Coming back from a holiday in Holland, I was reminded how bad public transport can be in the UK when, at Harwich International, I was greeted by a late and dirty train.

However, back in Brighton, what struck me was how well our bus service compares with those on the Continent, and we should not lose sight of that or allow changes which could threaten it.

Yes, short journeys are expensive compared with Holland, where you can travel for one hour in a large zone for less than 90p, and this allows you to change services unlike a single ticket on the buses here.

But an all-day ticket costs close to £6, which is more expensive than the saver tickets in Brighton and Hove.

One of the best ways of reducing costs is to improve the speed of services by removing bottlenecks for buses and giving them priority at traffic lights.

Yet, little is being done on this and, worryingly, proposals to increase car access in the city centre around London Road and Edward Street could be disastrous.

If people are concerned about the cost of bus fares then slowing buses down with more cars on the road is going to push up prices, since buses take longer and become less attractive for people to use.

We shouldn’t forget that the city’s high-quality bus service has not happened by chance but because of the long-term commitment to public transport by Brighton and Hove City Council.

Without this, there is a danger we will lose one of the city’s greatest assets.

This would be bad news for the economy but also our health and the environment.

That’s why the bus lanes along the A259 need to be kept and measures taken to resolve concerns about the scheme’s design.

Scrapping the scheme might be popular in the short term, but future generations would not thank us for such a short-sighted approach.

Ultimately, undermining public transport in the city by promoting greater car use will deny people choice, since the only realistic option left open to most will be to drive everywhere, which is neither desirable nor affordable.

Chris Todd
Brighton & Hove
Friends of the Earth