Note that this document highlights where changes have been made from the draft version of Our City Transport Plan 2035. A clean version, of the final plan will be published on the council website after Our City Transport Plan 2035 has been approved.

Deleted text is shown using strikethrough

New text is shown in red.

The costs included in the three-year delivery plan are indicative, based on funding we received in 2025/26. We are yet to receive confirmation of our funding settlement for 26/27 onwards and the capital programme delivery plan will be confirmed through a separate cabinet decision.

 

Foreword

Travel is a meansto an end. People undertake most journeys for a purpose, be that shopping, visiting friends, gettingto work or school. In the same way, Our City Transport Plan 2035 is a means to achieving the wider outcomes we want for Brighton & Hove:

•          a growing economy, including our visitor, night-time and innovation sectors

•          a fairer, more equitable, accessible and inclusive city

•          a city that has low emissions, clean air and is sustainable

•          a city that is easy to get around, with well- run services

 

Our City Transport Plan 2035 sets out an ambitious vision for getting around a cleaner, fairer and growing city over the next decade. By 2035 more people will choose to make more of their journeys within the city by active travel (walking, wheeling, cycling) and public transport, because it will be safer, quicker and more convenient for them to do so. To achieve this, we will improve our public spaces, pavements, cycle infrastructure and key routes. With more people choosing active travel and public transport we can make better use of our road space which will help reduce congestion and delays on our roads, benefiting all users.

 

By 2035 all new vehicles sold in the UK must be zero emission. Petrol and diesel vehicles are already being replaced by electric ones and by 2035, if not sooner, more than half of the vehicles in Brighton & Hove will be electric. This huge change will require an increase in electric vehicle chargepoints. The shift to electric vehicles will make the single biggest contribution to reducing carbon emissions from our transport network, helping the UK meet its global commitments to tackling climate change. It will also mean that the air we breathe is cleaner. Brighton & Hove City Council are already one of the leading local authorities for providing electric vehicle chargepoints and have ambitious plans to provide even more, so that people can be supported to make the choice to switch to greener transport. We are determined that this transition to a cleaner transport system will be done in a way that doesn’t exclude or leave behind those on low incomes or who are otherwise at risk of being marginalised. The city needs to remain a welcoming place, that is open for businesses and visitors.

 

After years of underfunding for local authorities, we are entering a new era of devolved government. For Brighton & Hove and the wider Sussex area the proposal is to establish a new Mayoral Strategic Authority, with responsibility for strategic transport across the region. It is our hope that the devolution of powers to this new regional body, and the associated re-organisation of local government, will provide fresh impetus to deliver ambitious schemes, such as purpose-built Park & Ride facilities for the city. This document sets out what we wish to see delivered in the coming 10 years.

 

Executive Summary

Our City Transport Plan 2035 is the council’s over-arching transport policy for the coming decade. This is a draft version of the plan that we are seeking people’s views on through a public consultation. It sets out our strategic vision for getting around a cleaner, fairer and growing city. To achieve this vision, there are five key challenges that we need to address.

 

 

Challenge 1: Enabling more people to live safer, healthier and more active lives. Our City Transport Plan 2035 has been written to work in harmony with the objectives that have been set out in the Council Plan 2023-2027. This has four outcomes, one of which is for Brighton & Hove to be a healthy city where people

thrive. By providing attractive public spaces that are safe and easy to get around by active travel, we will enable more people to choose to incorporate physical activity into their day. While the number or people killed or seriously injured on our roads is relatively small, fears about road safety are a significant barrier for many people adopting more active travel. We are also aware that some pavements in the city can be narrow or in poor condition.

 

We want to give more people the option of choosing active travel by providing infrastructure, like protected cycle lanes and attractive well-maintained pavements, that make people feel safe and provide them with the support and training to

feel confident in travelling actively. We also want to reduce further the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads by 2035.

 

Challenge 2: Reducing congestion Improving the flow of traffic on our roads. Brighton & Hove is a great place to be, but our road network struggles to cope when there are lots of people on the move at the same time. At busy times congestion causes delays which affects all users including businesses and our visitor economy. The space allocated to roads in the city is relatively fixed, this plan does not advocate extensive new roadbuilding, therefore we need to strike a balance between different road users’ needs. Advances in technology will also enable innovative solutions utilising technology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) within network management of the city’s strategic roads.

 

Our approach will be to encourage more efficient use of the road space we have. Buses and active travel are the most efficient forms of transport and suitable for many short trips. We aim to provide mobility hubs, that will improve access to public transport, car clubs and other shared transport. Strategic mobility hubs on the edge of the city can provide Park & Ride facilities for those visiting and commuting, while smaller neighbourhood mobility hubs can provide easy access to public transport, car or bike hire.

 

Challenge 3: Supporting the transition to zero and ultra-low emission transport vehicles.

Switching away from petrol and diesel-powered vehicles is the single most important measure that will improve local air quality and reduce carbon emissions from transport. For heavy vehicles there is still uncertainty about whether the switch will be to hydrogen or electric vehicles (EVs). For cars and vans however, The switch to EVs is already taking place, with about 22% of new car sales in 2025 being battery EVs. These vehicles are commonly refueled when parked. Fifty-four per cent of households in Brighton & Hove lack off-street parking and the council will play a key role in providing the necessary charging points for these households that own vehicles[1]. Alongside Our City Transport Plan 2035, we are developing a dedicated Electric Vehicle Charging Plan, setting out exactly how we will address this challenge.

 

Challenge 4: Creating a transport network that is more inclusive. Disabled people and those on lower incomes make fewer trips than the general population. In part this is because these groups find travel harder to access. We will focus our resources on reducing barriers that these people face. We commit to updating our streetscape design guidelines. We will do this in close consultation with groups representing disabled people in the city. There are areas of the city where people on low incomes are at greater risk of transport-related social exclusion because it is difficult to access basic services and employment without a car. We will continue to provide and aim to enhance subsidised bus services to these areas. We will also focus our resources on improving the accessibility of our city for disabled people.

 

Challenge 5: Maintaining our roads and managing them as efficiently as possible. This is a major challenge. Over the past decade the money we received from central government, which is ring-fenced for roads maintenance, has been insufficient. With other local authority funding also in decline over the past decade, we have not been able to increase the amount we spend on roads maintenance without it impacting on other council services. Without adequate investment, the condition of our roads will continue to get worse.

 

We will continue to use the resources we have in the most efficient way possible and deliver new schemes that cost less to maintain. This includes lane rental charges for utilities digging up our roads to incentivise them to minimise disruption. However, this challenge is not something that the council can solve by ourselves. We will also make the case to central government for greater investment in our local roads to reverse the decline they have suffered. In addition, managing our roads is a key challenge and we can look to future technology solutions to help manage our busy network.

 

To address the 5 challenges, Our City Transport Plan 2035 focuses on 6 objectives. Each of these addresses one or more of the above challenges we face.

 

	Challenge
Objective	Safer, healthier lives	Reduce Congestion	Zero emission vehicles	Inclusive transport	Maintain roads
1. Increase public transport use	ü	ü		ü
2. Enable the uptake and use of zero and ultra-low emission transport	ü		ü
3. Deliver a safe, inclusive and integrated transport system	ü			ü
4. Create well-maintained streets, pavements and right of ways	ü			ü	ü
5. Provide active travel choices for all and excellent public spaces	ü	ü		ü
6. Promote and use technology to reduce and manage travel		ü	ü		ü

Table 1: How Our City Transport Plan objectives meet the challenges we face

Figure 1: Summary of capital projects and ongoing works proposed in Our City Transport Plan 2035

Introduction

How and why we are writing Our City Transport Plan 2035

Our City Transport Plan 2035 guides how we will spend the funding we receive from Government to improve transport in the city. It is our over-arching transport policy document, which replaces our fourth Local Transport Plan (LTP4), adopted in 2015. At the time of writing, the creation of a new regional governmental body, the Sussex Mayoral Strategic Authority, is anticipated to take place in the spring of 2026. This body will be responsible for producing a ‘Local Transport Plan’ for the wider region. Our City Transport Plan 2035 is designed to inform the Mayoral Strategic Authority, along with other stakeholders and residents, how we plan to deliver our vision for getting around a cleaner, fairer and growing city.

 

In addition to setting objectives to achieve this vision this plan contains a short-term programme of work for specific transport schemes we plan to deliver. Delivery of this programme of work will depend on how much funding the council receives, and any funding referred to in this plan is indicative. Confirmation of the funding we will receive typically occurs shortly before the start of the financial year. We will update the programme of work included in this plan by publishing an annual capital programme for transport schemes. The capital programme will be approved by cabinet - the council’s executive decision-making body, made up of elected councillors. The schemes in the capital programme will be designed to achieve the objectives set out in this plan.

 

Accompanying this plan are policies that set out greater detail for specific areas. For example, our Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) focuses on improving bus travel in the city. We receive a dedicated grant to implement the BSIP and use this funding to deliver targeted cheaper fares, new bus lanes and other infrastructure. The BSIP is regularly reviewed and updated as the feasibility of potential new bus infrastructure schemes are assessed.

 

Since the adoption of LTP4 in 2015 there have been significant changes in national policy that this plan has taken account of. A significant change has been the Department for Transport’s (DfT) publication of ‘Decarbonising Transport’ policy. This made a commitment to ‘drive decarbonisation and transport improvements at a local level by making quantifiable carbon reductions a fundamental part of local transport planning and funding’[2]. This commitment has been followed up by the release in 2024 of a Carbon Assessment Playbook, which is a tool designed to help local authorities estimate the impact that a variety of transport policies will have on reducing carbon emissions in their area. The Carbon Assessment Playbook has been used to understand the impact of the policies within this plan.

 

The process we undertook to write Our City Transport Plan 2035 is illustrated in Figure 2. The starting point was to collate information into an evidence base and use this to identify what challenges the city faces. We then identified how we should respond to these challenges based on the vision we want to achieve.

 

In autumn 2021, we published a document called ‘Developing a new Transport Plan for Brighton & Hove’ and held a public consultation. We received over 900 responses, which were broadly positive of our proposals. A detailed report on the consultation is available on the council website[3]. After a pause in developing our transport policy, while we awaited publication of government guidance, a draft version of Our City Transport Plan 2035 was published in June 2025. This was aligned with the Council Plan 2023-2027 and other council policies such as the Accessible City Strategy 2023-2028. Public consultation on the draft version of this plan was carried out in the summer of 2025. Amendments have been made to this final document in response to the feedback received.

Each annual capital programme is typically approved immediately before the beginning of the financial year. This is done once we know exactly what funding we will receive and can make firm plans on how to spend it. This document also includes proposed key performance indicators that we will use to monitor how we are reaching our objectives.

 

Our City Transport Plan covers the period 2025-2035. It is our over-arching transport policy document, which sets out both our long-term strategy and a short-term programme of work to deliver specific schemes. One of the key functions of Our City Transport Plan is to communicate to central government, who provide the majority of funding for local transport, what schemes need to be delivered in the city over the coming decade.

 

Accompanying this plan are other policies that set out greater detail for specific topic areas, such as our Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP). It is a legal requirement that we write this document, which in the relevant legislation, is referred to as a Local Transport Plan (LTP). Our City Transport Plan 2035 is our fifth LTP. The Transport Act 2000, amended by the Local Transport Act 2008, directs us to:

• develop policies for the promotion and encouragement of safe, integrated, efficient and economic transport to, from and within our area, and carry out our functions to implement those policies, and

• have regard to any guidance issued by the Secretary of State on preparing a Local Transport Plan.

 

Detailed requirements for an LTP are set out in guidance issued by the Secretary of State for Transport. LTP guidance was last published in 2009 and, although central government announced that new guidance would be published in autumn 2022, it has yet to do so. We do however have an insight into what updated guidance may contain from recently published national transport policies and other central government communications.

 

We have written Our City Transport Plan using these insights into what it is reasonable to assume will be included in the new guidance when it is eventually released. The most significant change we anticipate being included in updated guidance is the requirement to quantify our local carbon emissions.

 

The Department for Transport (DfT) published a policy on Decarbonising Transport in 2021 which made a commitment to ‘drive decarbonisation and transport improvements at a local level by making quantifiable carbon reductions a fundamental part of local transport planning and funding. This commitment has been followed up by the release in 2024 of a Carbon Assessment Playbook, which is a tool designed to help local authorities estimate the impact that a variety of transport policies will have on reducing carbon emissions in their area. We have therefore written Our City Transport Plan 2035 using the Carbon Assessment Playbook in the expectation that any new guidance will include a requirement to assess what impact our policies will have on carbon emissions.

 

The starting point for writing Our City Transport Plan 2035 was for us to collate the available evidence about travel and transport in the city into an evidence base and use this to identify what challenges the city faces. We then identified how we should respond to these challenges by creating a vision for how we want our transport system to function in the future. At this point, in autumn 2021, we involved key stakeholders and the wider public to share the work we had undertaken by publishing a document called ‘Developing a new Transport Plan for Brighton & Hove’. The public consultation on the proposed vision in this document involved an online survey, workshops with key stakeholders and sessions with groups that can otherwise be under-represented in order to ensure responses from a representative cross section of Brighton & Hove’s population. We received over 900 responses, which were broadly positive of our proposals. A detailed report on the responses we received, along with amendments made to this initial work following the public input is available on the council website.

 

This draft version of Our City Transport Plan 2035 contains further amendments made to align it with the Council Plan 2023-2027, which is the over-arching policy document for the council, setting out what we want to achieve up to 2027. While the horizon of this plan is 2027 the 4 identified outcomes will require sustained work beyond this to be fully achieved. We are now undertaking public consultation on this draft Our City Transport Plan 2035 document to shape the final version, which will then become council policy.

 

This document contains a greater level of detail than the previous ‘Developing a new Transport Plan for Brighton & Hove’ document. It provides greater context and in addition to the vision and objectives it looks at how our capital investment programme will change in the coming financial years. For the later years of this plan there are proposed schemes that we wish to deliver but which are not yet programmed to come forward. This is because our funding is chiefly from central government grants and the level of funding we will receive is not yet known. Because of this we have had to plan for different scenarios. The scenario planning has looked at what is possible under higher and lower levels of funding and what could happen if different policies are implemented at the national and regional level in pursuit of stated objectives.

 

Each annual capital programme is typically approved immediately before the beginning of the financial year by the council’s executive decision-making body, the cabinet, which is made up of elected councillors. This is done once we know exactly what funding we will receive and can make firm plans on how to spend it. The schemes delivered by the capital programme are designed to achieve the objectives set out in this plan. This document also includes proposed key performance indicators that we will use to monitor how well we are doing in reaching our objectives.

 

The public consultation on this draft version of Our City Transport Plan 2035 focuses on gathering feedback on the more detailed measures, such as the proposed future schemes and how we will monitor our progress against our set objectives. Our public consultation will consist of an online survey, drop-in events providing an opportunity for residents to ask questions and share their views in person and sessions with key stakeholder groups. Key stakeholders include groups with a focus on transport users, economic growth, and those that could be under-represented without us making a conscious effort to include them such as disability groups and young peoples’ voices. After the public consultation on this draft document, we will analyse all feedback and summarise it in a stakeholder engagement report, which will be considered by the council’s cabinet when making a decision on adopting the final version of Our City Transport Plan 2035.

Review of work since our last transport plan

Our City Transport Plan 2035 supersedes Local Transport Plan 4 (LTP4), which was approved by the council in March 2015. Over the past 10 years, approximately £148m has been allocated to deliver transport projects in the city. We receive grant funding from central government, typically ring-fenced for specific transport uses and this made up £107m of the total. The other £41m was allocated from the council’s own funds.

 

Forty-eight per cent of the funding over the previous 10 years has been allocated to

planned maintenance of existing assets: roads, pavements, paths, bridges, drains, signage and street lighting. Fifty-one per cent has been spent on schemes that created new assets or altered existing roads and pavements. One per cent was spent on revenue schemes where investment was made in people – receiving training or other assistance. Some of the main projects that have been delivered over this time are listed below:

 

Highway maintenance

This includes resurfacing roads and pavements, replacement of drainage and lighting infrastructure, upkeep of bridges and retaining walls, and the associated record keeping and surveys of all our assets. Nearly £32m has been spent keeping these in working order. There are around 20,000 streetlights in the city and over 18,000 have been switched to energy efficient light emitting diode (LED) lighting. This saves the council about £500,000 a year in lower energy costs.

 

Valley Gardens Phases 1&2

The green spaces of Valley Gardens used to be cut off from the North Laine area of the city centre, as they were surrounded by busy dual carriageways on both sides. The delivery of Valley Gardens Phases 1&2 has re-planted these green spaces and reconnected them with the city centre, making them spaces residents and visitors to the city centre can enjoy. By re-purposing the road on the western side of the gardens as a corridor for buses and taxis, space has been created for more direct active travel routes (particularly for walking & wheeling); improved and accessible gardens, public realm and event spaces. The third and final phase of Valley Gardens project is in progress, and this will deliver an excellent public space immediately in front of the Royal Pavilion, one of the city’s main visitor attractions.

 

Western Road

This busy bus and active travel corridor has been transformed with improvements including a resurfaced road, resurfaced and tidier pavements, a simpler road layout with a central area to help with crossing for pedestrians; more cycle parking, seating and tree planting; and new bus shelters and street lighting. These major works have been funded from a range of sources, bringing together funding to ensure wide benefits to a range of users on this key route.

 

A259 seafront arches & Shelter Hall

The seafront arches support the A259 so they are classified as transport infrastructure. Ongoing maintenance work has taken place over the past 10 years along the length of the seafront, from the i360 in Hove, to Dukes Mound near the marina. We have taken the opportunity during the work to create attractive new spaces on the beachfront. This included the creation of Shelter Hall, a new seafront restaurant space.

 

Bus infrastructure

Since 2015 a mix of technological improvements and new bus lanes have delivered large benefits for both passengers and other road users. The Brighton & Hove Bus Ultra-Low Emission Zone covers well over 90% of buses operating in the city and has ensured that their engines meet the highest emissions standards for diesel vehicles. Smart traffic signals have been installed, which recognise when buses are approaching and adjust signal timings to give them priority. New Red Routes, recently created on the important bus corridors of Lewes Road and the A23, have prevented buses being delayed by inconsiderate parking, as well as keeping traffic moving and making these key routes safer for cyclists and pedestrians.

 

Electric Vehicle Chargepoints

LTP4 stated that there were 10 EV chargepoints in the city that the council had installed. There are now 525 chargepoint sockets that we have installed, which are a mix of low powered, fast and rapid chargers. There are 250 low powered chargepoint sockets, installed on lamp-columns in residential areas where households lack off-street parking and are designed for convenient recharging while cars are parked up. There are also 100 fast chargers around the city which provide a quicker charge or top-up. The council has provided 6 public rapid chargers, located where people will only be parked for a relatively short time, and 12 rapid chargers dedicated for taxi drivers. A minimum of 1,200 lamp column chargepoints, 350 fast chargepoints and 100 rapid chargepoints are planned to be installed across the city in the next 3 years.

 

Bikeshare

In September 2017 we launched the city’s first public bike hire scheme with 50 hire stations and 500 bikes. In March 2023 this was refreshed with a new operator, additional hire stations and a new fleet including electric bikes. There are now 780 bikes for hire from over 100 hire stations. 60% of the bikes are now electric, so hilly areas are more accessible, and the scheme extends over a vast majority of the city. New sites to serve large housing developments will be sought to increase its reach. The scheme allows adjacent authorities to use our contract with the current provider to install hire stations and create one hire area across the greater Brighton area.

 

Active travel infrastructure

Our first Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) was adopted in 2022 and shows the ambition of the city for improving active travel infrastructure, with 39 strategic network routes for improvement (including 17 priority routes), 32 local links for improvement, and 33 areas for area-based treatment improvements. Having the highly ambitious LCWIP in place allows us to showcase to central government the need for investment in active travel across the city.

 

Since 2015 we have added to the existing protected cycle network by delivering the Valley Gardens (Phases 1 and 2) scheme and upgraded facilities on the seafront roads of the A259 and Maderia Drive. This addresses one of the major barriers preventing people from accessing cycling; road safety concerns. Having somewhere safe to store a bike is another barrier and the council has installed 150 on-street residential cycle hangers, capable of storing 900 bikes securely, which residents can rent for the year at low cost.

 

Improvements to active travel infrastructure have also focused on connecting urban centers to the South Downs National Park. Woodingdean and Falmer are now connected by a new 2.5km path. Woodingdean has also benefited from a new 1.5km path on Drove Road and path improvements in the Happy Valley area where 1.1km of new paths have been created. Stanmer Park is also accessible from Brighton via a new 2km path alongside Ditchling Road.

 

Road safety

Road safety measures can take the form of changes to particular road layouts, where there have been a high number of collisions, or area wide measures.

Research shows that on urban roads with low average traffic speeds, any 1mph reduction in average speed can reduce the collision frequency by around

6%[4]. Most of the city’s residential roads are now 20mph with phase 3 having been completed in the summer of 2015. Examples of more targeted safety measures includes our School Streets and Safer, Better Streets programmes. There are 15 schools in the city where School Street schemes have been delivered, and more are planned. The Safer, Better Streets programme[5] applies a set of principles and rules to assess and prioritise safety improvements, with an annual top ten locations identified where improvements are most urgently needed.

 

Training & behaviour change schemes

The council has funded a wide range of schemes to help keep people safe and allow them to access active travel and public transport. The three Bikeability levels teach the Highway Code and moves learners from learning balancing and riding skills off-road to mastering riding on quiet, and in due course, busier roads. We offer courses delivered in schools and in parks during school holidays to under 14s. Adult (14+) training takes place in parks and on roads. We also offer adult cycle maintenance basic and advanced training. We deliver child pedestrian training to Year 3 cohorts teaching them safe crossing skills.

 

Policy Context

Our City Transport Plan 2035 must conform with relevant national, regional and local policies. National transport policies are created by the Department for Transport, with regional policy the responsibility of Transport for the South East (TfSE). TfSE is one of eight relatively new regional transport bodies. Regional policy has been the responsibility of Transport for the South East (TfSE). TfSE has created policies that cover an area south of London from Kent in the east to Hampshire and Berkshire in the west. It was established in 2017, to determine what transport infrastructure is needed to boost the region’s economy. Its board is made up of elected councillors from each local transport authority within its area and representatives from other national and regional partners including National Highways, Network Rail, South Downs National Park and Transport for London (TfL).

 

Figure 3 shows the key national and regional policy documents that have influenced the development of Our City Transport Plan 2035. Central government is currently developing an Integrated National Transport Strategy. A range of national transport policies that are either mode specific, such as rail or bus, or thematic, such as decarbonisation or accessibility and which applies to all modes, sit under the Integrated National Transport Strategy. Central government funding streams are aligned with these policies and designed to deliver them. For example, the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy and UK Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy both have an accompanying funding stream; the Active Travel Fund (ATF) and Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund. At the regional level TfSE has created a Transport Strategy and Strategic Investment Plan (SIP). Figure 4 shows schemes included in the SIP, which covers a period up to 2050, in the vicinity of Brighton & Hove.

 

Figure 4: Selected projects from TfSE’s Transport Strategy 

Note that there are additional schemes not shown on this map that will also have a beneficial impact on Brighton & Hove. This is especially true for rail-based schemes, which are best planned at the regional level because routes cross over

several local authorities and our ambitions for rail need to align. The most significant improvement on the Brighton Mainline would be delivered by the Croydon

Area Remodelling Scheme, which would involve the rebuilding of East Croydon station with additional platforms. New bridges and fly-unders would separate rail lines that currently cross over one another. This is at the concept design stage but would improve reliability, capacity and the speed of some rail services on the Brighton Mainline.

 

 

 

Other transformative regional schemes that are proposed include Sussex Coast Mass Rapid Transit and strategic mobility hubs at Falmer, the A23/A27 junction and Shoreham-by-sea. A Sussex Coast Mass Rapid Transit would link up the cities and towns along the Sussex Coast. One inspiration for this scheme is the Belgium coastal tram that links ports, towns and seaside resorts along 60 kilometers of the coast. The Sussex scheme is not sufficiently developed to have decided what form

it will take. Inspiration for a bus-based solution exists in Cambridgeshire where a dedicated busway connects Cambridge with commuter towns along the

congested A14 corridor, where significant housing growth is planned.

 

Buses and active travel are the most efficient forms of transport and suitable for many short trips. The strategic mobility hubs on the edge of Brighton & Hove would have Park & Ride at their core and could also incorporate electric vehicle rapid recharging, and freight consolidation centers which have the potential to reduce the number of trucks within our city. The aim of these mobility hubs would be to enable easy interchanges between transport modes, encourage more efficient use of the road space and reduce congestion improve the flow of traffic within our city by providing a choice for visitors from outside to conveniently transfer onto public transport to access the city centre.

 

TfSE’s funding is currently limited to developing business cases and feasibility work for the schemes within the SIP. However, In the very near future there will be large changes to how local and regional governmental bodies are organised, as set out in the central government’s white paper on Devolution. A the new Mayoral Strategic Authority, covering East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton & Hove is anticipated to be in place by 2027. This is likely to will have responsibility for strategic transport policy and may have greater scope to  control significant amounts of funding to deliver the type of schemes set out in the SIP.

 

Figure 5: Our City Transport Plan 2035 and related policies

Figure 5 illustrates how Our City Transport Plan 2035 relates to other Brighton & Hove City Council policies. It is subordinate to and supports the delivery of the overarching Council Plan 2023–27. The Council Plan identifies transport specific measures, under the Outcome ‘A City to be Proud of; an accessible, clean and sustainable city’. It commits the council to make it easier for people to move around the city and to:

·         Have a clear plan to address the city’s transport needs and challenges

·         Continue investing in maintaining and upgrading our highways network

 

It also has an important role to play in delivering the aspirations of other whole council-wide policies, such as the Accessible City Strategy, given that our roads and pavements make up such an important part of our public space. Transport is also crucial to the council policies on land use (which set out what can be built where), growing our economy and increasing our populations’ health and physical activity.

Sitting below Our City Transport Plan 2035 are several more detailed policies that cover areas such as improving conditions for walking, wheeling and cycling (Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan or LCWIP), or bus journeys (Bus Service Improvement Plan or BSIP). The Electric Vehicle Charging Plan is in development and following the adoption of Our City Transport Plan 2035 we will create a new Road Safety Action Plan that sets out targets for reducing casualties on our roads and what actions we will take to achieve this.

 

Challenges

Brighton & Hove is a relatively compact city, with a population of 277,100[6]. Housing affordability and housing quality are major issues that the city faces, as the supply of housing has not kept pace with the demand from people who wish to live here. Our population growth has been slower than the average for England and the southeast region. Delivering new housing and commercial space must largely be achieved within the existing urban area as expansion is tightly constrained by the South Downs National Park, which makes up 40% of the area that the council administers, and also by the sea to the south. The city’s two universities mean that students make up about 10% of the population.

The city acts as a regional hub for employment, transport, culture, leisure and shopping. Employment tends to be concentrated in the centre of Brighton and there are similar inflows and outflows of commuters of around 30,000 trips per day.

Figure 6 shows the main road and rail infrastructure which serves the city. The Brighton Mainline provides fast and frequent rail connections to Gatwick airport and London from several stations within the city. This rail line is also a cause of severance within the city with relatively few roads connecting east/west across it. The east and west Coastway rail lines provide links to smaller urban centers nearby; Lewes, Eastbourne, Worthing and Shoreham-by-sea.

Figure 6: The strategic and major road network

The A27 skirts the northern edge of the city, acting as a bypass. The A23, running north/south through Sussex provides connections to Burgess Hill, Gatwick Airport and London. The main roads into the city from the north and northeast (London Road and Lewes Road) converge at the edge of the city centre and it is here that congestion is the most acute.

The transport challenges presented here are a summary of the findings of our analysis, which set out in greater detail in the accompanying evidence base document.

 

Challenge 1 - Enabling more people to live safer, healthier and more active lives

Sedentary lifestyles contribute towards ill health. The NHS recommended that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity a week, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity, while children over six should try to do at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity activity every day. Brighton & Hove is one of the better performing areas in the UK for physical activity, ranking 17th highest for physical activity amongst adults in England, but even so nearly 1 in 5 adults do less than 30 minutes of physical activity each week and fewer than half of children under 16 in the city meet recommended activity guidelines each day[7].

Brighton & Hove is a relatively compact city, with the city centre and other destinations within a short walk or cycle for many. Achieving recommended activity levels, and the subsequent health benefits, can come from simple changes to routines such as choosing to walk to school rather than take the car. There are a large number of short trips currently made by car which could be switched to active means. There is a large body of evidence that shows road safety fears are the main barrier preventing more people from taking up cycling[8]. Investment in better active travel infrastructure that provides high quality public realm and protected cycle lanes will open up the choice of cycling to many more people and not just those confident cycling in traffic. Better pavements in the city, that are free of obstruction, and attractive paths to access the national park on our doorstep will also make walking & wheeling an attractive option for short trips.

Schemes to provide protected facilities for cyclists on roads which carry a lot of traffic are currently ongoing on the A23 and A259. Phase 3 of the Valley Gardens scheme will deliver improved crossing facilities, higher quality public realm, protected cycle lanes and safer junctions. By creating streets and public spaces which enables and encourages active travel, by walking, wheeling or cycling, we create an environment where it is easier for everyone to incorporate physical activity into their daily routine. This will also assist with improving traffic flow, especially if car trips are removed from the network during peak travel times.

The delivery of better infrastructure and space for active travel could improve both the feeling of safety and reduce the number of collisions. While serious injuries or deaths caused by collisions on our roads are relatively rare, with 146 recorded in 2023, we believe this can and should be reduced further over the coming 10 years. We commit to developing a Road Safety Action Plan that includes targets

for reducing the number of people killed and seriously injured (KSI) on our roads. This is likely to focus on actions we can take to improve conditions for vulnerable road users; motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians. An initial assessment of KSI figures shows that in 2023 over half were pedestrians or cyclists. It is already the case that safety is the primary reason for some of the traffic schemes we undertake, and it is a consideration in all of them. Our continuous programme of Safer, Better Streets delivers smaller scale improvements in response to concerns raised by the public and collision data.

 

Challenge 2 – Reduce congestion on our roads

There are an average of 108,000 daily trips originating within Brighton & Hove. While 73,000 of these trips begin and end in the city, 35,000 are to destinations outside of it. Approximately 30,000 trips are made into the city from the surrounding areas. The average delay on Brighton & Hove’s local A roads is among the highest of any local authority outside of London. With 36% of emissions generated by private car trips of 5 miles or less[9] there is considerable scope to switch these journeys onto public transport, walking or cycling.

Figure 7 illustrates where congestion is most acute on the road network. It shows that delays are much greater on the local road network compared to the higher capacity strategic road network of the A23 and A27. Various junctions of the A27 can be affected by local traffic queuing to access Brighton & Hove. The local A road network is generally single lane and therefore has lower capacity. Delays tend to be worse closer to the city centre with the most severe delays of over 200 seconds per vehicle per mile occurring on:

·         The A2023 between the seafront / Old Shoreham Road

·         A2010 between the seafront and Seven Dials

·         The A23, London Road, between St Peter’s Church and Preston Circus.

·         The A270, Upper Lewes Road and Viaduct Road, between Preston Circus and Vogue Gyratory

 

Figure 7: Average traffic delay on strategic roads in Brighton & Hove across 24 hours

In the built-up area of Brighton & Hove there is no available land for increasing road capacity without demolishing existing buildings. Even if it were possible to widen existing roads there is a sizeable body of evidence that increasing road capacity induces more traffic to use them rather than reduces delays. Instead, our approach is to increase how efficiently our existing road space is used. With buses and active travel being the most efficient modes of transport for moving people short distances in an urban area, the plan is to create additional bus and cycle lanes and to make these modes more convenient, faster and attractive relative to car travel.

Much of the data available to us focuses on weekday peak time congestion, when the road network is typically under the greatest stress. However, congestion also affects visitors to Brighton & Hove, particularly during the peak summer holiday season or when there are major events like Pride. With tourism being an important part of Brighton & Hove’s economy, we want to ensure that getting here is hassle free for the estimated 11m visitors each year. Delivery of strategic mobility hubs at the edge of the city, which would have include Park & Ride at their core, would reduce the number of cars entering the city centre, where congestion is most acute, and improve journeys for all.

Key to managing congestion in the city lies in effective management of our road network, including through the Traffic Control Centre, this includes effective enforcement of Red Routes in the city to keep traffic moving along major routes serving the city. A challenge of this work is considering future technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions.

 

Challenge 3 - Supporting the transition to zero and ultra-low emission transport vehicles

To reduce emissions from transport the preferred hierarchy of actions are to firstly eliminate the trip if it is not necessary, then switch to lower carbon modes, and if that is not possible, improve the emissions of private car trips. Because of the large number of trips that will still need to be made by private cars, switching away from petrol and diesel-powered vehicles is the single most important measure that will improve local air quality and reduce carbon emissions from transport.

For heavy vehicles there is still uncertainty about whether the switch will be to hydrogen or electric vehicles (EVs)The transition to EVs for cars and vans however, the switch to EVs is already taking place, with battery EVs making up about a quarter of new sales. Central government has made it clear that local authorities have an important role in providing the necessary infrastructure for the UK to transition to electric cars and vans[10]. This is because EVs are commonly refuelled when parked.

Fifty-four per cent of households in Brighton & Hove have no access to off-street parking like a garage or driveway. If these households own a vehicle, then it will be parked on street. If the vehicle is an EV these households will largely be dependent on the publicly available charging network. As the manager of the roads and pavements in Brighton & Hove, the council has a key role to play in providing the necessary public chargepoints. Alongside Our City Transport Plan 2035, we are developing a dedicated Electric Vehicle Charging Plan setting out how we will address this challenge.

Because of the threat climate change poses, the UK Government, along with 195 other bodies, signed the Paris Agreement in 2015. This has the goal of holding the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and avoiding the significantly more severe impacts arising from climate change.

The UK Government has committed to achieving Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050. This means that emissions will be reduced to as close to zero as possible with any remaining emissions offset by mitigating action. To assist with meeting these commitments the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) was established by the Climate Change Act 2008. This expert, independent body advises the UK and devolved governments on emissions targets and reports to Parliament on progress made in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It is the leading authority on how the UK can achieve Net Zero by 2050 and has published a large amount of research and guidance including the role of local authorities have to play and what transport specific actions we need to take.

Surface transport (which excludes flights) is responsible for 22% of the UK’s GHG emissions[11], with the overwhelming majority of these from road transport. In Brighton & Hove transport is responsible for a third of the city’s carbon emissions so is the key sector where action is needed. The action that will have the greatest impact on reducing our transport GHG emissions is switching vehicles to EVs as early as possible. This will also improve air quality in the city, as exhaust pipe emissions of Nitrogen Dioxide and particulate matter will be eliminated. Air pollution is covered in detail already in other policies[12].

Figure 8: Brighton & Hove emissions by sector. Source - Decarbonisation Pathway Study

The CCC has produced a preferred ‘Balanced Pathway’ of how Net Zero is reached and published carbon budgets that cover 5-year periods. It is clear from this that the journey of how we get to Net Zero by 2050 is of vital importance. The most recent 6th Carbon Budget was published in December 2020. Under the CCC Balanced Pathway there are 3 key actions for road transport:

·         Reducing travel demand and shifting journeys onto lower carbon modes

·         Transitioning the UK fleet of vehicles so that they are zero emission.

·         Making fossil fuel-powered vehicles more fuel efficient.

There were 38.7m cars and vans registered in the UK at the end of June 2024[13]. By 2035 25m, or 60% of the current fleet needs to be fully battery electric (not including hybrid vehicles). In Brighton & Hove there are currently 2,392 battery electric vehicles registered¹³ as shown in Figure 9. This is out of a total of 111,700 vehicles registered in the city, meaning that 2.1% of the fleet is battery electric. Adoption of EVs varies considerably by region with more affluent areas adopting EVs much earlier. In 2023 16% of new car sales were EVs in the Brighton & Hove area, which is around the UK average; whereas in more affluent areas such as south-west London and Oxfordshire nearly 50% of new car sales were EVs.

Figure 9: Licensed Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) in Brighton & Hove (June 2013 to June 2024)

The council’s draft Electric Vehicle Charging Plan estimates that by 2035 there could be 64,000 EVs registered in Brighton & Hove. Depending on the type of chargers installed, the city may need up to 6,900 chargepoint sockets to cater for this demand.

While electrification is established as the most likely way that cars and vans will decarbonise, there is uncertainty over the best way to decarbonise heavier vehicles. Both electric and hydrogen power are possible solutions. By 2035 about 33% of the UK’s heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) and coach fleet (about 170,000) need to be zero emission and 67% by 204011.

Depots will need refuelling facilities, supplemented by refuelling points likely to be on the main trunk network. As we are not responsible for trunk roads the council’s main role will be in decarbonising our own heavy vehicle fleet, such as refuse collection vehicles and facilitating infrastructure at sites such as Shoreham Port and bus depots. There are now 72 electric vehicles in operation across the council[14]. The CCC states that all new bus sales will need to be zero emission by 2035. The council will have a role to play in decarbonising the local bus fleet. We will work with operators to provide any necessary on-street infrastructure, power cables and provide the regulatory framework for what kind of buses can operate on our roads.

Rapid electrification of the UK’s car fleet will not be enough by itself to achieve Net Zero. Nationally a 9% reduction in car trips is needed. This will be delivered by fewer journeys being made (from greater homeworking for example) and car trips being shifted to modes such as active travel or public transport. Towns and cities are far better able to deliver modal shifts than rural areas because there is better public transport provision. Figures from the National Traffic Survey (NTS) show that around 71% of all trips are under 5 miles and two thirds of these are made by car or van[15], meaning there are a large number of trips which potentially can be shifted.

Internet shopping and home delivery services have, in part, been responsible for van usage increasing from 10% to 16% between 1994 to 2019[16]. In addition to electrifying the van fleet a 3% reduction in van use by 2035 is needed. HGV miles also need to be reduced by 10%. To deliver this, measures such as consolidation centers and last mile delivery to urban centers being undertaken by portering or e-Cargo bike can be effective. There is a lack of detailed local data on van and HGV usage trends in Brighton & Hove. This will be an area of future study to assess exactly what measures will be taken and to what extent the fleet can be decarbonised.

Under the CCC Balanced Pathway to Net Zero, new petrol and diesel vehicles need to improve fuel efficiency by 12% by 2030. This is not just about technological improvements to engines; it also includes trends in vehicle purchases. The popularity of larger heavier vehicles, such as SUVs, means that fuel efficiency has been getting worse. While manufacturers will largely be responsible for delivering this change, we can also incentivise the uptake of more fuel-efficient vehicles through emissions-based pricing for parking costs. The introduction of any emissions-based scheme will factor in, and mitigate, the impact on those on low incomes, with disabilities and other marginalised groups.

 

Challenge 4 - Creating a transport network that is more inclusive

Our transport network reflects wider inequalities in our society, and it is a challenge to re-balance this to be more inclusive. We are committed to meeting our equalities duties towards groups with protected characteristics, under the 2010 Equalities Act, and to go beyond this to ensure that the less well-off are not unfairly excluded too. There are some stark differences in transport usage related to income.

Analysis undertaken by Transport for the North has assessed the risk of transport-related social exclusion[17]. This is defined as areas where households without access to a car face disadvantages in accessing essential services such as employment, education, health and banking. People in these areas may also be committed to owning a car, which is a stretch on their personal finances, but see it as the only viable way they can access these services.

During the public consultation the specific issue of transport-related social exclusion regarding access to secondary education was raised with the council. The distribution of schools across the city is uneven and in the east that results in some areas being within a single school catchment area. The council recently changed schools’ admissions criteria to facilitate greater choice for those in single school catchments, and this was supported with a re-organisation of the city’s bus services to make accessing schools easier. Cost of public transport remains an issue.

The main areas in Brighton & Hove where people are at risk are highlighted in red and dark red in Figure 10. This includes Woodingdean, Bevendean, Mile Oak, Hangleton, Coldean and Hollingbury. Building on this analysis the council have commissioned an analysis of bus services to understand how we can improve those areas at risk of social exclusion.

Figure 10: National transport related social exclusion risk categories map – Brighton & Hove

There are also marked differences in people’s travel habits according to how wealthy they are. The UK has a very high level of income inequality compared to other developed countries. In 2022 20% of households with the lowest incomes had an equivalised disposable income of £13,218, while the 20% of households with the highest incomes had an equivalised disposable income of £83,687[18].

More affluent households make more trips than less well-off ones and there are large variations in the modes of transport used across different household income bands. The 20% of households in the lowest income bracket shown in Figure 11 typically make the most trips on foot and are the only income group that make more walking trips than car trips. For all other households walking is the second most frequent mode of transport after car[19].

Figure 12 illustrates that the more disposable income a household has the more car trips they make. The 20% of households in the highest income bracket make double the number of car trips than households in the lowest income bracket. The difference is even starker when looking at the distance travelled by household income. Both before and after the Covid pandemic (2019 & 2022), the most affluent households travelled three times further by car than the least affluent households.

Figure 11: National household walking and cycling trips by income (National Transport Survey)

Figure 12: National household trips by mode and income (National Transport Survey)

Public transport accounts for far fewer trips per household, although this average will mask how important rail and bus services are for some households. Rail use is dominated by more affluent households with 41% of trips made by those in the most affluent 20% of households and just 11% made by those in the lowest 20%. The reverse is true of bus journeys with 33% of local bus journeys outside London made by people in the lowest income band compared with 9% by people in the highest income band.

Post-pandemic the number of cycling trips made annually is roughly equivalent to the number of trips made by rail, although rail travel may recover to pre-pandemic levels in time. Walking and cycling are the modes with the least pronounced variation by household income. While bus skews heavily to use by less well-off households and car and train to use by the most well-off households the lowest income households account for 16% of all cycling trips and 25% of all walking trips, while the highest income households account for 25% of cycling trips and 17% of walking trips. A transport network that prioritises walking and bus users is one that helps to make it more inclusive for all.

There is also a challenge to ensure that the transport network is inclusive for those with disabilities. Disabled people undertake far fewer trips than those without disabilities. Results from the 2024 National Highways & Transportation survey, which allows us to benchmark our performance against other local authorities, shows that disabled people scored access to services in Brighton & Hove in line with the national average. However, at 62%, this is a full 11% points lower than the score given by disabled people in Brighton & Hove, who scored ease of access to services at 73%. The same trend is true regarding the ease of use of pavements and footpaths by disabled people. The score for Brighton & Hove is in line with the national average, but at 41% this is a low overall score.

During public consultation on this policy, we received feedback about specific issues. Some disabled people, who are reliant on cars for transport, felt that pavement widening in The Lanes made it harder to access the city centre because it reduced places that Blue Badge holders could park. Similar concerns were raised about Red Routes, although Blue Badge holders can be picked up or dropped off, so long as the vehicle is not parked. There were also concerns raised about cycle infrastructure, street clutter and the quality of our streets.

To address these concerns we commit to update our streetscape design guidelines which set the standards for the materials, street furniture and layout of our roads and pavements. The guidelines will be developed in close consultation with groups representing disabled people. The aim will be to improve the quality and consistency of street works and address specific accessibility concerns.

In addition to this we will dedicate funding to a rolling programme of accessibility improvements, that deliver simple improvements such as dropped kerbs at each road crossing point. This will make a big difference to people’s lived experience when travelling around the city. We will also work with transport providers, such as bus companies, to identify what improvements are of most importance to disabled users. Through our BSIP programme we recently held focus groups with a range of bus users including LGBTQ, neurodiversity groups, Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND) organisations, ethnic minorities, refugees, mental health community organisations. The council also uses its powers as a taxi licencing authority to implement policies that support the use of wheelchair accessible vehicles. Statistics from the Department for Transport for 2024 show that the percentage of wheelchair accessible vehicles in taxi fleets in England, excluding London, is 15.6% whereas in Brighton & Hove the figure is 45%. In private hire fleets the national figure is 5.2%, compared to Brighton & Hove’s 19%[20]. We also regularly keep under review the provision of dedicated disabled bays in the city as well as responding to requests received.

 

Challenge 5 - Maintaining our roads and managing them as efficiently as possible

We know that the conditions of the pavements and roads in the city have been worsening. We regularly survey their condition and in 2023 commissioned a condition projection model to help make the case for greater investment. This model estimates the total value of our roads and pavements and how much annual maintenance is required to keep the assets in good condition. It found that in Brighton & Hove, the value of the carriageway infrastructure is currently reducing by £6.9 million per year. In the financial year 2023/24 the allocation from Government for highway maintenance was approximately £2.9 million[21], which is 42% of the yearly wear and tear cost and only 0.3% of the total asset worth. This amount is insufficient to maintain them in good condition and is of high importance to the public[22].

While maintenance work is a challenge we use a data and technology-led approach to optimise how we spend the funds we receive to use it as efficiently as possible, and will look to more efficient ways of doing this in future with new technologies. The highway asset management plan guides where in the city will receive investment so that sections of road or pavement that is close to failing is maintained before this occurs. Reactive maintenance also takes place to deal with sections of road and pavement where potholes or other critical failures have to be addressed.

Pavement parking is a major issue in the city and we have campaigned to convince central government for a number of years to simplify how we have the powers locally to be able to enforce pavement parking. Currently, pavement parking enforcement is only possible where a defined scheme is in place. The council is seeking powers from central government which would mean that the default is for pavement parking to be banned, unless signage shows otherwise. This would make it easier for the council to keep pavements clear of obstructions and not be subjected to additional wear and tear from vehicle damage. Managing our fixed road space efficiently is an ongoing challenge and the council has a permit scheme in place to effectively manage the cities roads, the council intend to implement a Lane Rental scheme to manage the busiest sections of the road network when necessary works are taking place, with charges for the occupation of the carriageway and penalties for over-running works which impact on traffic flow and bus timings.

The good news is that there has been an increase in the dedicated funding we receive from central government for maintaining our roads and pavements in the most recent financial year. In 2025/26 central government awarded us £5.3m which is an increase of nearly 83% on the funding we received in 2023/24. We will continue to make a clear evidence-based approach for greater funding to deal with the backlog of maintenance work that needs to be tackled.

Vision, Objectives & our Capital Programme of work

Our vision for Our City TransportPlan 2035 is getting around a cleaner, fairer, and growing city. Having identified the main challenges the city faces we have set out six objectives that respond to them.

Achieving these objectives will help to address one or more of the challenges that the city faces. For example, to address the challenge of reducing congestion there is no single solution. Instead, there are multiple actions we can take that will have a cumulative impact on reducing congestion; greater use of public transport, switching more journeys to active travel, increased home-working and re-timing of journeys outside of peak times.

Objective 1: Increase public transport use

The initiatives in this section focus primarily on buses, as the council has far greater scope to influence bus services within the city, than it has rail services.

Bus usage in Brighton & Hove is the highest anywhere in the UK outside of London, with 147 bus trips per person in 2023/24. There is still significant room for growth, as before the pandemic bus use was around 174 trips per person. Some studies suggest that remote working has significantly reduced the frequency of commuting trips[23] and this may be one of the reasons for the decline in bus trips per person in Brighton & Hove. In 2021 we created our first Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) and were awarded £27.9 million by central government to improve bus services in the city and help ridership recover following the pandemic. At the same time, we entered into an enhanced partnership with bus operators in the city to ensure closer working arrangements with clear targets, roles and responsibilities.

The BSIP funding is used to deliver a mix of physical infrastructure like bus lanes or Red Routes and subsidies to lower fares or provide bus services to areas where it is not commercially viable. Fare offers funded by BSIP include free travel for accompanied children and 50p off-peak travel for unaccompanied under 19s. Much of the new bus lane infrastructure has only recently, or is still in the process, of being delivered so it has not yet had an impact on journey times. Between 2019 and 2023 there was a 1.2% increase in journey times, based on monitoring of 20 unchanged routes operated by Brighton & Hove Bus & Coach company. Our aim is to reduce journey times by 5%, from the 2018/19 baseline, by 2024/25.

The new express 1x service, supported by BSIP funding, and operating on one of the heavily used routes in the city, saw journey time improvements of 28% over comparable services on the same route. A second express service, the 3x, launched in August 2025 and links the city centre with Falmer, Hove and Hangleton. The BSIP has been refreshed for 2025 and sets out what actions we will take up to 2030. Our understanding of what bus users want, and what we will therefore seek to deliver is:

·         clearer and simpler tickets

·         faster and more reliable journeys

·         lower fares

·         more frequent services to underserved parts of the city and the South Downs

Fuller detail on specific measures can be found in the BSIP document, but the actions include:

·         investigating the feasibility of strategic mobility hubs to deliver Park & Ride on the edge of the city

·         better bus shelters, accessibility improvements, new real time bus information and maps to assist with onward travel at bus stops

·         applying equality and accessibility standards across all buses

·         delivering more bus priority infrastructure including Red Routes, bus lanes and priority at signalised junctions

·         discounted travel for young people

·         making it easier to get the cheapest ticket

·         better integration between bus operators, rail and cycle (including Bikeshare)

·         more frequently supported bus services

·         more express services

 

 

Objective 2: Enable the uptake and use of zero and ultra-low emission transport.

For car owners looking to understand how the council will assist them to switch to an EV, the council’s draft Electric Vehicle Charging Plan, which is in development, will set out how the planned new charging infrastructure will be rolled out across the city.

·         We will install a minimum of 1,650 public EV chargepoint sockets by March 2028 using the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) funding we have secured. We aim to install many more chargepoints than this by using our grant funding to attract additional private sector investment.

We will focus delivery on areas where households lack access to off street parking and ensure that distribution across these areas is equitable, with the aim of reducing the distance people have to walk to find their nearest chargepoint. In areas with Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs) the cost of parking permits is already based on emissions. We regularly review our pricing structure and will continue to use incentivising zero and ultra-low emission vehicles as a guiding principle of our pricing.

It is a priority for us to give additional assistance to taxi and private hire drivers looking to switch to EVs because these high mileage drivers have an outsize impact on local air quality and carbon emissions. We will provide additional dedicated taxi-only chargers and explore what opportunities devolution and local government reorganisation offers to work collaboratively with other taxi licensing authorities to harmonise environmental standards. We want to ensure that locally licensed taxis are not at a disadvantage if higher environmental standards are required.

Environmental standards for taxis and private hire vehicles can be set as part of the license. This would be an effective tool to speed up the adoption of zero emission vehicles, but taxis and private hire vehicles licensed elsewhere are able to ply for trade in Brighton & Hove. If they are not subject to the same environmental standards, locally licensed taxis will be at a disadvantage and we want a level playing field.

The council sets the terms of operation for car clubs in the city, which provide flexible and conveniently located hourly car hire across the city. Some of the new chargepoints we install will serve car club bays. Once in place we will require operators to ensure that half of their fleet is EV by 2028. Like taxis, car club vehicles are high mileage vehicles, seeing more intensive usage than the average privately owned car so switching these fleets to be zero emission has a greater impact on air quality and carbon emissions.

The Brighton & Hove Bus Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), which is in operation on Western Road and North Street, has been responsible for improving bus emissions by ensuring that all buses travelling through the ULEZ meet the highest Euro VI standards for diesel engines. The new challenge is to see the bus fleet convert to be zero emission. The council, in partnership with Brighton & Hove buses, has secured funding from the second round of central government’s Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas fund (ZEBRA2). This will pay for the electrification of Hove bus depot and by 2028 there will be 29 zero emission buses in the city. The depot electrification will allow for future buses to be electrified once the performance of the initial batch has been assessed.

The council contracts Beryl to operate the city’s bike hire stations. This was launched in March 2023 and there are now 780 bikes in the fleet with 60% being e-bikes. By May 2025 we will have 108 bike hire hubs across the city, meaning the bike hire scheme is the most comprehensive the city has ever seen. The electric bikes make travelling up hills much easier, which opens new journeys and widens the appeal of the scheme.

There is the potential to The council are currently consulting on whether to widen the hire scheme to include e-scooters., although this is dependent on central government permitting their use. Once national legislation is in place, elected members will then decide whether e-scooters will be added to the scheme.  While private e-scooters are illegal to use, the government has allowed trials of hire schemes in England since July 2020. Hire schemes can be better regulated, requiring that e-scooter users must hold a driving license for example. Hire scheme operators can use geofencing to ensure they are parked in designated locations and can limit the speed of the scooters.

A survey conducted by Collaborative Mobility UK (COMOUK)^[KT1] [24] of people who use e-scooter hire schemes; half of active users travel to work or school using them. 21% said they would have used a car for their most common e-scooter journey if shared e-scooters had not been available. E-scooters can complement public transport if hire locations are co-located with bus stops. This can form the basis of neighbourhood mobility hubs. If scooters replace car trips, they will contribute to reducing carbon emissions.

 

Objective 3: Deliver a safe, inclusive and integrated transport system

To deliver the safe element of this objective we will:

·         produce a Road Safety Action Plan with targets and actions to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads

·         update our Streetscape Design Guidance

·         deliver targeted highway improvements at collision hotspots, schools and where issues have been highlighted by the public

The Road Safety Action Plan will review what measures have been successful elsewhere, investigate what the specific safety issues are on Brighton & Hove’s roads. It will then have clear actions to improve safety that will be delivered through our capital programme. There are already projects within the capital programme that are focused on improving safety such as the Safer, Better Streets and School Streets programmes. The action plan will identify what additional actions are required.

To ensure we have an inclusive transport system we will:

·         deliver an annual programme of accessibility improvements for pedestrians

·         allocate £300,000 per year from BSIP funding to deliver accessible and safe bus stops

·         work with transport providers to deliver improved outcomes for disabled passengers

We have greater influence and control over bus infrastructure, which is why we can commit funding to improve bus stop accessibility, but disabled access to the rail network is equally as important. We will seek opportunities and funding to improve access at rail stations in the city, through funding programmes such as Access for All. In addition to working at bus stops we will provide annual funding for dropped kerbs and other accessibility improvements on our pavements. We will review our streetscene guidance and publish updated Streetscape Design Guidelines to standardise our approach to providing street trees so that the impact on pavement width and condition is minimised. As street trees that are the cause of pinchpoints or uneven pavements reach the end of their life, any replacements will give greater consideration to their impact on the usability of our streets.

To improve the integration of our transport system we will:

·         create neighbourhood mobility hubs that improve the interchange between public transport and other modes

Neighbourhood mobility hubs can include bike, e-scooter or car hire (through car club provision), bus stops or train stations. Integration refers to both the co-location of transport provision and the ease of use between different modes of travel. Ticketing is an area which can be greatly improved with simpler fares and access. One good example of the ease of access to low fares is the use of ‘tap on and tap off’ payment on buses being harmonised with the mobile and smart ticket offer so that users get the lowest priced ticket for their journey with minimal effort. Integration of payment and ticketing across different modes of transport is an area where much can be done. Neighbourhood mobility hubs will be created from 2029 onwards.

 

Objective 4: Create well-maintained streets, pavements and rights of way

To deliver this objective we will:

·         dedicate funding to improving the look and feel of the city.

·         lobby central government for the necessary increased funding

·         deliver an annual maintenance programme which maximises the lifespan of our assets

·         improve lighting on important active travel routes

·         ensure that active travel routes are included in winter maintenance schedules

·         continue to lobby central government for pavement parking enforcement powers

The increase in funding available for maintenance in 2025/26 is welcome. We will continue to use our evidence base about the condition of our streets to make the case for adequate levels of maintenance funding. With the resources that we do receive we will use this efficiently to keep our streets in the best condition possible. We will continue to invest in our street lighting and where funding allows improve lighting where required on well-used active travel routes.

The public consultation revealed that there was very strong support for this objective and as a result we have looked at how we can use our capital funding to support this objective. Our project to ‘Improve the look and feel of the city’ will be focused on prominent areas and seek to deal with issues around tackling uneven pavements, greening and other public realm enhancements.

As part of our winter maintenance plan, we maintain a list of roads that are a priority for gritting to keep them clear. As new protected cycle routes are added we will make provisions for how these are kept clear in the winter and ensure that pavements on the most important active travel routes are considered in the maintenance schedules.

 

Objective 5: Provide active travel choices for all, and excellent public spaces

To deliver this objective we will:

·         deliver city centre walkability and accessibility improvements

·         enable car club growth with a more flexible model

·         provide secure residential cycle parking facilities

·         deliver active travel infrastructure enhancements on the A259 and A23 corridors by 2028

·         deliver area wide and priority corridor active travel improvements identified in the LCWIP

·         continue to deliver improvements to routes and paths that provide access to the national parks

Once Valley Gardens Phase 3 is completed, the area in front of the Royal Pavillion will be pedestrianised and become an attractive space for visitors and residents to enjoy. We want to transform the experience of using the city centre in other key locations, such as routes between the train station and seafront, and in popular retail areas. Covid-era projects have provided additional footway space in the Old Town but over the life of this plan we will develop schemes that provide excellent public spaces to support our visitor economy and improve the accessibility of the city centre.

To support active travel choices, we will enable car club growth by introducing a more flexible model that does not depend on dedicated bays but permits that allow vehicles to be parked in a wider area, rather than a fixed spot. This will reduce the cost of providing car clubs, which will open up the city to new operators and allow the introduction of vehicles to new areas.

The secure on-street residential cycle parking we have introduced has been very popular, with long waiting lists for many locations. We will continue to provide this parking and seek opportunities to expand the number of spaces available. Our current priority for active travel improvements is on the A259 and A23 corridors. These are identified in the LCWIP as priority routes. Once these are completed, and linked up by the Valley Gardens project, we will identify which priority corridor routes, already identified in the LCWIP, are to be delivered from 2028 onwards.

The LCWIP also sets out where area-wide, as opposed to corridor, improvements are desired. Our Rights of Way Improvement Plan contains details of what the priorities are for footpaths and access to the national park. Funding to deliver these projects will be identified from 2028 onwards and, in the case of area wide improvements, could be combined with accessibility improvements for an area.

 

Objective 6: Promote and use technology to reduce and manage travel

Technology has great potential to improve transport in the city. Connected and driverless vehicles are likely to be on our roads in some capacity by 2035. We welcome innovation and will look to be early adopters of it. The council will not be investing or developing our own technology, rather working with the private sector to deploy technology that can deliver the objectives in this plan.

Our immediate focus is on:

·         improving the availability of live parking and bus information

·         investigating whether the National Parking Platform can deliver improved customer experience and cost savings for the council

·         investigating how we can tackle the issue of drivers needing multiple parking apps across different local authorities.   

·         replacing end-of-life signals with units that optimise traffic flows

·         utilising technology to improve data collection, customer experience and enforcement, including the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

·         utilising the Traffic Control Centre for innovative approaches to keep traffic moving in the city including for Red Routes

·         seeking powers for Moving Traffic Enforcement from central government

We are in the process of updating the real-time bus information displays at bus stops and will look to make live parking availability information more widely available so that those seeking parking spaces can easily find correct and up to date information. An irritation of modern car driving is the multitude of parking apps needed to pay for parking at different locations. The National Parking Platform was designed to solve this by acting as the platform which hosts multiple providers in one place. We want to solve this issue and are interested in the potential the National Parking Platform this has to improve customer experience for drivers experience of parking. We will investigate how this could be introduced.

As we replace traffic signals in the city, we have already installed smart versions that are designed to respond to live traffic flows. There is also the potential for them to identify and prioritise buses as they approach. Other technology that is helping to improve bus journey times is the camera enforcement on the recently installed Red Routes. This is much more efficient and effective than relying on Civil Enforcement Officers to patrol our key transport corridors. We will seek powers from central government for Moving Traffic Enforcement, which will give us authority to effectively enforce restrictions on our network, such as School Streets and key sections of our road network. The council has recently completed a Strategic Transport Model for the city which relies on anonymised mobile phone data to understand the traffic flows into, within and out of the city. We will continue to use technology to improve our data collection and understanding of travel patterns.

 

Capital programme of work 2025/26

Each year we will produce a capital programme of work that is focused on delivering the objectives of Our City Transport Plan 2035. The funding

allocations to the programme of projects / schemes shown on the next page have been agreed for the current financial year 2025/26. The table below shows an indicative capital programme of transport projects for the coming three years. Our capital programme is largely funded from a variety of external grants, explained below. Because of this, the transport capital programme is subject to confirmation each year, via a cabinet decision, once the exact level of our grant funding is known. At the time of writing the biggest unknown is the funding we will receive for maintenance from the Local Transport Grant.

To support this capital programme some funding from the consolidated active travel fund (CATF) is used on complimentary behaviour change programmes. This includes Bikeability cycle training for children and adults, working with schools and businesses to promote modal shift and other promotional activities to support active travel.

Primary Objective	Project/ Scheme	Description	Funding allocations (£000’s) 2026/27	Funding allocations (£000’s) 2027/28	Funding allocations (£000’s) 2028/29
Increase public transport use	Bus priority and targeted fare subsidies.	BSIP funded bus lanes, bus priority and accessibility and subsidies for targeted fares and support for new routes	£8,817	£8,542	£8,281
Enable the uptake and use of zero and ultra-low emission transport	EV Chargepoints	On-street EV chargepoints for residents, taxis and businesses	£903	£903	£0
Deliver a safe, inclusive and integrated transport system	Improving accessibility	Dropped kerbs accessibility programme and delivering the Public Right of Way improvement and maintenance	£610	£610	£910
	Improving accessible cycling	Bike hire facilities and cycle parking development
	Targeted Safety Improvements	Safer Better Streets, School Streets and School Travel Plan measures, Collision Reduction, vehicle safety barriers,
	Mobility hubs	Creation of strategic and neighbourhood mobility hubs
Create well- maintained streets, pavements and right of ways	Carriageway maintenance	Renewals and an ongoing Seek and Fix programme	£5,283	£5,283	£5,283
	Pavement maintenance	Renewals and an ongoing Seek and Fix programme
	Drainage, structures and lighting maintenance	Covering gullies, pipes, retaining walls lamp-columns, in-fill works on major roads and maintaining accurate data
Provide active travel choices for all and excellent public spaces	Supporting active and inclusive travel	Delivering our LCWIP – including the A259 active travel scheme	£2,566	£2,580	£2,588
	Delivering major schemes	Major Projects match funding, Project Management support and delivery of Section 106 schemes
	Improving the look and feel of the city	City centre renewal - road, pavement and signage enhancements, pothole prevention
Promote and use technology to reduce and manage travel	Traffic signals	Traffic signal upgrade, maintenance and network improvement programme.	£150	£150	£150
	Future scheme development	Funding for business case development, policy creation, scheme development – e.g. mobility hubs and road network studies	£297	£297	£297
		Grand Totals	£18,626	£18,365	£17,509

 

Primary Objective	Project/ Scheme	Description	Funding allocations (£000’s) 2028/29
Increase public transport use	Bus priority and targeted fare subsidies.	BSIP funded bus lanes, bus priority and accessibility and subsidies for targeted fares and support for new routes	£9,280
Enable the uptake and use of zero and low emission vehicles	EV Chargepoints	On-street EV chargepoints for residents, taxis and businesses	£903
Deliver a safe, inclusive and integrated transport system	Improving accessibility	Dropped kerbs accessibility programme and delivering the Public Right of Way improvement Plan	£200
	Improving accessible cycling	Bike hire facilities and cycle parking development	£125
	Improving safety	Safer Better Streets, School Streets, Plan Measures and Collision Reduction School Travel	£415
Create well- maintained streets and pavements	Carriageway maintenance	Renewals and an ongoing Seek and Fix programme	£3,950
	Pavement maintenance	Renewals and an ongoing Seek and Fix programme	£628
	Drainage, structures and lighting maintenance	Covering gullies, pipes, retaining walls lamp-columns, in-fill works on major roads and maintaining accurate asset data, historic	£555
Provide active travel choices for all and excellent public spaces	Supporting active and inclusive travel	Delivering our LCWIP – including the A23 & A259 active travel schemes	£1,200
	Delivering major schemes	Valley Gardens Phase 3 (match funding)	£728
Deliver a safe, inclusive and integrated transport system Create well- maintained streets and pavements Provide active travel choices for all and excellent public spaces	Delivering major schemes (support)	Project Management Support and delivery of Section 106 (developer contributions secured through planning) sustainable transport schemes	£415
Promote and use technology to reduce and manage travel	Traffic signals	Refurbishment of signalised crossings/junctions	£150
Table 2: 2025/26 capital programme		Grand Totals	£18,549

 

 

 

BSIP funded bus lanes, bus priority and accessibility, subsidies for fares and routes. These projects are funded by a grant dedicated to delivering our Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP - see above box; transport funding explained). We aim to improve bus journey reliability and grow bus usage. A detailed Bus Network Review has been used to prioritise which schemes can best meet this aim. A full list of schemes was included in a March 2025 report. Designs have already been consulted on for important bus corridors on Marine Parade (A259) and the A23 in Patcham and further schemes will be brought forward. The BSIP grant has also allowed us to fund the launch of new services, such as the 1x bus, provide on-going funding for bus routes to areas of the city where a commercial service is not viable and deliver targeted fare subsidies, such as those which exist for young people in the city. This is in addition to the funding for concessionary fares for older people, which is paid from the council’s own budget, typically from parking surplus. BSIP funding has been allocated to assist in identifying and bringing forward existing car parks that are suitable for Park & Ride operations. While the immediate focus is on setting up Park & Ride facilities to ease congestion in the city centre in future years this project can look at improving neighbourhood mobility hubs that allow for better integration of public transport with other modes.

EV Chargepoints. This project is funded from LEVI money (see above box; transport funding explained). Brighton & Hove already has one of the densest networks of public chargepoints in the UK, with the vast majority of households who lack access to off-street parking, already within a 5-minute walk of a chargepoint. This project will deliver a minimum of 1,650 sockets and provide even more convenient access to public chargepoints for those who need them most. Our Electric Vehicle Charging Plan, which is in development, sets out in detail our approach to delivering this infrastructure.

Improving accessibility. This project provides dedicated funding which allows us to meet resident requests for small scale accessibility improvements such as handrails and dropped kerbs to make crossing the road easier. It also funds improvements on our network of paths which link the city to the South Down National Park.

Improving accessible cycling. This project will allow for continued provision of residential cycle parking storage and the city’s bike hire stations.

Improving safety Targeted Safety Improvements.This project provides funding for safety focused schemes such as the Safer, Better Streets programme, whereby schemes are developed in response to issues raised by residents that are supported by councillors. It also covers work on School Streets and supporting schools to create School Travel Plans. It will also fund a programme to ensure vehicle safety barriers in the city are located in the right place and meet required standards.

Mobility Hubs. Initial business case development for a strategic mobility hub, with Park & Ride as a central feature, will be funded from the future scheme development budget. The business case will identify a preferred location and any supporting measures needed to make the scheme a success. This will also develop pilot neighbourhood mobility hubs. Dedicated funding provision for mobility hubs in 2028/29 has been made on the assumption that progress has been made on the strategic case for park and ride and more significant funding is needed to progress the scheme further.

Maintenance. Three projects are dedicated to maintaining our roads, footways and associated infrastructure like drains and lighting. All are delivered using LTP LTG maintenance funding. Detailed condition surveys for our highway assets are used to direct where the limited funding can achieve maximum value for money. For many years the level of funding available for maintenance means that our highways have been in managed decline. The level of maintenance funding shown will arrest this decline.

Supporting active and inclusive travel.This project seeks to deliver the improvements set out in the Local Cycling & Walking Infrastructure Plan using LTP LTG and CATF grants (see above box; the council funding explained). The immediate focus is on delivering infrastructure on two priority corridors; A259 and A23. This will create improved pedestrian facilities and cycle lanes that are protected from traffic, making cycling accessible to a far wider range of people who might not cycle on roads with heavy traffic. The Consolidated Active Travel Fund also provides funding to support behaviour-changing initiatives that the council provides, such as offering schools free cycle training.

Delivering major schemes. Our immediate focus is on completing the third phase of the Valley Gardens project, which will deliver a transformed public space around key visitor destinations, Brighton Pavillion and Palace Pier, in the city centre. Funding for this project has come from the ITB LTP, the council’s own resources, and the Local Growth Fund. The scheme features a simplified road layout, a better experience for public transport users and improved spaces for pedestrians and cyclists. The completion of the Valley Gardens project will see a priority north/south active travel route connected to the seafront east/west routes which are all part of the National Cycling Network (NCN). This funding ensures the necessary project management and design work is in place to both develop and oversee the delivery of schemes that are detailed above and schemes that are funded by funding secured from developers, as part of their planning permission.

A future priority will be city centre improvements, including to the public realm and the access arrangements, particularly for pedestrians.

Improving the look and feel of the city. The objective of ‘creating well-maintained streets and pavements’ gained the most public support during the consultation. In response we have brought forward delivery of this project to improve city centre walkability and expanded its scope beyond the city centre. We want to make sure our city is accessible to everyone who is walking and wheeling. By renewing our streets we have tackle accessibility issues, add more greenery and other enhancements to make Brighton & Hove a place that people want to visit.

Delivering major schemes (support).This funding ensures the necessary project management and design work is in place to both develop and oversee the delivery of schemes that are detailed above and schemes that are funded by funding secured from developers, as part of their planning permission.

Traffic signals. This project funds the upgrade of traffic signals with intelligent systems that respond to live traffic flows. This smooths the flow of traffic and improves journey times.

Future scheme development. This funding stream will be used to make the case for major schemes such as Mass Rapid Transit and Strategic Mobility Hubs at the edge of the city. Delivery of these projects will require external funding and to secure this we need to demonstrate that the projects would be good value for money. It will also be used to undertake network studies of roads to identify how congestion can be tackled. New policy documents such as the Road Safety Action Plan and Streetscape Design Guide will be delivered from this funding.

Capital Programmes beyond 2028/29 2025/26

Levels of funding beyond 2025/26 are not known. Currently central government confirms an annual funding allocation before the start of the new financial year. The council’s Cabinet then decides how to apportion funding between projects. This process may change because the council, along with East and West Sussex County Councils are part of the devolution priority programme. This will create a Mayoral Strategic Authority, a new government body, which may have responsibility for strategic transport across Sussex, Brighton & Hove. It is expected that a mayor will be in place by 2027.

The final version of Our City Transport Plan 2035 will set out a three year delivery plan up to financial year 2028/2029

We have set out in Figure 13 below the schemes that we aspire to deliver through our annual capital programmes over the course of this plan. Some Schemes described as on-going programmes already exist and are existing ones that we plan to continue throughout the 10-year life of this plan. Typically, these involve the provision of a service such as our planned roads maintenance, subsidised bus routes, bike hire and behaviour change schemes. Also included are some projects such as our Improving accessibility and Improving safety projects, which tend to be smaller scale changes to the highway. Larger projects which alter road layouts or use are shown as individual schemes with a proposed start and finish date.

Figure 13 Summary of capital projects and ongoing works proposed in Our City Transport Plan 2035

Schemes in Figure 13 shown taking place in financial years 2025/26 up to 2027/28 are already being actively worked on, either being designed or built. Valley Gardens Phase 3 and the A23 active travel scheme are being constructed with the A23 active travel scheme due to be completed in 2025 and the larger Valley Gardens Phase 3 scheme by the end of 2026. The A23 active travel scheme was completed in 2025 with new stepped cycle tracks created along Preston Park and more space for pedestrians and cyclists on Preston Road. The third and final phase of Valley Gardens is in progress with work due to be completed in 2026.

Councillors have approved in principle the creation of red routes on Western Road and Queens Road and an outline design for the A259 active travel scheme. Detailed designs are currently being prepared for these schemes. Funding is in place for delivery of 29 fully electric buses, a minimum of 1,650 chargepoint sockets and safety improvements on Queens Road. We are also working with owners of car parks to deliver Park & Ride spaces that will serve the city centre. In summer 2025 the University of Sussex Falmer Campus was used to provide a Park & Ride on selected days. Future opportunities will also be investigated and lessons learnt used to inform the development of a business case for a purpose built Park & Ride facility. Three schemes are planned from 2027/28 onwards: neighbourhood mobility hubs, a major scheme to improve the walkability of the city centre and additional active travel schemes.

In financial year 2026/27 we plan to begin, subject to confirmation of funding, two new schemes; Improving the look and feel of the city and exploring where neighbourhood mobility hubs could be located. Improving the look and feel of the city is described above. Neighbourhood mobility hubs will provide a focal point to seamlessly integrate different modes, such as public transport with shared and active mobility. Often, they provide a first or last mile connection to the nearest bus or railway station and provide alternatives to private car travel. The exact form mobility hubs take will be fully defined once the project gets underway.

In 2027/28 we anticipate initiating schemes on improving new active travel corridors, delivering additional bus priority measures and undertaking a study of the road network to identify how congestion can be tackled. By 2027 that work on the A259 active travel scheme will be substantively complete and the funding we receive from Active Travel England will be focused on another of the priority corridors in our LCWIP. Exactly which priority corridor we will work on next has yet to be decided but we will look to make connections with existing high-quality routes to create a connected network across the city suitable for all to use. Future bus priority measures are in the process of being identified to see which are feasible and will have the greatest impact. Future updates of the BSIP will confirm what measures are taken forward.

Neighbourhood mobility hubs. Mobility hubs provide a focal point in the Transport network that seamlessly integrate different modes, especially mass public transport, shared and active mobility. While the city has good provision of car club vehicles and a bike hire scheme, not all areas of the city are covered by them. We want to explore whether neighbourhood mobility hubs can extend provision and give greater transport choices to all areas of the city

Improving City Centre Walkability.The city centre, with its great cultural and retail offerings, is a major reason why people come to visit our city. The streets make up a large part of the public realm and how people experience the city centre. We want to explore how we can improve the look and feel of the city centre. To make sure it is accessible to everyone who is walking and wheeling. We propose that it is the focus of our next major scheme.

Future Active Travel Schemes. Our LCWIP has already identified priority routes and areas for further active travel schemes. We are working on two priority corridors (A23 and A259) at the moment and once these are completed we will begin work on the other routes and areas so that we create a connected network across the city suitable for all to use. 100k per year has been allocated for this purpose and can be combined with the funding allocated under the title of Supporting Active and Inclusive Travel. 

From 2029 onwards we would plan to deliver, in conjunction with other local transport bodies, a Sussex Coast Mass Rapid Transit scheme and a purpose-built Strategic Mobility Hub. While our ambitions are subject to funding, Table 3 below indicates how we would distribute additional funding across our capital programme. should we benefit from a rise in central government funding from 2026/27. As funding levels are unknown, Table 3 (deleted) is indicative only. we have included an indication of whether our ambition is to keep funding the same, increase or decrease it. Park & Ride would form the core of any strategic mobility hub. The aim would be to alleviate congestion in the city centre and improve the experience of visitors, residents and businesses using our road network. A mass rapid transit scheme would be a high-capacity public transportation system designed to move large numbers of people efficiently. It would aim to increase mobility across Sussex, reduce air pollution by providing an alternative to cars and support economic growth. Both these schemes would require significant capital sums, most likely from central government, to take forward. Scheme development would focus on creating a business case to demonstrate that the projects are worth investing in.

Quantifying Carbon Reduction

This section sets out what the baseline carbon emissions are from usage of the road network within Brighton & Hove City Council’s administrative area. It also estimates what carbon emission reductions could be expected from the policies contained in this plan.

The scope of this exercise is limited to territorial road emissions because in our role as the local transport authority we have a reasonable degree of influence over them, unlike for example the rail network which we have no direct oversight or management of. We are doing this because central government has committed to making quantification of carbon reduction a fundamental part of local transport planning and funding decisions, as set out in the DfT’s Transport Decarbonisation Plan². To estimate carbon emissions, we have made use of the Carbon Assessment Playbook (CAP), developed by England’s Subnational Transport Bodies specifically for this purpose. The CAP is an evidence-based tool that can be consistently applied across England.

Figure 14 on the next page shows the output of our work to estimate what impact the policies contained in this plan will have on reducing carbon emissions from 2019 to 2050. The graph shows three lines. The future baseline is an estimate of future emissions excluding any policies set out in this plan. Our City Transport Plan 2035 is an estimate of what our future emissions would be if all elements of this plan are delivered. Finally, the CCC national balanced pathway shows the national pathway to Net Zero scaled down to apply to local emissions in Brighton & Hove. As with any modelling exercise of future events it is based on a set of assumptions about what is likely to happen and is an informed guess, not a prediction.

The future baseline in the graph is based on funded national policy commitments, such as the ZEV mandate (see above box) and is based on estimates of what the uptake of EVs will be in the local area. It is important to understand that the CCC national balanced pathway is only included as a rough guide of what emissions need to be reduced by. It is not a target that we must achieve. Each local authority across the country will make progress on reducing carbon emissions at different rates depending on local factors such as the rate of EV uptake, or the ability for a particular area to shift short car trips onto less carbon intensive modes. The CAP tool doesn’t provide a localized transport decarbonisation pathway that takes account of local circumstances, meaning that there is no specific emissions reduction target for Brighton & Hove.

The graph shows that while Our City Transport Plan 2035 policies will make a positive impact on reducing carbon emissions there remains some way to go to get close to the CCC balanced pathway. In 2035 the future baseline projection is that 149ktCO2e will be emitted from use of the road network. If the policies within this plan are all delivered, we estimate that emissions will be reduced to 130ktCO2e.

It may be that some other local transport authorities, where EV uptake is very rapid, are delivering greater carbon reductions than the CCC balanced pathway. However, given that the Brighton & Hove area sees an average uptake of EVs, which is the largest factor in reduced emissions, it seems reasonable to assume that more needs to be done to reduce emissions.

There is however a limit to what can be achieved through local transport policy and implementing measures that are solely focused on carbon emission reduction, which risk being unfair on those less able to afford the switch to EVs and making Brighton & Hove unattractive as a place to visit or for businesses. We need to take an approach that balances emissions reduction with the need to encourage growth and be equitable to residents. Additional action may be better achieved through national policies, rather than local. The switch to EVs will necessitate a change to how vehicles are taxed, as zero emission vehicles are exempt. Currently there is a weak link between the costs of owning and running a car and how much it is used. If the current Vehicle Excise Duty was scrapped in favour of a national system that taxed according to how much a vehicle was used this could be a powerful tool in reducing car use and tackling congestion.

Figure 14 Projected future emissions from road transport within Brighton & Hove

 

Monitoring

It is important to note that it is not possible to measure or quantify everything that has been detailed in this plan. Where it is possible we have chosen the following Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), which can be monitored to provide an indication of progress. Some of the outcomes we propose monitoring are beyond our direct control but will give an indication as to how well transport is performing in the city.

[25][26][27][28][29][30]

 

Table 4: proposed Key Performance Indicators[31][32][33]