Ruislip & Eastcote & Northwood Gazette
‘Bus cuts to hit the low-income earners worst’
BLIND PASSENGERS MAY ALSO BE HIT BADLY IF ROUTES ARE AXED
PLANS to cut 78 day and night bus routes in London, including scrapping six night bus routes entirely, will hit low-income and disabled groups the hardest, the London Assembly has warned.
The push to save £35 million a year will also result in overcrowding and increase journey times, making using the bus a less attractive option, the Assembly’s transport committee said in new analysis.
Currently around 19% of bus journeys made on central London bus routes involve a change of bus.
Transport for London (TfL) estimates that this would increase to 24% under the consultation proposals, making life harder for disabled Londoners and making more Londoners miss out on hopper fare savings if journeys are longer than an hour.
TfL’s own equalities impact assessment acknowledges the plans will raise costs for some bus passengers and TfL has noted this could present accessibility issues for disabled passengers, older Londoners, those with mobility issues and parents with young children.
There are 88 locations where the interchange is not at the same stop under the plans, while the cuts will result in overcrowding and increase journey times, making using the bus a less attractive option, the committee reported.
Cyreeta Donaldson told the committee that cane and guide dog users memorise their routes to bus stops so any changes can be highly disruptive and traumatic for blind or partially sighted people. Motability research from 2020 found that 45% of disabled people surveyed felt they could not travel spontaneously due to the need to thoroughly plan each journey.
Analysis supplied to the Committee by London TravelWatch estimates that if the proposals go ahead in their entirety, more than 93,000 daily journeys will involve a new change of bus.
This analysis also estimates that one in five night bus passengers who can currently take a direct bus to their destination will in future need to change routes. The committee is worried about safety issues that would result from these proposed changes to night bus services, particularly for women.
Watchdog London TravelWatch has said that the impact of the changes on Londoners is disproportionately large compared with the amount of money which will be saved. TfL says it has been forced to review service levels as a condition of government bailouts, but the committee suggests that TfL carries out more work to find alternative, less damaging ways to save this level of revenue if savings are still required.
The transport body is currently negotiating another funding deal with ministers and is running on its reserves.
The committee is also concerned that TfL is considering four times the level of proposed service reductions, from 3.7% to around 18%, if it fails to agree a longer-term funding deal with the government and has to move into a ‘managed decline’ scenario. To achieve the Mayoral target of 80% of journeys in London being made by walking, cycling or public transport by 2041, bus use will need to increase by 40% from pre-pandemic levels. London Assembly politicians are concerned that there is unlikely to be an increase in ridership as a result of the proposed changes, and they may instead result in a “cycle of decline” on the network.
The proposals from Transport for London to cut bus provision will affect bus travel for those in 23 London boroughs, with TfL being pushed by ministers to reduce bus services in light of a fall in demand after the pandemic.
Siân Berry AM, chair of the London Assembly transport committee, said: “One third of all bus journeys are made by people in households earning less than £20,000 per year. We are also concerned about the disproportionate impact of the proposals on disabled Londoners, considering that 10% of daytime bus passengers are disabled.
“Another longstanding concern is the extent to which a diverse range of transport users and user groups have been engaged during TfL consultations. It is clear that change in itself can be a barrier to using public transport for some disabled people if they have built up their confidence around using a particular journey.”
Geoff Hobbs, director of public transport service planning at TfL, previously said: “TfL’s reliance on passenger fares for the majority of its income means the effect of the pandemic on its finances has been devastating, requiring Government support to keep public transport in London operating.”