Brighton & Hove has highest UK bus use outside London.

Thanks to Brighton Area Buswatch for this item, lifted from their October newsletter. In contrast to the rants of Unchain the Brighton Motorist, it includes facts and evidence about transport in Brighton and Hove.
“Official statistics from the Department for Transport confirm for the second year running that Brighton & Hove has the highest bus use per head of population in England (excluding London). During 2012/13, over 45 million journeys were made by people boarding buses in the Brighton & Hove City Council area. This is around 5% higher than the previous year.



By comparison there were 21 million bus users in East Sussex and 26 million in West Sussex. In Portsmouth and in Medway which are both urban areas with similar populations to Brighton & Hove, the figures were 10 million and 9 million respectively.

Nationally there was a decline in bus use of 2.5%. Even London, which has experienced strong growth in recent years (assisted by enormous Government subsidies), recorded a small decline. Once again this is a tribute to our local bus companies who have worked hard to grow the market against the odds and to the pro-public transport policies of Brighton & Hove City council.” (my emphasis).

And speaking of Unchain The Brighton Motorist, how much money has this cost so far? Eight full page adverts in the Argus, and counting….