Watchdog calls for ‘compelling’ London bus improvement programme

Watchdog calls for ‘compelling’ London bus improvement programme

Transport for London should do more to strengthen the capital’s bus services, by improving journey times, enhancing passenger information and increasing the number of routes, according to a new report from London Travelwatch, the capital’s official transport watchdog.

Drawing on a survey of over 1,500 Londoners representative of the city’s population, the report argues that by “focusing its efforts on the key issues of quality of service and improving the image of the bus” TfL can increase bus use and in so doing help Sadiq Khan towards his transport strategy target of 80 per cent of all journeys in London being made by bus, bicycle or on foot by 2041.

London TravelWatch says the survey findings, gathered by Yonder Consulting, suggest that although two-thirds of London bus travellers are satisfied with their services there is also significant unhappiness with them, with 20 per cent of respondents saying they would be more likely to use buses in the next 12 months if beneficial changes were made, indicating “strong potential demand”.

Slow journey times were seen as a particularly big problem, along with unreliability and “an unpleasant journey environment”. Transport for London buses performance data reproduced in the report show that bus speeds in every borough were lower in 20023/24 than they had been ten years earlier, falling as low as an average of 7.1 miles per hour in Camden and Westminster.

Buses being dirty or overcrowded were typical complaints and “too much antisocial behaviour” was among the reasons given by the nine per cent of respondents who said they are less likely to use London buses in the near future. 41 per cent of all respondents agreed that buses are too crowded and 37 per cent said there is too much antisocial behaviour on them.

London TravelWatch welcomed the March 2022 publication of TfL’s Bus Action Plan, but its report says the July 2024 update on progress with delivering the Mayor’s transport strategy showed that “renewed focus is needed, particularly on improving bus journey times”.

Demand for London’s buses service has made a fuller recovery since the pandemic than that for other public transport modes, but, says the report, “it has yet to return to the level seen in 2019/20, let alone the level seen at the high point of demand five years earlier”.

A “striking” 96 per cent of survey respondents said they make use of buses, with 35 per cent doing so on three or more days each week and 37 per cent between once or twice a week and once a fortnight. Younger people tend to use them to commute to places of work or education and older people use them more for getting to medical appointments. Roughly 40 per cent of respondents said they use buses for shopping trips of various kinds.

London TravelWatch chief executive Michael Roberts urged TfL to “redouble its efforts in working with others to improve bus services” – the report recommends closer collaboration with boroughs – and called for “a compelling programme to make buses better, implemented at pace”.

Read the report, entitled The nest stop: Making London’s buses better, here.

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1 Comment

  1. Jim says:

    Taking the 36 bus from Victoria to Paddington, the bus journey itself is a pleasant experience (when you can get a seat). Good suspensions make through ride smooth and the seats are comfortable and you sink in to them nicely.

    Then there is the 18 bus from Euston to Sudbury, which is always packed to the rafters, it’s probably one of the most used bus routes in London. However, the wait time between each bus is far too long and it means when it’s packed (which is often) sometimes the driver doesn’t stop, so you’re left waiting ages at the bus stop.

    The traffic management on the route is appalling, with nowhere near enough bus lanes. It goes through some real deprived very rough areas such as Harlesden, Stonebridge & the bad part of Maida Vale. Antisocial behaviour, robberies and other crime are rampant on the 18 bus. It desperately needs police officers on them full time or TfL Enforcement staff. The seats are hard and somewhat sloped downwards so you feel like you’re always about to slide off and the bus suspension is non existent.

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