|
London's ten worst bus routes have been revealed in a new report. London TravelWatch has published the information for the first time, in its performance report on Transport for London’s services across the network. The 262 from Stratford to Beckton is the capitals worst performing bus route. Others in the top ten included: 2. 152 Pollards Hill to New Malden
3. 191 Brimsdown Station to Edmonton Green
4. 228 Maida Hill to Park Royal
5. 452 Kensal Rise to Wandsworth Rd
6. 30 Marble Arch to Hackney Wick
7. 343 New Cross Gate to Tower Bridge Road
8. 49 Clapham Jn to White City
9. 282 Ealing Hospital to Mount Vernon Hospital
10. 220 Harlesden to Wandsworth
Sharon Grant, Chair, London TravelWatch, said "there are far too many people waiting for far too long for buses on these routes. TfL has told us that they are looking at these two particular routes, which have been problematic for some time, so we expect to see improvement for passengers in the near future."
Roadworks blamed
Roadworks were blamed for the poor performance of seven of the ten routes by TfL. Commenting on the capital's worst route they said the route was "affected by delays in Beckton. The operator is reviewing the schedules runtime and the service control strategy." There were 370,000 roadworks on London's streets last year, an average of four per street. Delays caused by roadworks cost the capital up to £1bn per year; the proportion of traffic delays that roadworks are responsible for is stated as being 36% by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, and 50% by Transport for London. Five months ago Johnson said he was "waging war" on roadworks when introducing a permit system which charges companies set fees - the effect is yet to be measured. This scheme is an interim measure that will eventualy see full lane rental. Utilities would pay per minute of digging time instead of the current fixed fee with penalties if work takes longer than agreed. Daily overstay charges of £2,500 already exist. A snap shot survey in March this year showed there were 617 roadworks taking place on London’s major roads, almost a third lower than the same day in 2009 when there were 901 roadworks active on the city’s red routes.
"Special measures"
The passenger watchdog is particular concerned at the 228, from Maida Hill to Park Royal, via Willesden, Acton, White City and Ladbroke Grove, and the 30, which runs from Hackney to the West End, via Islington, King’s Cross and Euston. The 24 hour route 30, will now be subject to special bus priority measures. "Concern" over Dial-a-Ride There was also disquiet over "continuing disappointing performance" of the Dial-a-Ride service which provides door-to-door transport service for people with disabilities who cannot use traditional transport. Although its performance has improved since the last quarter, the watchdog is "concerned" at falling standards. Performance was also down on the Docklands Light Railway sytem. The report looked at the state of tubes, trams, rail, roads, cycling, motorcycling, river, and taxis from October to December last year. More on this report soon
|
