Brighton and Hove bus fares have increased for some routes and tickets, while others have been frozen or reduced.

Shorter journeys will be up to 30p cheaper at £1.90. This applies to journeys from Brighton Station, Churchill Square, the Clock Tower, North Street, Old Steine, and St James’s Street.

Cash and contactless fares which have not increased include the £2.20 centrefare, networksaver tickets, family saver tickets, and duo and quattro tickets used by two and four adults respectively.

Return tickets from Lewes, Seaford, and Newhaven to Brighton will continue to cost £5.

Bus ID fares for accompanied children will continue to cost 50 pence or £1 when unaccompanied young people travel at weekends, holidays, or on school day evenings.

However, single tickets for longer journeys in the city will increase by 10 pence when bought on-board.

To avoid the increase, passengers can buy tickets using the bus company’s app or by loading tickets to a key smartcard.

The cost of a one-day citySAVER ticket increased by 20p to £5.20, which the company says is the first increase in four years.

When purchasing the same ticket using the mobile app or a keycard, passengers will pay £4.70.

Annual citysaver and networksaver tickets will also increase in price but Brighton and Hove Buses says they are still ‘excellent value for money’.

Managing director Martin Harris said: “We’ve brought in cheaper short hop fares in response to feedback from passengers and we’ve done our best to keep other ticket prices frozen or to make only minimal increases to cover the costs of the business.”

Andrew Boag, of Brighton Area Buswatch, said: “It’s obviously a shame the bus company have put fares up.

“It’s not too bad for some people as some fares have gone down.

“The people who lose out most are those with annual tickets which have gone up consistently in the last few years.”

Mr Boag stressed that the increases would particularly impact people on restricted incomes.Increased fares are partially due to the purchase of new, more fuel-efficient buses and low emissions electric buses.

“We spent £11.5 million in 2019 on ultra-low emissions buses. Much of this went on 30 new extended-range electric buses, which run zero emissions in the city’s Ultra Low Emissions Zones,” Martin Harris said.

“It’s part of our ongoing commitment to creating a clean air city centre for everyone by 2030 and we won’t shy away from this commitment. We’ll keep refreshing our fleet to the highest environmental standards.”

Andrew Boag said it was ‘hard to fault’ the bus company as it modified all of its existing fleet to comply with low-emissions zones in the city centre and has bought new electric buses.

Brighton and Hove Buses cite longer journey times, due to growing congestion and traffic, as a reason for some fare increases.

More information on new fares can be found at the Brighton and Hove Buses website.