Brighton & Hove Buses has taken the initiative and published a report with a proposed action to tackle the impact of poor air quality in the city.
The report, Brighton & Hove: The Clean Air City, is a blueprint for the role of public transport.
It comes after last week’s Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee report into air quality said that reducing car use by improving public transport and encouraging active travel ‘should like at the heart of any clean air strategy’.
Brighton & Hove Buses’ MD Martin Harris says: “We’ve been deliberately ambitious with the report and intend it to be a constructive contribution to the debate as well as a sign of our commitment to help clean up our city, deliver a fully-sustainable bus service and advocate to car drivers it’s time to switch to cleaner transport.”
The bus company proposes a new Low Emission Zone (LEZ) with a lower threshold for polluting emissions, with scope to extend geographically in the future as well as to other vehicles.
It promises to begin to phase in electric and hydrogen fuel cell buses from 2020 – but no later than 2023.
The report specifically calls for joint working to combat increasing congestion.
Adds Mr Harris: “It will take a multi-agency approach, and require a bus priority strategy, a congestion strategy and an energy strategy that addresses public transport needs.
“The council is best placed to convene delivery partners to bring about reliable emissions-free infrastructure so it becomes possible to invest in clean energy supplies in a less volatile environment than we have at the moment.”
For a copy email info@buses.co.uk
