Our plans
Brighton & Hove is striving to become a net Carbon Neutral City by 2030.
Brighton & Hove City Council is working to tackle emission hotspots across the city, while also improving air quality for all residents and visitors. We are working on effective ways to manage, and reduce harmful emissions, epically Nitrogen Dioxide and the range of carbon emissions, while supporting both business and personal travel.
Over a third of Brighton & Hove’s carbon emissions come from transport.
Public transport
A good transport system and services are fundamental to our economy and our quality of life. We have also long recognised that transport has adverse impacts on the environment. To avoid dangerous climate change we must act in Brighton and Hove, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport.
We need a shift to public transport and active forms of travel to bring down carbon and nitrous oxide emissions, which affect everyone in the city.
The government plan is to phase out fossil fuelled vehicle sales by 2030, with allowance for some hybrids up to 2035. Switching from petrol and diesel vehicles to electric and hydrogen vehicles will save carbon emissions and improve air quality, as will a reduction in the length and number of vehicle trips.
Brighton & Hove City Council held a climate assembly from September 2020 to November 2020, on the topic of travel and transport.
We intend to:
- create an inclusive and integrated transport system
- develop a public realm which enables active travel
- deliver a School Streets programme to improve road safety and air quality outside schools
- promote physical activity, reducing social isolation
- increase use of public transport
- local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan
- promote and use technology to reduce and manage travel by increasing the use of smart traffic signals
- promote and facilitate the use of zero emission and electric vehicles
- install hundreds of on street electric charging points and rapid charging hubs for taxis
- improve air quality
- improve air quality through clean buses, taxis and delivery vehicles and seek further investment in zero emission buses
- continue to implement an Ultra-Low Emissions Zone in city centre and consider expansion of the zone
- reduce carbon emissions from council owned and contractors’ vehicles. We expect all our contractors to become carbon neutral by 2031.
What we have achieved by 2021
The Council has made strides to reduce the adverse impacts of transport on its air quality including:
- Brighton & Hove welcomed the first buses in the UK that can be set to run in zero-emissions mode whenever they travel through the city centre Ultra Low Emission Zone. Brighton & Hove Buses have invested £9.9 million in 30 new hybrid electric buses.
- investing in electric vehicle infrastructure which has seen over 276 public electric vehicle charging points installed in residential areas this year and the development of electric hubs with rapid charging facilities for taxis.
- offering a 50% discount for resident parking permits for eligible low-emission vehicles
- developing cycling and walking infrastructure, creating 38km of cycle lanes and providing better connected cycling and walking routes through the city centre
- displaying signage across the city centre to discourage engine idling at key junctions and taxi ranks
- working with schools to raise awareness and encourage behavioural change to the use of sustainable travel by children and their carers’ and to prevent idling outside school gates
- the parking contractor NSL are trialling biodegradable PCN carriers
- the council has been working alongside Car Clubs and looking to promoting car share of EV vehicles.
Pay by Phone have now been awarded “Carbon Neutral Plus” status and have also won Green Apple awards for their commitment to carbon neutrality.
Meters for Trees
In January 2020, Brighton & Hove City Council announced it had signed up to PayByPhone’s carbon reduction initiative, Meters for Trees, to improve the environment.
Back in 2017, Brighton & Hove City Council removed 700 of its 1,400 parking meters. Through Meters for Trees, PayByPhone donated 140 trees annually to the city.
Their additional investment in projects in the Amazon will help to offset 140 tonnes of carbon dioxide through the Portel-Pará REDD project.
PaybyPhone offers cashless parking payments that are more convenient for drivers and reduces the need for staff to drive round collecting cash from parking machines.
You can view the most recent reports on the council’s website.