Major funding boost for bus travel in Brighton & Hove

Bus travel in Brighton & Hove will be given a major boost following the announcement of a multi-million pound government funding award.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has provisionally awarded the city £27.9m to implement our Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP), a strategic document which sets out how the council and local bus operators can continue to work together to improve and grow bus use.

Working with operators, our intention is to use the funding to help make bus journeys faster and more reliable, as well as help reduce the cost of bus travel. Further details of how this will be spent need to be agreed with the Department for Transport and further information will be published in due course.

The next step will be to begin developing schemes to help meet these goals. Funding will be released when an ‘Enhanced Partnership’ has been agreed with operators.

Councillor Steve Davis, Co-Chair of the Environment, Transport and Sustainability committee said: “This is fantastic news for the future of bus travel in Brighton & Hove and I would like to thank our council team for their hard work in putting together the BSIP.  

“We already have excellent bus usage in the city and a great relationship with local bus operators. This funding will help us to build on work that’s being done, continue to improve bus services and enable more people to travel by bus.

“Getting more people onto public transport is vital if we’re to cut carbon emissions in the city and tackle the climate emergency we face. Improving our bus network and making services accessible for everyone is a key part of doing that.

Read more about the announcement.

What is the Bus Service Improvement Plan?

In March 2021, the government asked local councils, working with bus operators, to produce an ambitious Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP).

This BSIP will form the basis of an Enhanced Partnership agreement between the council and operators and build on our long-standing Quality Bus Partnership. The Enhanced Partnership will be a more formal arrangement with agreed targets and actions and regular reporting.

Our BSIP sets out targets for things like journey times, reliability, passenger growth and customer satisfaction. Actions in other areas such as zero emissions vehicles will also be monitored and reported against. 

The city’s BSIP was approved by members of the Environment, Transport and Sustainability committee in September 2021.

Ed Wills, Managing Director for Brighton & Hove and Metrobus said: "We are delighted that the Department for Transport (DfT) has provisionally awarded the city £27.9m to implement a local Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP)

"We work hard every day to provide a frequent and reliable bus service for the community. 

"With BSIP funding we look forward to implementing further initiatives in addition to what we currently provide. 

"Ultimately our shared aim with Brighton & Hove City Council is to get more people out of their cars and onto buses to help tackle climate change and make the bus a natural choice."