Those injured by the London transport network remains worryingly high
The most recent Transport for London (TfL) bus safety data has revealed that between July 2017 and June 2018, a total of 719 people were seriously injured on the transport network.
The study conducted by GMB London union showed that the highest number of cases occurred in Westminster with 411, 37 of those being serious injuries, followed by Southwark with 334, and then Lewisham with 313 cases.
Responding to the latest figures, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan called the statistics ‘chilling’ and added: “It is absolutely unacceptable for anyone to be killed or seriously injured on our transport network.
“My Vision Zero Action Plan shows how TfL and other organisations in London are starting to create this shift, and I am determined to keep driving this until we see the rapid improvement that is so badly needed.”
The Express reported that Claire Mann, TfL’s Director of Bus Operations, said: “As part of the Mayor’s Vision Zero objective, we are taking every action possible to reduce the unacceptably high number of people killed or seriously injured on our streets.
“For buses, this includes introducing better driver training and a range of improvements to the vehicles themselves.
“This focus will take us towards our aim of reducing to zero the number of people killed in or by a London bus by 2030 or sooner, and for all deaths and serious injuries from road collisions to be eliminated by 2041.”
GMB London Region has responded to these statistics by campaigning for change to safety standards and operations, this comes after they passed a resolution on bus safety at the GMB Congress earlier in 2018.
Speaking to Express, Warren Kenny GMB Regional Secretary said: “We know that Sadiq Khan considers that the statistics on the numbers killed and injured are ‘chilling’.
“So what is needed is decisive action from the top to change the culture at TfL to make the safe operation of buses by the outsourced private for-profit operators the top priority.
“It’s not the top priority under the current contracts.
Punctuality has the highest priority and profit margins are linked to punctuality records. This has to change.”
