Watchdog provides details impact assessment on how thousands of bus passengers could be affected
The capital’s passenger watchdog, London Travelwatch, has warned that plans to pedestrianise parts of Oxford Street could cause ‘considerable hardship to a large number of bus passengers,’ Mayorwatch reported.
Unveiled in November 2017 by Mayor Sadiq Khan, the proposals would see the street closed to motor traffic between Orchard Street and Oxford Circus. The mayor described the scheme as an ‘exciting moment for the capital, which will see the street transformed into a traffic-free pedestrian boulevard.’
However London Travelwatch said that many bus passengers will be inconvenienced as routes will need to terminate sooner, forcing passengers to either walk hundreds of metres to catch an additional bus, or have to complete their journey by the more expensive Tube.
In its response to a public consultation on the scheme, the watchdog has published a detailed route-by-route assessment of the impact the closure will have on passengers:
• Route 7: 6,500 passengers a day will have a difficult interchange to continue their journey, either walking across the Marble Arch junction or using a second bus to cross the junction. There would then be a further walk or a bus journey followed by a walk;
• 10 & 23: 7,600 passengers a day of a new route replacing bus routes 10 & 23 will have a difficult interchange, either walking from Park Lane to Oxford Street or catching a second bus, followed by a walk. 2,600 passengers a day will have to change buses at Park Lane and travel along Wigmore Street and Henrietta Place to destinations beyond Oxford Street. The latter service will take substantially longer than presently;
• 94: 4,200 passengers a day will have to either walk across the Marble Arch junction or use a second bus to cross the junction. They will then have to walk to Oxford Street from the Orchard Street stop. 4,900 passengers a day travelling through the area towards Piccadilly will have to get a further bus;
• 98: 12,200 passengers a day will have to walk across the Marble Arch junction or use a second bus to cross the junction. There would then be a further walk or a bus journey followed by a walk. 3,400 passengers a day travelling through the area towards King’s Cross will have to get a further bus;
• 113: 2,300 passengers a day will either have to walk to Oxford Street or get a further bus along Wigmore Street and Henrietta Place and then walk to Oxford Street;
• 139: All passengers will have to walk between 200 and 300 metres to Oxford Street;
• 159: 2,600 passengers a day will either have to walk to Oxford Street from the stop on Regent Street or get a further bus along Wigmore Street and Henrietta Street and then walk back down to Oxford Street; and
• 390: All passengers will have to walk between 200 and 300 metres to Oxford Street.
Travelwatch said running more buses along the adjacent Wigmore Street is ‘vital’ to minimise disruption and expressed concern that TfL is reportedly ‘not certain’ it will happen.
