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Post by uakari on Nov 10, 2018 19:04:29 GMT
I'm certainly not holding my breath for a good outcome, but I know that I would personally have felt worse if I hadn't fought like I have and always wondered 'what if?' It definitely won't be easy to pull the wool over the public's eyes on this though, as everyone is very aware of the tactics TfL use and there is no fudging removing those roads - either they're removed or they aren't, and if you keep one lot of roads, it stays as a 'round-the-houses' route rather than a trunk road route, so there is little justification for not keeping the other lots as well. They'll probably say that 384 will be rerouted and that locals can use Dial-a-Ride. OR They'll tell locals to use the Elizabeth Line (I don't even know why I thought of this) Dial-a-ride is a pretty shoddy service for which people don't automatically become eligible until they are 85 (so tough luck if you're a younger pensioner, commuter, working-age shopper, school pupil, etc). You also have to wait until the minibus turns up (often late) and then it will usually only take you to the supermarket or doctor, rather than a station for example. So people lose their independence and agency to go where they want, when they want, like they can with the bus. You joke about the Elizabeth Line, but TfL's grasp of the local geography and alternative buses has been such that I wouldn't be altogether shocked if they did suggest this! Most people I've spoken to are not against a direct TfL bus service between Barnet and Edgware, as sometimes it can be quicker to catch the tube down to Camden Town and then out again, if you've just missed a 614 or the 107 encounters traffic. But most people seem to agree that this should not be at the cost of smashing long-established local links in Barnet (including removing high streets and stations from the route) and leaving many people isolated from the transport network.
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Post by John tuthill on Nov 10, 2018 19:05:40 GMT
The consultation being conducted by Transport for London proposing the removal of the 384 bus from roads in High, New and East Barnet ends TODAY (Friday 9 November) - last chance to get your views in and save the 384 bus! You can either: - complete the survey at consultations.tfl.gov.uk/buses/route-384/- email: consultations@tfl.gov.uk (referring to the 384 bus consultation) - write to: FREEPOST TFL CONSULTATIONS (referring to the 384 bus consultation) - have your response taken down over the telephone by calling: 0343 222 1155 (local rate charged). This number comes through to the (TfL) customer services team who will record the comments and pass them onto the Consultation Team. PS: Sorry for lack of PMs to people - the particular situation I needed help with seems to have resolved itself, but hopefully you would be happy for me to PM again if there is anything else I need help with? Thanks Tbh when TfL have their heart set on doing something, they normally do it. With the 303 consultation there was a negative response but that still went ahead, and here we are roughly 2 months after the change and the link is still broken and there is no plans to replace it, with the 303s patronage almost certainly much lower then before. Sadly TfL don't listen to the people, so it looks like the residents of Barnet will just be the next victims. Have you only just realised that?
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Post by snoggle on Nov 10, 2018 21:09:57 GMT
Tbh when TfL have their heart set on doing something, they normally do it. With the 303 consultation there was a negative response but that still went ahead, and here we are roughly 2 months after the change and the link is still broken and there is no plans to replace it, with the 303s patronage almost certainly much lower then before. Sadly TfL don't listen to the people, so it looks like the residents of Barnet will just be the next victims. Have you only just realised that? If you want to see the complete irrelevance of passengers (customers in TfL speak) look for the number of mentions in the Stakeholder Consultation paper (from page 121 in the linked doc below) content.tfl.gov.uk/csopp-20181114-agenda-and-papers.pdfI make it two in the paper and none in the presentation (except passenger groups). Lots of particular interests are pandered to but I don't see where there is any effort at all in getting out on the front line and talking to the poor souls who will be those who have to deal with whatever TfL implement. It's as if TfL are allergic to talking to the people who pay their wages. Bus operators and bus operational staff are also not considered to be stakeholders either. They are not mentioned at all. No wonder Mr Trayner of Go Ahead London felt the need to speak out. Clearly contractors don't have any stake in the bus network if you are TfL. How utterly bizarre. Note also how TfL are crowing about how "different" their approach to the Central London bus consultation was. Look at the references to consulting with and briefing councillors, AMs and MPs and the look at how many of those bodies have gone on to be critical of what TfL are doing. Remember Hackney Council's reaction? So that worked didn't it??
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Post by redbus on Nov 12, 2018 0:07:30 GMT
Have you only just realised that? If you want to see the complete irrelevance of passengers (customers in TfL speak) look for the number of mentions in the Stakeholder Consultation paper (from page 121 in the linked doc below) content.tfl.gov.uk/csopp-20181114-agenda-and-papers.pdfI make it two in the paper and none in the presentation (except passenger groups). Lots of particular interests are pandered to but I don't see where there is any effort at all in getting out on the front line and talking to the poor souls who will be those who have to deal with whatever TfL implement. It's as if TfL are allergic to talking to the people who pay their wages. Bus operators and bus operational staff are also not considered to be stakeholders either. They are not mentioned at all. No wonder Mr Trayner of Go Ahead London felt the need to speak out. Clearly contractors don't have any stake in the bus network if you are TfL. How utterly bizarre. Note also how TfL are crowing about how "different" their approach to the Central London bus consultation was. Look at the references to consulting with and briefing councillors, AMs and MPs and the look at how many of those bodies have gone on to be critical of what TfL are doing. Remember Hackney Council's reaction? So that worked didn't it?? Indeed it has largely worked from TfL's viewpoint. They can say they consulted all these groups, whilst of course consult means there is no obligation to change any plans. I reckon from TfL's viewpoint the worst thing was the leak that appeared on the 853 website.
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Post by uakari on Nov 14, 2018 23:59:17 GMT
If anyone watches Sunday Politics London on BBC One from 11:00 am this coming Sunday (18th November), hopefully you will see me, a fellow user of the 384, and Labour Party councillor for East Barnet ward Laurie Williams, being interviewed behind The Spires about the campaign to keep the 384 running on all the roads it currently serves in Barnet.
We were also asked about the idea of the central London bus cuts supposedly paving the way for money to be invested in improving services in outer London - needless to say we were of the opinion that the evidence so far contradicts this notion - and also about whether we felt that Barnet was well served by buses in general (we pointed out that better orbital links would be welcome, but not at the expense of smashing local links that have been in place for 28 years and leaving many people in the area without bus access at all).
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Post by uakari on Nov 30, 2018 17:44:55 GMT
TfL has, very belatedly (in fact after the main consultation period had closed), published an Equalities Impact Assessment for the proposals, which you can download by following this link: bit.ly/2Q1ZpkoBecause this assessment was provided late, the person from TfL who is analysing the responses, Community Partnership Specialist Zoe Murphy, has indicated that she will accept further responses specifically relating to the assessment, up until this Sunday 2 December - please email your response to: zoemurphy@tfl.gov.uk In my view the assessment is of poor quality and contains numerous errors, vaguenesses, assumptions, spurious assertions and matters of opinion unsuited to an official document, which I outline in my own response to it (feel free to use any of the points I make): wetransfer.com/downloads/ea2f12d88656c7b21bb3831ffbcba54720181130173255/bb57c9e7b8990c435bb39de835d20c2620181130173255/2ea44cYou will see from reading the assessment that TfL does admit, however, that removing many of the proposed roads would have a 'high' adverse impact on specific equalities groups, against whom TfL has a statutory duty not to discriminate in terms of proposals they put forward for changes to routes. In particular, they have identified that the following groups, who are likely to find the extra walk in a very hilly area prohibitive, would be highly negatively impacted: elderly people, physically disabled people and pregnant women. TfL states that in some cases, people would have to walk up to 630 metres to the proposed new line of route or an alternative bus service, which is far beyond TfL's target of every home in London being within 400 metres of a bus service.
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Post by uakari on Dec 11, 2018 23:14:05 GMT
In the londonbusroutes.net the 'service changes' section it states the 292 got a new timetable 'to improve reliability' on 8 December without a frequency reduction, and the contract was renewed.
Does the fact the TfL decided to give the 292 a new timetable with the same frequency in any way indicate they are having second thoughts about these proposals? Why go to the trouble of having to put a load of new timetables on bus stops if they will be obsolete in a few months?
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Post by snoggle on Dec 11, 2018 23:18:59 GMT
In the londonbusroutes.net the 'service changes' section it states the 292 got a new timetable 'to improve reliability' on 8 December without a frequency reduction, and the contract was renewed. Does the fact the TfL decided to give the 292 a new timetable with the same frequency in any way indicate they are having second thoughts about these proposals? Why go to the trouble of having to put a load of new timetables on bus stops if they will be obsolete in a few months?Hasn't stopped TfL before. They won't cut the 292 independently of changing the 384 / 606. It's clearly a package.
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Post by uakari on Dec 11, 2018 23:30:52 GMT
But won't it cost them even more money to be changing the 292 timetable twice in the space of a few months? Or perhaps changing timetables isn't really that expensive in itself - I suppose changing the bus stop panels isn't very costly? If they'd given the 292 new buses with the same PVR, perhaps that would have indicated something?
Apparently Metroline are conducting route tests especially on Victoria Road, which would form part of the new route, because it is notoriously tight. If someone could tell me how to upload a photo in a mobile post I can show the bit of the road I'm talking about.
TfL previously rejected Victoria Road for bus use because if cars are backed up on the westbound lane waiting to turn into East Barnet Road / Station Road, then I don't think an eastbound 384 could get past without mounting the pavement, and here there is hardly any pavement to mount - pretty dangerous for pedestrians.
There has also been, at least when I have been looking, an upsurge in people boarding and alighting at the junction of Crescent Road and Brookhill Road since the new Aldi opened - this bit would be left without any bus at all.
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Post by busaholic on Dec 11, 2018 23:32:35 GMT
In the londonbusroutes.net the 'service changes' section it states the 292 got a new timetable 'to improve reliability' on 8 December without a frequency reduction, and the contract was renewed. Does the fact the TfL decided to give the 292 a new timetable with the same frequency in any way indicate they are having second thoughts about these proposals? Why go to the trouble of having to put a load of new timetables on bus stops if they will be obsolete in a few months? In a logical world that might be thought to give an indication but, regrettably, it's probably no such thing. In fact, the person/people at TfL responsible for arranging the new timetable might be wholly unaware of the proposals. Left hand not knowing what the right hand, and all that.
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Post by VMH2452 on Dec 12, 2018 6:31:04 GMT
In the londonbusroutes.net the 'service changes' section it states the 292 got a new timetable 'to improve reliability' on 8 December without a frequency reduction, and the contract was renewed. Does the fact the TfL decided to give the 292 a new timetable with the same frequency in any way indicate they are having second thoughts about these proposals? Why go to the trouble of having to put a load of new timetables on bus stops if they will be obsolete in a few months? There is always a new timetable on contract changes to facilitate the different length of dead runs. Even though 292 has moved next door there is a new timetable as vehicles will potentially leave EW at different times. I can't be bothered to load up the old Sovereign timetable but I'm sure the timings are different.
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Post by kmkcheng on Dec 12, 2018 6:38:24 GMT
In the londonbusroutes.net the 'service changes' section it states the 292 got a new timetable 'to improve reliability' on 8 December without a frequency reduction, and the contract was renewed. Does the fact the TfL decided to give the 292 a new timetable with the same frequency in any way indicate they are having second thoughts about these proposals? Why go to the trouble of having to put a load of new timetables on bus stops if they will be obsolete in a few months? They did that with the 31. Metroline took over and within a cover of months, timetable changed again due to the frequency reduction.
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Post by uakari on Dec 14, 2018 11:56:05 GMT
A lot of 384s have been not turning up at all in recent weeks, as well as mysteriously absent timetables on bus stops.
A deliberate strategy by TfL out of spite for people resisting their proposals or so that people feel they can't rely on the bus and desert it, playing into their hands?
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Post by sid on Dec 14, 2018 12:01:32 GMT
A lot of 384s have been not turning up at all in recent weeks, as well as mysteriously absent timetables on bus stops. A deliberate strategy by TfL out of spite for people resisting their proposals or so that people feel they can't rely on the bus and desert it, playing into their hands? Would TfL really tell Metroline to run the service badly?
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Post by uakari on Dec 14, 2018 12:17:42 GMT
A lot of 384s have been not turning up at all in recent weeks, as well as mysteriously absent timetables on bus stops. A deliberate strategy by TfL out of spite for people resisting their proposals or so that people feel they can't rely on the bus and desert it, playing into their hands? Would TfL really tell Metroline to run the service badly? I wouldn't be surprised at any strategy they come up with nowadays to be quite honest. Public trust of TfL is zero. A quick phone call here and there, who knows? Unless Metroline themselves want to sabotage the service because people have reported seeing bus blinds with new destinations, etc, on them, and they feel resentful at being watched.
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