Plan for the future for Eastbourne’s bus services

I think we accept that during Covid-19 there are serious challenges for our local bus companies. However, it will not always be like this, and they need to plan for the future. I was reminded by a letter, in the Herald from March, where Stagecoach wrote “It’s time for tough decisions in Eastbourne], including from politicians, [in] 2018, new bus priority measures were introduced between Hastings and Bexhill, freeing up space for buses to flow past traffic. “As a result we were able to invest £2.5m in 12 brand new ultra low emission buses running on the high frequency route 99 linking Eastbourne with Hastings.” With current traffic projections, from East Sussex County Council, our bus routes will become slower, with fewer passengers and the fares will increase. In order to break this cycle there has to be a 10 per cent ‘modal shift’ from cars based on re-allocating road space to public transport. Readers may be aware of the proposals for a few bus lanes, along Eastbourne Road, Victoria Drive and Kings Drive. This does not go far enough. To get bus companies to invest in routes and greener buses, they have to be more bus lanes with priority at key junctions. This should generate more passenger income and allow investment in low-carbon electric and hydrogen buses. These are the solutions, they have them in Hastings and Brighton, but we may not get. Otherwise we just continue to drift with increasing levels of congestion.