This is the response of Islington Green Party, and our three Green Councillors: Cllr Caroline Russell, Cllr Ernestas Jegorovas-Armstrong and Cllr Benali Hamdache to the Transport for London (TfL) consultation on the planned Central London Bus Review – https://haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/busreview
- Overall response to the proposals
(We are responding in our capacity as elected representatives.)
With its funding in the balance, Transport for London (TfL) is being forced to cut running costs, but we do not believe that our local buses should be in the firing line. These proposals should all be abandoned.
- They would see 16 bus routes cut completely, with other routes being diverted to cover the resulting missing links.
- The outcome of this and other recent changes is a 4 per cent cut in service across London in little over a year.
- Nearly 100,000 regular journeys split into multiple legs, forcing people to wait for a second bus or even walk to a new stop to pick up the next leg and increasing fare costs for people whose journeys would go over the Hopper time limit.
The people who rely on buses most are Londoners on low incomes, Disabled people, parents, schoolchildren and older people. Evidence from passenger representative groups London TravelWatch says cuts will disproportionately affect these groups and will also have more impact on communities of colour.
Most troublingly, with these proposals a large amount of harm to protected groups comes with a cost saving of just £35 million a year across London.
The Mayor and TfL must cancel these cuts and find other ways to save this amount in response to this consultation. Government should also take notice of the responses to this consultation and provide a settlement that does not involve London transport squeezing revenue and services in this way.
1,656 residents have signed our Islington Green Party petition to save the 4 bus, and to stop the bus cuts. The wording of the petition is as follows:
We’re calling on TfL not to scrap the 4 bus. Ending the service will make it much harder for many people to get around. It will leave Tufnell Park residents relying on a single decker and less frequent 236 bus. It will leave Highbury residents with fewer buses to make their journeys. It will reduce connectivity with stations like Archway, Tufnell Park, Finsbury Park and Highbury & Islington. We’re calling on the Mayor to work with Islington Council to find alternatives to these cuts.
Here are a range of respondents’ comments:
“All our household use the number 4 in both directions – to see family in the Barbican, to go to the Whittington hospital and to school as well as general trips. It’s one reason we live where we do – you wouldn’t take away a tube line! Please keep the 4 (and 29 and 263). I thought you wanted to make public transport better not worse! I don’t want to use the car. Thank you.”
“An essential link to the Whittington Hospital. Also well used by school kids each day.”
“As an elderly non driver the Number 4 is a lifeline for me around the local area and further afield, with its fascinating through London journey.”
“As it is, bus travel is unpredictable and stressful when trying to reach destinations and appointments on time. Waiting at bus stops is also stressful especially for young women or late at night.“
“Cutting this bus route will leave me with no affordable way to get to work, as I have mobility issues and cannot walk for long.“
“Good bus routes are needed throughout London in order to get people out of cars and get people to the places they need to be. This route does not have an easy tube alternative. Having to change from one bus to another adds a lot of extra time to journeys and is hardest on people with any kind of special needs, children etc. I have always boasted about what a great bus service London has. It should be something to be proud of not destroyed.”
“I am a pensioner and dependent on the number 4 bus which takes me directly to the shops (Holloway Road), for a walk (Hampstead Heath) and to arts provision (Tate Modern). All these things are part of my continued good health and mental well-being. I can’t leap on and off buses as I did when I was younger. I don’t have a car because of the pollution they cause and because I’ve felt able to rely on the good local bus service. Losing the number 4 bus would have a strong negative impact on my life. I urge you to resist these cuts and support a better London bus service.”
“I am in my 70s and I use the bus regularly to bring shopping home, visit my children and grandchildren, get to the tube for longer trips. I am very dismayed to think of it going.”
“I need regular medical treatment at the Whittington Hospital & this bus offers me a direct service to the hospital – there is no other direct route for me. Please do not scrap this service.”
“The number 4 is my bus to Bart’s. It will be very inconvenient for myself and my husband to attend our hospital appointments there. Please reconsider!”
“We are in a climate and health crisis due to the dominance of cars. Bus services are a vital part of getting people out of their cars. Increasing the cost of road user charging, parking and residents’ permits is needed along with good bus services. The idea to cut bus services makes no sense at all and must be scrapped.”
“We the local people of Islington need the No.4 bus. How are the elderly to get to the Whittington Hospital? It is so handy for them, stops right outside. Many, my 84 years old dad included can’t manage the hill from Archway. Please re-think your decision”
“We will shortly be moving to Upper Holloway, that move is partly based on my daughter being easily able to commute to her school – scrapping the number 4 bus will make her journey more difficult and less safe as she may be forced to walk further on back streets when accessing alternate bus services.”
- B) Answers to individual survey questions
Question 1 – We would like to understand more about how you currently use London bus services. Please tell us which bus routes you use now.
We are responding primarily about the following sets of proposals, which cover the bus routes that serve Islington:
- The withdrawal of the 4 bus and the changes to the 236 route
- The cuts to the 254, 259 and 476 routes
- The 214 being rerouted so it no longer serves Islington
Question 2 – When travelling on public transport in London do you currently change buses or change between buses and other public transport options to complete your journey?
Many of Islington’s residents are on low incomes and therefore rely upon the bus as the cheapest way to travel. They greatly value the direct services that serve our area and take them to Holloway Road, Angel and the City (4), to Kings Cross (214) and our local hospitals including the Whittington Hospital, St Bartholomew’s Hospital and Moorfields Eye Hospital.
Residents are currently accustomed to changing buses to reach other destinations at large and busy transport hubs, such as Holloway Road.
It will have a harmful impact on women, older people, Disabled people and other groups, particularly at night, if changes to routes introduce new interchanges that would either:
- involve travelling to another stop to pick up a connection, or
- involve waiting in dark, isolated or deserted locations.
Question 3 – When you need to change bus to complete your journey, we want to help make this easier and more accessible to you. Please tell us what is important to you, when changing services.
We are pleased that TfL has said it is planning to make improvements to bus stops to mitigate the potential impact of having to change bus. The best outcome from this consultation would be for no new interchanges to be introduced, but for the following improvements to be made to bus stops to make existing interchanges easier.
- Live countdown information
- Better maps on bus stops to show where changes to reach previously accessible destinations need to be made, and which follow-on services to catch
- Better seating, including proper seats with arms to help those less able to stand
- Good lighting and clean and well-maintained shelters
It is vital that no bus stop that is intended for use as a new interchange as part of these proposals should be without a shelter. New shelters and other improvements to bus stops must be fully provided before any changes to services are implemented.
We would also like to see an increase in the frequency in the remaining services. This would make any new interchanges necessary easier to cope with and help avoid making journey times significantly longer.
Question 4 – We would like to understand more about how the proposed changes may affect you.
AND
Question 5 – We are keen for you to tell us if there is more we need to consider, and what else we could do to make any potential changes easier… Based on your bus route selections in question one, please use this space to share your views about how these proposals may affect you, positively or negatively.
The double decker 4, which serves the Whittington hospital, would also be cancelled, with the 236 single decker replacing part of its route. The London Assembly heard from Disabled people’s representatives that peak-time crowding caused by changes like this will have a huge impact on their ability to travel.
Most of our residents would end up with a very different set of services and destinations served by direct services as part of these plans and a considerably less useful bus service overall.
As the 4, 214 and 236 are all lengthy routes that already take considerable time to reach their final destinations, there is also a high risk that introducing interchanges and waiting times will force some residents over the one-hour Hopper time limit when completing their journeys by bus, increasing travel costs and making poverty worse.
This impact could be partly mitigated by extending the Hopper time limit to two hours. A similar (alternative or additional change) to fares would be to allow for a free bus journey to accompany any tube or rail journey undertaken within an hour. We strongly recommend these changes in fare policy are considered if any of these proposals go ahead.
Question 9 – What do you think about the quality of this consultation) for example the information we have provided, any printed material you have received, any maps or plans, the website and questionnaire etc.)?
The complicated consultation documents made it very hard for Londoners to identify what will happen to their individual journeys.
Breaking up the information into individual ‘neighbourhoods’ with groups of buses makes some sense. However, for our ward, we had to look at east London area documents to find where the relevant cuts were set out (despite Islington definitively being in North London).
I am pleased that TfL eventually provided a clear summary and route index, which is now on the website. We were very disappointed to only find out about associated frequency cuts from separate information provided by TfL to the London Assembly.
The fact that the frequency of the 214 was being reduced alongside changes to the routes and destinations of local buses should have been laid out in the main documents. Similarly, the documents did not make clear that we were facing the replacement of a double decker 4 with a single decker service, which is highly relevant to the level of service and crowding and peak times we would be receiving after the cuts in our local area. This is highly relevant to anyone who travels with a buggy or wheelchair, as crowded buses can make these Londoners’ journeys impossible.