Free Bus Travel For Under 19s Traveling With An Adult In Brighton & Hove

Brighton & Hove City Council are launching a campaign to promote two fare offers designed to get more young people travelling around the city by bus.

 The offers are:

• Free travel by up to four children or young people aged 19 or under when accompanied by a fare paying adult or an adult concessionary pass holder. This offer applies at all times, but excludes night-time routes and journeys.
• 50p single journey tickets for unaccompanied children or young people under 19. This offer applies at off peak times only (after 6pm on school days), and any time on Saturdays, Sundays, Public Holidays and school holidays but excludes night time routes and journeys. 

They're working together with the four local bus operators; Brighton & Hove Buses, Stagecoach, Compass Travel and The Big Lemon.

Department for Transport funding for the Bus Service Improvement Plan is being used to fund the offers to help young families and those aged 19 and under.

Brighton & Hove has some of the highest passenger numbers outside of London, but the council would like to see more people using the 'fantastic' bus network.

Having received £27.9m to implement the Bus Service Improvement Plan last year, they’re now working to improve bus services even further across the city, with the aim of 'increasing reliability and passenger satisfaction levels'.

Councillor Steve Davis,, Co-Chair of the Environment, Transport and Sustainability committee said:

“We want more young families and young people to travel around the city by bus and these fare offers will really make it more affordable to do so.

“We’re very lucky to have such a good and comprehensive bus network in Brighton & Hove which makes it easy to get from place to place.

“Being awarded almost £28 million last year for the specific use of improving bus services in the city means we can build on the good work that’s already been done. This was one of the highest awards in the country when you compare it to other areas.

“Given the workload of officers in the transport team this amount of funding is remarkable and I would like to thank them for their hard work.

“We know that if we want people to make sustainable travel choices, we have to give them the infrastructure to do so. Through offers like these, our Bus Service Improvement Plan is going to make travelling by bus a great option for our residents and visitors."

The Bus Service Improvement Plan

In March 2021, the government asked local councils, working with bus operators, to produce an ambitious Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP).

The BSIP sets out targets for things like journey times, reliability, passenger growth and customer satisfaction. Actions in other areas such as zero emissions vehicles will also be monitored and reported against. 

The city’s BSIP was approved by members of the Environment, Transport and Sustainability committee in September 2021 and they were awarded £27.9m to implement the BSIP in spring of last year.