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In the past 50 years, public transport has changed. It has increasingly been brought under public control to ensure that services are provided safely, efficiently and comprehensively. We have come to see it as an essential service which cannot be considered simply as a profit making venture.

But the Government does not share this view. Its proposals for "deregulation" and "privatisation" will turn the clock back 50 years.

Unfortunately the past to which it wants to return was characterised by cowboy operators, non-existent timetables, and dangerous buses. It was because things were so bad that powers were introduced to licence services and operators and ensure that buses were run competently and safely. It is this system of regulation which the Government wants to destroy.

Since then, the number of people using public transport has declined as more of them have turned to cars. As a result fares have often been increased - causing the number of passengers to drop again.

A majority of people still do not have access to a car. For them the local bus remains a vital service - for travelling to work, or to the shops or to visit friends and relatives. And as congestion increases in our towns, more and more people recognise that public transport has to be improved.

The Government claims that increased competition will offer greater choice and lower fares. There will be increased competition - but only on profitable routes. And in the search to eke out a profit, the operators will cut back on vehicles, customer facilities - and safety. That and the squeeze on subsidies for bus and rail travel, will inevitably mean:-

1. Fewer, if any buses at unsocial hours such as weekends and evenings
2. Cuts in cheap or free travel for pensioners and people with disabilities
3. High fares on the less used routes
4. Unreliable services
5. Disintegration and lack of co-ordination between services, making journeys more costly and inconvenient
6. No more innovations or experimental services such as specially adapted buses for people with disabilities
7. Greater safety risks

Leaflet - source unknown - distributed in February 1985

This campaign against deregulation of Brighton's bus services was unsuccessful. On 1st January 1986, the town services of Southdown became the Brighton and Hove Bus and Coach Company and the familiar green became red and white. The corporation services became Brighton Blue Bus Services and were coloured blue and white. Then the two companies merged and most of the buses in Brighton & Hove are now red and white. The company web site is http://www.buses.co.uk for information about bus routes, times and fares. Services have improved, but bus travel in England is still more expensive than in many other European countries. Petrol prices are not cheap either.

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