Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach says a modest fares increase in January will help pay for its investment in the next generation of low emission double-deckers.
‘I do understand that any sort of fare increase can be unwelcome but we’ve frozen many fares, reduced some and only marginally increased others, from a genuine desire to balance the need for ongoing investment and match the costs of the business with the pressure on people’s budgets,’ says managing director Martin Harris.
In order to meet the city’s aspiration to have a zero emission central area by 2030, he says the Go-Ahead Group company must invest £172million in new vehicles.
‘We spent £7.6million last year on ultralow emissions buses at a cost of around £200,000 each. The plan is to invest in even higher specification vehicles to deliver zero emissions in the city centre, but these buses each cost at least another £100,000.’
In a change of policy, it is purchasing 30 Alexander Dennis Enviro400H hybrid double-deckers this year with a new range extending driveline that will use geo-fencing to enable them to operate in zero-emission electric drive across the city centre. Full details of the new driveline had yet to be revealed as we closed for press on 11 February.
Brighton & Hove has standardised on Euro6 diesel Wright StreetDecks since 2016.
