Transport for London faces the future

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the midst of funding issues and following the launch of new high specification buses, Richard Sharman pays a timely visit to the capital to see the network from a visitor’s point of view

London has been the subject of many news stories in the past few months in the pages of this magazine. Many of those news stories have been related to Transport for London (TfL) funding, and what the future may hold if long-term funding is not secured. As London is a 24/7 city, things don’t stay the same for long so it was time for a visit to the capital to make use of the bus network, and find out what changes may lay ahead.

Value fares but changes coming

The first, and most important thing to do before a trip to London is the planning. If you are not a regular visitor to London, you really need to get your head around the tickets on offer on the TfL website before you start out. The days of being able to pay by an exact cash fare, or at the on-street ticket machines used at one point are long gone. The Oyster card is the obvious choice for regular TfL bus service users, but contactless payments will have also been in operation for a decade this year, having been introduced on 13 December 2012. In fact a new campaign is currently pushing the use of contactless payments. TfL’s Hopper fare allows you to make unlimited bus and tram journeys for the first hour of touching in with your contactless card on the network, something with is now becoming more common in the UK, but is already commonplace in Europe.
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So in theory, a regular bus users who needs to catch two buses to work could pay a maximum of £3.10 per day if travelling AM and PM, providing they touch in on the second bus before the one hour time limit, which I think is good value. There is a generational difference in regards to touching in, and 20 years ago the older generation were always taught to keep their wallet and mobile phone safe, especially in big cities. Modern technology has changed that view and bank cards and phones are frequently on show to opportunist thieves – is this something passengers should be made more aware of by simple notices on the interior of buses?

During my three days stay in London I knew I would be using multiple buses throughout the day, so I opted to purchase the one day bus and tram pass for £5.20. You can purchase this on the Oyster mobile app, add it to your Oyster card (if you don’t have a physical card you would need to buy one first at a cost of £5), or buy it at Oyster Ticket Stops at many newsagents in London or at all Tube, London Overground and most TfL Rail stations, as well as at some DLR stations and at visitor centres. I opted to purchase the physical printed card from an Underground station.

Ironically with all the above, from 1 March there will be changes to the fare structure in order to meet the demand from the Government to raise additional revenue. In December 2021, the Mayor of London said that he was having to consider a number of modifications to fares structures and ticketing in order to raise an extra £60-80 million per year. Some of the changes include:

• The bus and tram ‘Hopper’ fare will increase by 10p to £1.65;
• Increasing the Oyster card deposit to £7;
• Withdrawing from the Travelcard Agreement, which will require the support of Government;
• Retaining the current temporary restriction on use of 60+ concessionary fares to after 09:00 each day, and;
• Increasing the age of eligibility for the 60+ concession on a phased basis (subject to consideration of the benefit being retained for those on low incomes).

When asked by a member of the public in the ‘Find an answer’ section of the Mayor’s website about the withdrawal of Travelcards, the official response given was: “Ceasing participation in the Travelcard Agreement would mean that TfL would stop selling Travelcards. It would also mean that Travelcards would no longer be valid for travel on TfL services. These days, fewer people buy Travelcards as many have switched to pay as you go (PAYG) and this trend is expected to continue due to hybrid working for many office workers. Customers would have to use contactless or Oyster to PAYG on TfL services. PAYG is valid on the same services as Travelcards meaning customers can still travel on all TfL services and National Rail. No final decision has been made as to when TfL would withdraw from the agreement and no discussions yet have taken place between TfL, rail operators and stakeholders.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ULEZ extension

As part of the Mayor of London’s plans aimed at improving Londoners’ health, on 25 October 2021 the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ ) expanded to 18 times the size of the original central London zone, encompassing an area up to (but not including) the North Circular and South Circular roads. It now covers 3.8 million people in a bid to clean up the city’s ‘toxic’ air, which is said to lead to the early deaths of thousands of people every year.

The ULEZ is in effect 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all year round except for Christmas Day. Any vehicle travelling within it which is not Euro VI or zero-emission costs £12.50 a day, plus an additional £15 to £17.50 go into central London.

£12.50 a day may not sound like much as a one off, but if you live or work within that outer zone then you face a cost of £4,550 a year for owning a non-compliant car and using it daily. If that is not a figure that makes you consider using public transport, I don’t know what is!
As I wanted to try out the TfL network, I had opted to park on the outskirts at White City. Luckily, my car is compliant so there was no need to pay the ULEZ charge. Westfield London has a large, undercover, secure car park which allows overnight parking, so is ideal for trips like this where you don’t want to travel into central London straight away.

A drive of 2hrs 25mins and 129miles on a Monday, saw me arrive at Westfield for 1100hrs. Driving down I was curious as to how the ULEZ would effect the traffic levels on the A40. I would say that the traffic was marginally better than normal, but there were still the regular hold ups due to junctions in the Perivale and Park Royal areas.

Electric bus experience

The last time I was in London was for the Honk for Hope UK coach demonstration in July and September last year. The July trip saw empty buses and streets, but things had picked up a little by September.

Route 148, operated by RATP Group-owned London United, is my normal go-to for getting into the central London relatively quickly. This service was previously 100% Wrightbus New Bus for London (NBfL)-operated, but has recently seen the introduction of BYD ADL Enviro400EVs, with just a few NBfLs still in use.

It is a distance of three miles from White City to Marble Arch. The route has multiple bus stops and can be busy, but luckily Holland Park Avenue and Bayswater Road were relatively traffic free, allowing for a swift 20 minutes journey on board Enviro400EV BCE47011, a 69-plate example. This was not my first experience on board this batch of buses on the 148. I had experienced them back in September. That first trip had not been the best experience; as a passenger I was still new to the electric bus experience. It was a very hot day and the bus was quite busy downstairs so I had to go upstairs. With my face covering on and all the windows open, it was still rather warm. When we began that journey, there was something missing: the roar of an internal combustion engine. Initially,
it is a very strange experience. Being upstairs you cannot even hear the noise of the motors, just the slight creaking of plastic on plastic and the noise of the door actuation switch as the bus slows to a speed where the driver can activate the doors. I much prefer to have some sort of noise whilst in motion, and I wondered if other passengers thought the same about the deadly silence and lack of conversation.

On this trip I decided to sit on the lower deck in both directions on the 148, where the noise of the electric motors is much more obvious, and also to pick up on Jonathan Welch’s comment in the last issue about the rear seats on this model. On the inbound journey I had a 69-plate example which seated 24 on the lower deck. On the return journey three days later I had a 71-plate example which seated 23 on the lower deck; this omits the centre seat and makes the back row four rather cramped seats, no good for someone tall like me, even a 20 minute journey is a not ideal. So some tweaking would be ideal here to improve leg room in this area, for passenger comfort.

The drivers on the 148 have got the driving style perfectly matched to BYD ADL product, acceleration and braking were smooth and they allowed time for people to board and alight without rushing. They also demonstrated one thing that I found common with all electric bus drivers that I experienced in London, but we will get to that later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hydrogen highlight

Having left BCE47011, the plan was to then find one of the 70-plate Wrightbus Hydroliners on route 7, which are operated by Metroline. In theory this plan was going to work well, the route having an off peak frequency of every 11-12 minutes. Departures came and went but no sign of a Hydroliner. The strange sight of a Gemini 2 bearing no destination blinds at all then arrived, with a printed out ‘7’ sign on the dashboard. Highly unusual in London.

I was then informed that the Hydroliners in Aberdeen had been removed from service following an issue found with a mounting bracket at the rear of an First Aberdeen example, and it all now made sense. At the time of writing, modifications were ongoing in order to upgrade the mounting bracket on the Hydroliner model.

But all was not lost, there were still a couple of examples left on the road, so I managed to board WHD2710 towards Oxford Circus. After shocking the driver by saying ‘hello’ as I boarded, I sat at the back on the lower deck. Whilst much is made of this being a hydrogen bus on the exterior, I feel opportunities were missed with the interior, which is rather standard with little information to suggest this bus is special is any way. Surely this advancement in technology and investment is something to shout about to the passengers?

That aside, the impressive thing about the Wrightbus Hydroliner is the noise it makes. It is louder than an electric bus, and sounds a little like a jet engine taking off. Acceleration also seems to be quicker than an electric. A quick chat with one of the drivers at the terminus who was driving one of the Gemini 2s that had replaced a Hydroliner confirmed that they were a joy to drive.

Borismaster

The tentative subject of what some people believe was former Mayor of London Boris Johnson’s vanity project is an interesting one, and everyone has their own opinion of the NBfL. It was a move that would send the articulated Mercedes-Benz Citaro G fleet to early withdrawal and a life sat gathering dust on various airfields throughout the UK.

From a passenger perspective, now that more opening windows have been fitted on the upper deck, I think they are excellent. It is a bus that you can only find in London and has plenty of quirky but practical features. Having three doors speeds the process of boarding and alighting.

LT1-8 are now a decade old, but I didn’t find any of the lower numbered examples on this trip so had to make do with a trip on Arriva London’s LT528, which dates from 2015, on route 73 from Oxford Street to Stoke Newington. Like many others, the LT roundel badge was missing from the front panel (a bit like the trend of people stealing VW badges back in the day!), but it was a tidy example inside and the seats had little sign of any wear after seven years of use.

The time was now 1359hrs and loadings were still very light. Only two passengers were travelling on the lower deck for the 20 minutes or so I was on board. I alighted and crossed the road to switch to another Arriva London vehicle in the form of HV225, a Wrightbus Gemini 3-bodied Volvo B5LH, which would drop me off with a short walk to my hotel in Covent Garden.

The following two days saw me make extensive use of Go-Ahead London-operated route 11, which passes close to my hotel and takes you towards Trafalgar Square, Parliament Square and Victoria. Having mentioned the early LT class, the first service 11 bus I was to travel on was LT64, a 2013 example, so now nine years old. A look around the interior found that everything was in good order and it seemed to have been well looked after by Go-Ahead London. In fact you would be hard pushed to tell this bus was anywhere near getting on for being a decade old. Despite boarding at 0855hrs there were only two passengers downstairs and six upstairs.

The lack of passengers may account for the number of times that buses on the route had to hold time just prior to Parliament Square to level out the service. This happened on three out of my six trips on service 11. Every time the engine was switched off, doors left open and some passengers choose to depart the bus and jump on another service that was passing.

An off peak departure from Victoria Coach Station to Aldwych at 1950hrs found only two other passengers on board LT501, allowing me to take what I would consider one of the best seats, the backwards-facing seat just before the rear platform, comfortable and offering a good view.

These iconic buses (you won’t all agree!) may not survive in the capital for much longer though, if long term funding has not been secured. A statement from the Mayor of London’s office suggested that: “1,000 New Routemaster buses, brought in by the previous Mayor and owned by TfL, are also currently due their mid-life refurbishment. If the Government fails to provide the funding required, TfL may be unable to refurbish these buses and, along with potential bus service cuts under a managed decline scenario, they may need to be removed from the roads, impacting the order pipeline for a range of bus manufacturers and specialists around the country.”

Despite that statement, a few early examples have already been treated to a repaint and interior refurbishment, which includes new flooring and a new design of seat fabric. It would be a terrible loss to the TfL bus network if these vehicles were ultimately withdrawn. Like the original Routemaster, they were built to operate in the capital and are effective people movers, with the added bonus of attracting the attention of tourists.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Necessary changes

Changes implemented by TfL between 6 May and 25 October 2021 saw the decrease in frequency of 35 day routes and seven night routes. These were made to reflect lower pre-pandemic demand. It was noticeable that these frequency cuts in order to reduce peak vehicle requirement and save money are taking a toll on waiting passengers.

The 11 has a frequency of every 10-13 minutes, and if you time it wrong when catching multiple services this could extend your travel time by up to 30 minutes. Whilst waiting for the 11 to arrive, for which the digital bus stop display was showing 10 minutes, I was listening to two elderly ladies talking about how long they are having to wait every time they want to use the bus. OK, outside of London a 10 minute wait for a bus service is pretty good, but Londoners are not used to this system. Over my many hundreds of visits to the capital since I was a teenager, it was always a case of a turn up and go service and if you missed one bus you could normally see the next in the distance.

But this is now the stark reality the bus industry is facing. Whilst London is certainly unique in the way it operates in the UK, every operator is feeling the pinch. Recent statistics from industry round table group The Ten Per Cent Club showed that fare paying passengers on commercial bus routes have reached an average of 78% of pre-pandemic levels, with fare payers on tendered routes at 70%. Concessionary passengers are languishing at 57% of previous levels on commercial bus routes and just 50% on tendered routes.

In comparison TfL reports that bus ridership is regularly at around 75% of pre-pandemic levels, with some routes in outer London already reaching close to ‘normal’ levels. A recent press release from TfL in regards to passenger numbers said: “While bus ridership has consistently been more than 50% of pre-pandemic levels since April 2021, the recent lifting of restrictions has led to the overall number of journeys increasing by around 8% compared to early January. In outer London boroughs, weekday bus ridership is now regularly at 75% of pre-pandemic levels, with ridership in Hillingdon and Barking seeing levels at around 80% – especially at weekends.

“Some bus routes across London, such as route 90, which goes between Northolt station and Feltham station via Hayes and Harlington, and route EL2 which links the new Barking Riverside development to Barking town centre and Dagenham Dock station, are now seeing around 87% of normal levels of ridership – showing the importance of a regular, accessible bus network in outer London to supporting London and the UK’s continued economic revival.”

From my own observations, I found that Victoria Bus Station was eerily empty of passengers between 1700 and 1730hrs on the days of my visit. The place would normally be full of people waiting to go home from work.

Funding is going to be a key issue for TfL moving forward. It cannot plan or invest without the knowledge that long term funding has been secured and is hoping for a three year deal rather than the government continuing to offer a short term alternative. As I write this feature the most recent short term funding was valid from 4 February to 18 February.

A Transport for London (TfL) spokesperson said: “We continue to discuss our funding requirements with the Government. There is no UK recovery from the pandemic without a London recovery and there is no London recovery without a properly funded transport network in the capital. It is essential London receives the sustained long-term Government funding that is vital for the coming years if a period of ‘managed decline’ of London’s transport network is to be avoided.”

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said: “London’s transport system is not only fundamental to the success of the capital, but to driving economic prosperity right across the length and breadth of the country. That is why it is so important that the Government urgently comes forward with the long-term funding TfL desperately needs so we can keep services running and deliver much-needed improvements to our transport infrastructure.

“It is no exaggeration to say that tens of thousands of highly skilled jobs – many of which would be from outside the capital – will be at risk if Ministers fail to properly fund TfL. In addition, our strides towards bus electrification will be halted, and the capital will suffer with fewer buses on the roads and an unreliable Tube service with aging trains. The Government needs to realise that a properly-funded transport network in London is an issue of great national importance. Failure to provide sustainable funding will lead to less economic prosperity across the country, with fewer jobs created, fewer homes built – and, crucially, less revenue generated for the Treasury to invest around the country.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fare evasion and driving

Overall I travelled on 20 different bus journeys over my three days in the capital, and one thing that did come to light was fare evasion. Early on in the trip I was waiting to board the 73 service on Oxford Street when the couple in front of me, probably 18 or 19, asked the driver to let them travel free of charge for just one stop. The driver rightly refused and explained that they need to show a pass or pay by a debit card.

After some talking back and forth they eventually paid by debit card. I was then sat near them on the lower deck and they were complaining that the driver ‘could have let them on for just one stop’ and ‘what does it matter to him if they pay or not.’ I am afraid that is the kind of attitude that appears to be fairly common.

Another example was observed whilst I was sat at the front of a BYD ADL Enviro400EV City. The bus pulled up at the stop and the passenger just walked on without making any eye contact with the driver or attempting to pay. The driver called him back and explained that you need to show a pass or pay by debit card, to which he turned around and said he ‘thought it was free’ and duly alighted and returned to the bus stop to wait for the next bus!

These are the sort of situations where revenue can easily be lost, if it were not for diligent driving staff. In the three days of travel I only saw one Revenue Protection Officer and she did not board the bus I was travelling on at the time. On the flip side, and away from revenue, I did note 100% face covering compliance on every trip made.

Unlike some provincial bus driving jobs, from what I have observed being a bus driver in the capital can be a bit of a thankless task. In the main, boarding passengers tend to board like robots by scanning Oyster cards, using the mobile application or tapping in with a debit card without acknowledging the driver. Once boarded the driver will not have any other interaction with them as they will leave via one of the exit doors.

As mentioned earlier, if you do say ‘hello’ or ‘how you doing’ to the driver on boarding, they are more than likely know that you are visiting for business or are a tourist.

The niceties aside, it can be a stressful job, especially if you are new. I won’t name the company or route but one particular driver was obviously not having the best day and must have been running late whilst also trying to communicate this with CentreComm via the iBus system for advice. Let’s just say that electric double-deckers have some acceleration, and stability on cornering at speed is very good…

Apart from that one incident, every member of driving staff encountered drove well and allowed passengers the right amount of time to board or alight. Additionally, drivers of electric vehicles really had got the skill of easing off the accelerator to slow in traffic or approaching bus stops before applying the brake. If the road ahead was traffic free they would also make use of the rapid acceleration to keep on time, within the speed limit and maintaining the comfort of their passengers, of course.

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