Forum Topic

Taking a bus in London? It might be quicker to walk

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/transport/article/taking-a-bus-in-london-it-might-be-quicker-to-walk-fjs2sc2txThe mayor has been urged to review cycle lane and low-traffic policies after a watchdog revealed that average bus speeds had fallen as low as 6.6mphBus speeds were as low as an average of 6.6mph in central London. A typical jogging speed is about 6 mphTaking the bus from Abbey Road Studios to Tate Britain, for example, a distance of only four miles, was scheduled to take up to one hour and 15 minutes. In the City of London, the financial capital of Britain, average speeds were even slower at just 6.6 mph.The average person walks at about 3mph and jogs at about 6mph, meaning it would be quicker to walk or run than take the bus for many journeys in London, particularly during the busiest periods.A London bus driver, who wished to remain anonymous, said that the replacement of bus lanes with cycle lanes, the introduction of low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs), floating bus stops where cycle lanes pass on the inside, 20mph speed limits and pavement widening had combined to increase congestion and slow journeys to a crawl.“Drivers have had enough,” he said. “Today I was meant to have a one-hour lunch but because of congestion it got taken down to 40 minutes, and it was the same yesterday and the day before. Our breaks are also getting shorter thanks to delays. Yet there are fewer cars on the roads. It’s madness. No wonder we’re seeing more bus collisions. Drivers are crashing due to fatigue. The problem is if you speak out you get sacked. It’s depressing.”Analysis of the watchdog’s data by The Times found that nine of the ten London boroughs with the biggest falls in bus speeds had introduced LTNs since 2020 while only three of the ten with the smallest reductions had done so.Critics have said that LTNs in residential areas simply relocate traffic to main roads, adding to congestion and delaying buses.One of the biggest drops in bus speeds was in Hackney, which now has 70 per cent of its roads covered by LTNs.The bus driver said: “The real problem with LTNs is when there are road works or an accident. Then they can have a massive effect on an area because there is no other way out. If other roads were open then cars could get out and that could help buses move a bit more freely but it doesn’t happen.”London TravelWatch said the replacement of bus lanes with cycling lanes and poorly planned roadworks were also delaying journeys.Sonya Dallat, of the watchdog, said: “While we support measures to encourage active travel in London and help reduce air pollution and car use, we want all transport users to be considered. As buses are the only fully accessible mode of public transport, we are urging Transport for London to maintain and not remove bus lanes when implementing new road schemes, as well as to better enforce existing bus lane restrictions, and increase bus lane operating hours.”About five million bus journeys were taken in Greater London each day in the year 2022-23The Times conducted a four-month battle with Transport for London (TfL) to get it to reveal how many bus lanes it had replaced with cycle lanes but it declined to answer, at first arguing the information would be too expensive to obtain and then changing its position to say it did not hold the data.The bus driver said that replacing bus lanes with cycle lanes was a big issue, especially at certain pinch points. “Outside St Paul’s, for example, you used to get to [the road] New Change quite easily and quickly using the bus lane but now you can lose up to 30 minutes trying to turn left towards the Strand — all because the bus lane has gone. It was not even a long bus lane but it was enough to help us.“Since then we’ve also had all these floating bus stops and they can also delay us because if there’s more than one bus coming in, you have to wait while the other unloads whereas before you could all pull in and serve people at the same time.”Cycling campaigners have said investment in cycle infrastructure works because it encourages more people to get on bikes, which is good for their health and reduces pollution. Data from TfL shows that cycling journeys have increased by 20 per cent since 2019.However, critics have argued that the hundreds of millions of pounds spent encouraging cycling has disproportionately benefited those who are already better off.The data from TfL showed that the majority of cyclists were higher-earning, middle-aged men while bus users tended to have lower incomes and higher proportions of women and ethnic minorities. Buses were also the most popular form of public transport in London in the financial year to 2023 with about five million journeys every day. Cycling accounted for only 4.5 per cent of journeys.Vincent Stops, who worked as a policy officer at London TravelWatch for 20 years and as a councillor in Hackney for 16 years, believed that TfL and councils were putting cyclists ahead of bus users. “It’s quite bizarre,” he said. “TfL has a programme of installing bus priority on the one hand, but at the same time taking out key stretches of bus lane for cycle lanes.”The campaign group Social and Environmental Justice called on Khan, the mayor of London, to take action on the decline in the speed of bus journeys.“Buses are the capital’s most widespread and affordable form of public transport,” the group said in a statement. “We call on Sadiq Khan to investigate urgently why bus speeds have slowed at a time when traffic across most of London is still lower than in 2019. Where traffic management schemes such as LTNs are found to be impeding bus journeys, they should be removed as soon as possible. London and Londoners must keep moving.”The bus driver believed that 20mph speed limits and pavement widening were also causing delays. “The narrowing of roads such as Oxford Street is a nightmare because as soon as there is any accident or collision everything comes to a standstill,” he said. “There is no space to keep the road moving. It’s amateurish.“Twenty mile per hour limits are another problem. In the mornings if I start at 4am, the roads are dead but my bus has a system fitted which means I cannot exceed the limit. I get overtaken by cyclists.”Lorna Murphy, the TfL director of buses, said that LTNs allowed more people to walk and cycle. “London’s bus network plays a vital role in enabling people to travel sustainably and affordably and we’re working hard to make it even better,” she said. “This includes investment in new bus lanes and other measures to give buses priority on the roads.“We are also developing more zero-emission buses with innovative features to improve customer experience. We welcome this report from London TravelWatch and are carefully examining its findings.”

Michael Good ● 37d160 Comments

It was me who supplied the numbers that Mark and Jeremy are referring to and I've copied them below. I'm surprised that you were unaware of them because they were discussed quite recently in another thread. There has been a significant increase in delays in Chiswick from 2019 to 2023. It is taking on average nearly an extra three minutes to travel between King Street and Chiswick Roundabout. Much of the extra journey time is in the centre of Chiswick. Remembering that this is an average and for much of the day the roads will be clear, the increased delays experienced at busier times will be much higher .                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Road                  2023     
        2019              Delays per mile (seconds)              Delays per mile (minutes)              A315 King Street  (6897)              166     
        129.3              36.7              0.6              A315 Chiswick High Road (36947)              126     
        157.9              -31.9              -0.5              A315 Chiswick High Road  (16867)              335.7     
        181.1              154.6              2.6              A315 Chiswick High Road (56697)              155     
        147.1              7.9              0.1              King Street to Chiswick Roundabout              782.7     
        615.4              167.3              2.8     





        Chiswick Lane (36951)              180.6     
        212.8              -32.2              -0.5              Burlington Lane (48572)              107.9     
        63.4              44.5              0.7     
        288.5     
        276.2              12.3              0.2     

Francis Rowe ● 7d

No 5% of the roadspace in London as you offered on behalf of the car lobby  to match the 5% modal share of cyclists. This is fair. It would be innumerate to allocate only 5% of certain roads you choose as that would not give cyclists the 5% share you have agreed to based ion their modal share across London. You wouldn't want to be innumerate and be yet another statistic to confirm my hypothesis that velophobes are all innumerate would you Nigel?So now we will calculate the total sq metres of road-space in London and we will allocate it out in proportion to the modal shares of different users. This includes pavements, parking space and vehicle lanes. Any other method would be disproportionate and unfair.How do you propose we allocate the 5% share you are giving to cyclists:1. 5% width of every road in London 2. 5% of the roads in London dedicated entirely to cyclists and nothing else3. 5% of the total sq metres of roadspace in London in the form of protected cycle lanes alongside bus lanes and other motor vehicle lanesThink carefully before you answer because the consequences for motorists will be huge now that you have conceded so much of the space that is disproportionately allocated to them in our capital city. I can do quite a lot with any of those options to radically alter the way people move in London. And it ain't gonna be pretty for the car lobby who will certainly regret nominating you as their chief negotiator. Now shall we calculate the % share of total road space that drivers of private cars get based on their modal share?

Paul Campbell ● 14d

To reiterate what the OP reported which was extremely interesting. “The bus driver said that replacing bus lanes with cycle lanes was a big issue, especially at certain pinch points. “Outside St Paul’s, for example, you used to get to [the road] New Change quite easily and quickly using the bus lane but now you can lose up to 30 minutes trying to turn left towards the Strand — all because the bus lane has gone. It was not even a long bus lane but it was enough to help us.“Since then we’ve also had all these floating bus stops and they can also delay us because if there’s more than one bus coming in, you have to wait while the other unloads whereas before you could all pull in and serve people at the same time.”Cycling campaigners have said investment in cycle infrastructure works because it encourages more people to get on bikes, which is good for their health and reduces pollution. Data from TfL shows that cycling journeys have increased by 20 per cent since 2019.However, critics have argued that the hundreds of millions of pounds spent encouraging cycling has disproportionately benefited those who are already better off.The data from TfL showed that the majority of cyclists were higher-earning, middle-aged men while bus users tended to have lower incomes and higher proportions of women and ethnic minorities. Buses were also the most popular form of public transport in London in the financial year to 2023 with about five million journeys every day. Cycling accounted for only 4.5 per cent of journeys.”

Steve Taylor ● 15d

The obsessive dislike you two have of Sadiq Khan is just comical and makes you talk complete nonsense. The irony is the Mayor robustly defended concessions such as the over 60s Oyster Card when the last government wanted to scrap it and I'm willing to bet both of you make use of it. Some gratitude.Although in recent years financial constraints have led to reductions in bus schedules and a fall in the fleet size, London's bus service remains the envy of the rest of the country and much of Europe. A cheap to use (for those of us who actually pay) service has an incredibly comprehensive coverage of every part of the capital.Significant investment has made it one of the cleanest fleets in the world and every year more low emission buses are introduced making a significant contribution to improving our air quality.The fall in bus speeds is part of a broader problem with congestion and the more traffic on our roads, the less effective it is to increase bus timetables because they become increasingly unlikely to be met.I believe this government, which I support, made a serious error in increasing the bus fare cap nationally but this is not happening in London and hopefully Sadiq Khan will continue to be robust in his protection of low fares. This isn't something that people who get to travel for free will appreciate, but for those on low incomes the bus makes a massive difference to their take home pay.If you have something constructive to say about improving bus services I'm sure we'd love to hear from you but if it is just mindless Mayor-bashing please go somewhere else to share your insights.

Mark Evans ● 34d