Transport project will 'cut journey times' (From The Argus)

Transport project will 'cut journey times'

5:17pm Tuesday 3rd April 2007 in News By Lawrence Marzouk

A £12million transport project will cut journey times across Brighton and Hove by up to a third.

Last month, The Argus revealed that work on the Rapid Transport System could start as early as next April - two years ahead of schedule.

Now a provisional timetable, released to the public for the first time, shows the new "tube-like" buses will take just 16 minutes to travel between Brighton Marina and Brighton Station at peak times. The number 7 bus currently does the journey in 23 minutes.

Trips between the King Alfred and Brighton Station will be completed in 11 minutes at rush hour and nine minutes at other times of day.

No direct bus route exists at the moment between the leisure centre and the city's busiest station but the new system will cut travel time by at least three minutes.

The service will run every ten minutes.

The first phase of the project was moved up the list of regional transport priorities after other schemes in the South East fell behind schedule.

Councillor Gill Mitchell, head of transport at the city council, said the system would be more like the London Underground than the current bus system.

She said: "It will cut time for people commuting into the city for jobs, stopping at major employers like American Express.

"It will also be easier for visitors arriving at Brighton Station to see a much simplified bus station going to all the major tourist sites.

"This service will make it easier and more comfortable to travel across the city."

Buses will run between Brighton railway station, which will be the central stop, American Express, the Royal Sussex County Hospital and the marina.

Heading west, stops will be built at the Brighton Centre, the i360 and the King Alfred.

The council is already investigating other routes, including one via Hove Station, and a bid for a £40million extension to Shoreham and Newhaven has been pencilled in for 2015.

The buses will run on miles of dedicated lanes and will have a limited number of stops and station-like platforms.

Bendy buses were initially planned for the project but have been dropped after failures in London.

The vehicles will be environmentally friendly and will include cycle racks.

The scheme will reduce the number of cars on the road at peak times by 1,600 and increase public transport use.

Talks with the Department for Transport are ongoing to secure funding.

Would you ditch your car to take the new-style buses? Leave your comments below.