Better bus travel for pupils, residents and visitors

Improvements to council-funded bus services come into operation next month, including some alterations to school routes.

Service 72 from Whitehawk to Longhill School will run five minutes earlier in the mornings to improve reliability, while a full range of tickets will be accepted on the 74 from Lewes Road to Patcham High and on the 96 from Patcham to Blatchington Mill and Hove Park schools.

The route of the 91 to Cardinal Newman School will be extended to serve Ovingdean and Woodingdean. These start on 2 September.

Other improvements include a later ‘last bus’ on Sunday evenings on the 81C service from Meadowview to Goldstone Valley at no extra cost to the council (from 15 September); timetable changes to enable a more reliable service on the 16 and 66 from Portslade to Hangleton (from 16 September); and an extension to the city centre of the 52 route from Woodingdean and Ovingdean to Brighton Marina following consultation with residents (from 16 September).

Councillor Ian Davey, lead member for transport at Brighton & Hove City Council, said: “We are delighted that working together with our partners the bus operators have been able to adjust services to improve bus travel for passengers.

“Bus travel continues to be a popular choice for people visiting or working in the city and their input has been vital to helping us improve these services. We are fortunate to have such an extensive bus network to link residents with education, shopping, health and leisure facilities across Brighton & Hove.”

From 1 October the popular ‘Breeze up to the Downs’ service will run on Saturdays on the 78 and 79 routes to Stanmer Park and Ditchling Beacon for the first time during the autumn and winter season. It means that the entire ‘Breeze’ network which covers Devils’ Dyke, Stanmer Park and Ditchling Beacon will run every weekend throughout the year. The extension of this service was made possible through a successful bid to the Local Sustainable Transport Fund.

There are also improvements planned on commercial routes not funded by the council. Brighton & Hove Buses are increasing the frequency of the 5, 5A and 5B from Patcham and Hollingbury in the morning peak to meet demand and there will be six buses an hour weekdays on the 6 route from central Hove to Brighton station.

Timings have been revised on the 23 to the universities in the early mornings Monday to Friday to better match shift and lecture times. Journeys towards the Marina which start at Melbourne Street will be extended to start from Falmer Station following requests from people working at the County Hospital for better early morning links from the Lewes Road area.

All journeys on the 28 towards Brighton will be diverted via the new historical records centre at The Keep between Falmer and Coldean Lane Monday to Saturdays. These changes come in on 15 September.

Minor adjustments to routes 33 and 40 from Brighton to Haywards Heath and Cuckfield will ensure a better service to the Princess Royal Hospital.

Full timetables can be found at www.traveline.info or on bus operators’ websites. The bus operators are: Brighton & Hove Buses, TheSussexBus.com, Compass, Metrobus and the Big Lemon.