It’s everyone’s journey at Brighton & Hove Bus Company

It’s everyone’s journey at Brighton & Hove Bus Company

Brighton & Hove and Metrobus is backing the Department of Transport’s (DfT) campaign, ‘it’s everyone’s journey’, which aims to improve disabled people’s experience of using public transport.

Transport Accessibility Minister Nus Ghani visited Brighton & Hove this week (Monday) and experienced first-hand the accessibility features on the company’s buses, particularly the audio-visual information for passengers.

The Minister boarded one of Brighton & Hove’s 30 new extended-range electric buses, which travel in zero-emissions mode through the city centre on route 5.

Brighton & Hove and Metrobus’ Managing Director Martin Harris said: “Our entire fleet (440 buses) is made up of ‘talking buses’, where passengers can see and hear next stop and other announcements, such as diversions. We introduced them in 2016 after one of our visually impaired passengers told us she had alighted at the wrong stop several times and it was making her anxious.

“We're right behind the DfT’s campaign and we welcome it wholeheartedly. Everybody deserves to feel relaxed and confident while they travel and the best way to make buses more accessible is to keep listening to the experts: our passengers and our communities.”

He said the company worked with disabled passengers and community groups on bus design, ticketing and driver training. It also ran a travel buddy scheme with Brighton & Hove’s Grace Eyre Foundation, building up the confidence of people with learning disabilities on public transport.

Hangleton resident Graham Oulton is registered blind and used to worry about catching the bus by himself in Brighton.

Graham has volunteered with Guide Dogs UK since 2014 and helped Brighton & Hove Buses fulfil its promise of making 100% of its fleet becoming talking buses.

Graham said: “It’s tremendous getting on board a bus and hearing your stops. It’s amazing for me because it’s freedom. I can go anywhere.”

He said the company’s Helping Hand card, which tells a driver when a passenger may need extra help without them having to say anything, had also made him more relaxed and confident about catching the bus, assisted by his guide dog Bassey.

Brighton & Hove Guide Dogs branch helped design the Helping Hand card.

The company’s Accessibility and Communities Manager Victoria Garcia said disabled people accounted for one in five of the UK population but accessible buses were important for everybody.

Victoria said: “We’re all going to have an accessibility requirement at some point in our lives, whether that’s living well with dementia, becoming pregnant, carrying heavy shopping or having a short-term injury.

“Audio-visual technology is also great for people travelling at night or taking a route for the first time and really helpful for tourists and students.”

‘It’s Everyone’s Journey’ asks people to pitch in and make journeys better for disabled people; passengers and transport companies alike. That could mean moving out of a wheelchair space or a priority seat when needed, being patient when passengers board or asking if people need help before acting.

Editors’ notes - bus accessibility features

• All Brighton & Hove and Metrobus buses have audio-visual next stop announcements; hearing loops; lighter coloured, dementia-friendly floors; extra room for wheelchair users to board; a space for wheelchair users and manual ramps.

• More than 90% of the company’s drivers and customer service colleagues are trained dementia friends.

• All drivers receive Level 1 My Guiding training, run jointly with Guide Dogs UK.

• There are three Safe Havens in the company’s travel shops and head office, where people with dementia can sit and relax and get help.

• The company pioneered the award-winning Helping Hand card. Cards have useful phrases on them like: ‘please face me, I lip read’ and ‘speak loudly and clearly’ or they can have a bespoke design.

• There’s a Taxi Guarantee scheme where the company will book and pay for an accessible taxi for anybody in a wheelchair who is unable to board the bus for any reason.

• Discounted bus travel for carers.

• Large print timetables and information sheets on request.

Environmental bus tour shows what zero emissions in Brighton & Hove’s city centre feels like

Environmental bus tour shows what zero emissions in Brighton & Hove’s city centre feels like

Around 60 people boarded one of Brighton & Hove’s newest buses yesterday (Tuesday) to experience firsthand the UK’s first fleet of buses that can operate in zero-emissions mode whenever they travel through the city centre.

Brighton & Hove Buses has invested almost £10 million in 30 next generation extended range electric buses for the city’s popular route 5, which have been set to run in zero-emissions mode throughout the city’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ).

Guests, including environmental groups, local councillors, schoolchildren and journalists, embarked on an environment-themed tour of the city on the new bus.

They visited Dorothy Stringer School’s Eco School project and Moulsecoomb Forest Garden, which runs outdoor activities for people with learning disabilities and for kids struggling in conventional classrooms.

Dr Dan Danahar spoke about Dorothy Stringer’s environmental management schemes and butterflies while Warren Carter talked about how forest garden workdays could be therapeutic and bind communities together.

Brighton & Hove Buses’ Managing Director Martin Harris said: “The tour marks the launch of our fleet of new buses and recognises the amazing environmental work happening in our city. It’s also about acknowledging that we’ll only be able to deal with this climate emergency if we work together.”

Martin explained that the new buses were the best choice for the city because they could cope with high daily mileage, large numbers of passengers and challenging operating conditions without needing to spend time recharging.

“This is not a small investment or a token gesture. It’s a big statement and a big commitment to reaching our goal of being zero emissions in the city centre by 2030,” Martin said.

“What we’re investing in is the future of our city and the people who live here, work here and visit. We want our environment to be cleaner than the one we grew up in.”

The buses are fully electric – an electric motor drives the bus at all times – but they use a small on-board Euro 6 diesel generator for recharging the buses’ batteries, when needed, fuelled additionally by regenerative braking.

The buses will be rolled out by the end of October.