week, rather than only at weekends.”