Brighton & Hove City Council yesterday unanimously approved the club's planning application for the park and ride at Brighton Racecourse to be given a permanent permission.
Executive director Martin Perry said, "The sustainable transport strategy adopted at the Amex is a resounding success and this decision will allow us to maintain and improve a transport strategy which has received widespread praise.
The Football League averages just over 20% of supporters travelling to stadiums by sustainable means. In our case, taking into account the increase in capacity, over 85% of our supporters use sustainable transport and together with our partners at the Council, Brighton & Hove Bus Company and Southern Trains we should be very proud of this astonishing achievement.
"The football park and rides are an essential element of the strategy and the unanimous support by the council demonstrates the confidence they have in the way these are operated by the club.
"This approval coupled with the announcement by Network Rail that they are upgrading the signalling and providing longer platforms on the line between Brighton and Falmer Station means that we will be able to provide an even better service for our fans."
Perry also explained that the entire transport strategy is kept under constant review and as part of that process, following feedback from fans and local residents in the Rottingdean and Shoreham area it has been decided to replace the first-come-first-served H, P, R and S services.
He added, "The feedback from our fans who regularly use the service is that in poor weather conditions these services can be very heavily utilised and because they are not pre-booked fans can be left for long periods waiting for buses to get them to the stadium.
"In addition, after the match there is a rush to catch these buses, which has raised certain safety concerns.
"Finally, because they start from specific locations in Rottingdean or Shoreham they create unofficial park and rides which has a detrimental impact on local residents in these areas.
"To alleviate these problems, working in conjunction with our coach travel partner Seagull Travel, the club are launching a new improved matchday football specials bus service."
A new pre-booked system will include more stops east of the city and commence at Seaford and then cover Saltdean, Rottingdean, Ovingdean, Whitehawk and from the west of the city from Shoreham Beach covering Seven Dials and Hollingbury.
After the match services will have an allocated departure time alleviating the need for supporters to rush away from the stadium before, making it easier to board the buses and manage the flow of buses away from the Amex.
The pre-booked service will continued to be subsidised by the club, but will come into line with the subsidies of other services, meaning there will be a small fee that will be payable to cover the full cost of the service.
The new service will run from the match on 10th August against Derby County. *Supporters will be able to book a seat in advance, either on a seasonal or match-to-match basis.
Fans requiring further information, pricing or wishing to book can view the new timetable at www.stagedoortickets.co.uk/SeagullTravel or call 0845 901 1442.
Original article
Executive director Martin Perry said, "The sustainable transport strategy adopted at the Amex is a resounding success and this decision will allow us to maintain and improve a transport strategy which has received widespread praise.
The Football League averages just over 20% of supporters travelling to stadiums by sustainable means. In our case, taking into account the increase in capacity, over 85% of our supporters use sustainable transport and together with our partners at the Council, Brighton & Hove Bus Company and Southern Trains we should be very proud of this astonishing achievement.
"The football park and rides are an essential element of the strategy and the unanimous support by the council demonstrates the confidence they have in the way these are operated by the club.
"This approval coupled with the announcement by Network Rail that they are upgrading the signalling and providing longer platforms on the line between Brighton and Falmer Station means that we will be able to provide an even better service for our fans."
Perry also explained that the entire transport strategy is kept under constant review and as part of that process, following feedback from fans and local residents in the Rottingdean and Shoreham area it has been decided to replace the first-come-first-served H, P, R and S services.
He added, "The feedback from our fans who regularly use the service is that in poor weather conditions these services can be very heavily utilised and because they are not pre-booked fans can be left for long periods waiting for buses to get them to the stadium.
"In addition, after the match there is a rush to catch these buses, which has raised certain safety concerns.
"Finally, because they start from specific locations in Rottingdean or Shoreham they create unofficial park and rides which has a detrimental impact on local residents in these areas.
"To alleviate these problems, working in conjunction with our coach travel partner Seagull Travel, the club are launching a new improved matchday football specials bus service."
A new pre-booked system will include more stops east of the city and commence at Seaford and then cover Saltdean, Rottingdean, Ovingdean, Whitehawk and from the west of the city from Shoreham Beach covering Seven Dials and Hollingbury.
After the match services will have an allocated departure time alleviating the need for supporters to rush away from the stadium before, making it easier to board the buses and manage the flow of buses away from the Amex.
The pre-booked service will continued to be subsidised by the club, but will come into line with the subsidies of other services, meaning there will be a small fee that will be payable to cover the full cost of the service.
The new service will run from the match on 10th August against Derby County. *Supporters will be able to book a seat in advance, either on a seasonal or match-to-match basis.
Fans requiring further information, pricing or wishing to book can view the new timetable at www.stagedoortickets.co.uk/SeagullTravel or call 0845 901 1442.
Original article