The proposed Local Transport Bill currently going though parliament would give local authorities in places like Brighton and Hove a new mix of powers to help improve local public transport services and cut congestion.
As well as hearing the views of local councillors and transport providers about the Bill, the Minister congratulated Brighton and Hove on their excellent performance increasing bus patronage.
The Council's figures show a passenger increase of 26% in 6 years - from 31.3m in 2001/02 to 39.4m in 2006/07.
Rosie Winterton said:
"Brighton and Hove's performance in increasing bus patronage has been impressive - long may it continue. I want to make sure that when the draft Local Transport Bill becomes law it will help continue this positive trend and help other local authorities around the country achieve similar success.
"It's essential we learn from the success of places like Brighton and Hove so we can feed that winning formula into the draft Local Transport Bill."
Councillor Brian Oxley, Leader of Brighton and Hove City Council said:
"We are really pleased to welcome the Minister to Brighton & Hove today.
We have made award-winning progress in boosting bus use across the city, mainly through a longstanding, informal quality partnership with the major bus operator here, and aim to continue this trend.
The opportunity to discuss and influence emerging government policy is helpful, and we hope that our successful experiences here in the city will be taken into account.
"We very much hope that the Minister will also be impressed by our plans for a new, bus-based Rapid Transport System and how, as a new administration, we expect to address the transport challenges that the city faces in the future."
While on the visit the Minister took a tour of the proposed bus rapid transit route and was shown around the central control room for buses.
There she saw the award-winning hi-tech systems that give passengers real time information on the buses.
