District journey times lag behind London

Schools, hospitals and other key services in Mid Sussex take around 20 minutes to reach on foot or by public transport, figures suggest.

In its recently published Levelling Up white paper, the Government pledged to bring public transport connectivity across the country in line with London standards by 2030.

But campaigners calling for more funding to improve access to bus and rail services say recent cuts mean the Government is giving mixed messages over its commitment to levelling up.

Each year, the Department for Transport calculates journey times from neighbourhoods across England to eight local services by walking or via public transport.

DfT data shows in Mid Sussex journey times to these services, which include large workplaces, secondary schools, hospitals, food shops and town centres, averaged 20 minutes in 2019 – the latest data available.

Meanwhile, the average journey time to reach the same key services in the capital was around 12 minutes.

The figures show it took Mid Sussex residents 42 minutes to reach a hospital, 20 to get to a secondary school, nine to reach a food store and 12 minutes to get to the nearest large employment centre on foot or via public transport in 2019.

In comparison, it would have taken Londoners around 27 minutes to reach a hospital, 13 to get to a secondary school, six to get to a food shop and seven minutes to get to work.

Reacting to the figures, several Middy readers complained about the ‘poor’ bus service in the Haywards Heath area.

Denise Jordan said: “If we need to go for an appointment in Haywards Heath and need to take the bus due to the lack of parking and the cost we have to catch a bus much earlier than we need to just in case the later bus does not arrive or is late.”

Regionally, journey times to the same services by public transport or on foot are slowest in the South West, where people must travel more than 22 minutes on average – ten minutes longer than in London.

In the South East, the average journey time in 2019 was 19 minutes.

Paul Tuohy, chief executive of the Campaign for Better Transport, said the figures showed there is a “long way to go” in ensuring everyone can access the places they need to go by public transport.

He said good, affordable public transport is key to creating social and economic equality, adding: “Warm words will not be enough.”