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Post by snowman on May 14, 2019 12:10:28 GMT
The latest Permanent Bus Changes document - which was supposed to be published weeks ago, and was already delayed - has been delayed again. The most recent commitment from TfL was that the new document would be published on the evening of 10 May 2019, i.e. today. Now, TfL has updated the page to say that it's not coming today after all: So now, we're promised the document next Tuesday. I don't see what the value is in TfL repeatedly - and voluntarily - committing themselves to deadlines that they can't keep. Edit: danorak beat me to it! It should come as no surprise (especially to snowman!) that TfL has again delayed the release of the latest Permanent Bus Changes document. TfL previously said it would arrive today, after several delays; but now, it has revised the promised date of its release to "Thursday afternoon 16 May 2019 (delayed from Friday evening 10 May 2019)", completely glossing over its commitment to publish it today. I've lost track of the exact number of times that TfL has pushed the date back - I think it's 3 or 4 now. But it's also worth bearing in mind that, even before the delays affecting the latest document, the previous edition was published with substantial chunks of information missing, which TfL promised to cover with its next release. As things now stand, we haven't had an update for a month; the month-old information that we do have is incomplete; and - let's be honest - we don't really know when the next update will come. Given how many deadlines it's missed so far, one can't be expected to trust this new date that TfL has picked out of a hat. Although TfL have updated the note, didn't bother to update the attached document which still reads : (Quote) Published Wednesday evening 17 April 2019 [reissued Friday morning 3 May 2019] Information correct to Tuesday 16 April 2019 Next edition due [updated 3 May 2019:] Friday evening 10 May 2019 [updated 3 May 2019:] For this edition, it was not possible to list information on any changes between 4 May 2019 and 7 June 2019 as they were still under discussion. However there are no major changes taking place until mid-late May 2019. More information will be provided in the next edition, now due on Friday evening 10 May 2019. We apologise that it was not possible to publish an updated edition on Friday 26 April 2019 as originally planned. (Unquote) So it appears was due Friday 26 April, modified 3rd May stating next one now Fri 10 May, on 10th amended to Tue 14 May, on Tue 14 May changed to Thur 16 May. Nothing yet in public domain (from TfL) on the Hammersmith bridge changes from this Saturday 18th or any other changes. If I was a bus Operator using this info to plan my rostering, I would be a tad narked to find on on Thursday that changes take place a day and a half later. Either you believe these changes are still in discussion (so may or may not go ahead depending on outcome of discussion), or they have been advised to Operators (in which case why can't passengers and stakeholders be informed).
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Post by danorak on May 14, 2019 12:28:20 GMT
I was sympathetic when they made a hash of this document at Christmas but this really needs to be a one-off. Anyone who follows Diamond Geezer on Twitter will have seen that notices are going up at stops (including the famous Bus Stop M) which refer people to this document. If this is the main channel for information, it needs to be rather better.
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Post by danorak on May 16, 2019 12:58:59 GMT
*points knowingly at watch*
Diamond Geezer has now picked up on the travails of this document.
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Post by snoggle on May 16, 2019 15:18:17 GMT
Oh dear, oh dear the new contract for the 375 reduces the number of journeys to just 4 round trips between 0900 and 1400. Source - LOTS TLB. Also confirmed is that it will use DWs interworked from the 370. That's going to cause some upset. That's a 50% cut in the service level and no peak or school time coverage which looks like a very clumsy mistake to me. The one time I've used the 375 out of Romford was the 1550 departure - it ended up full and standing. Doesn't sit well against the "protecting Outer London bus services" mantra from City Hall even with the dodgy business case for the 375. I expect Andrew Rosindell to march on City Hall with his bulldog sporting its Union Jack coat (and no I'm not joking about that last bit). I then expect the Mayor to tell him that the government axed £700m of grant funding which would have helped maintain the 375's timetable.
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Post by snoggle on May 16, 2019 15:27:16 GMT
*points knowingly at watch* Diamond Geezer has now picked up on the travails of this document. I see Roger French hasn't held back in his comments.
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Post by 6HP502C on May 16, 2019 18:33:44 GMT
The one time I've used the 375 out of Romford was the 1550 departure - it ended up full and standing. Doesn't sit well against the "protecting Outer London bus services" mantra from City Hall even with the dodgy business case for the 375. Was anybody still on it beyond Chase Cross?
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Post by snoggle on May 16, 2019 18:55:05 GMT
The one time I've used the 375 out of Romford was the 1550 departure - it ended up full and standing. Doesn't sit well against the "protecting Outer London bus services" mantra from City Hall even with the dodgy business case for the 375. Was anybody still on it beyond Chase Cross? Yes and not just me. We also picked people up on the freehold section on the return trip. People do work out there and have to travel. That's why I think this is just a stupid decision - it ignores the reality of people's lives. OK the numbers may be small but why crow about a £850m subsidy level for buses and cycling (as has been done in the latest TfL Board Papers) and then do this? Politically it is really crass in the year before the Mayoral Election. While I doubt Khan would pick up many votes in Outer Havering it just gives his opponents an extra stick to hit him with and to point up the inconsistency between promises and reality. You don't do this if you can sensibly avoid it.
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Post by southlondonbus on May 16, 2019 20:03:36 GMT
Oh dear, oh dear the new contract for the 375 reduces the number of journeys to just 4 round trips between 0900 and 1400. Source - LOTS TLB. Also confirmed is that it will use DWs interworked from the 370. That's going to cause some upset. That's a 50% cut in the service level and no peak or school time coverage which looks like a very clumsy mistake to me. The one time I've used the 375 out of Romford was the 1550 departure - it ended up full and standing. Doesn't sit well against the "protecting Outer London bus services" mantra from City Hall even with the dodgy business case for the 375. I expect Andrew Rosindell to march on City Hall with his bulldog sporting its Union Jack coat (and no I'm not joking about that last bit). I then expect the Mayor to tell him that the government axed £700m of grant funding which would have helped maintain the 375's timetable. I do think the 375 gets a slightly raw deal. 90 mins freq with no evening or Sunday service. Yes, the route is likely used yet Havering-atte-Bower is still within the tfl area. I think an hourly all day service may have attracted more demand.
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Post by snoggle on May 16, 2019 20:45:33 GMT
Oh dear, oh dear the new contract for the 375 reduces the number of journeys to just 4 round trips between 0900 and 1400. Source - LOTS TLB. Also confirmed is that it will use DWs interworked from the 370. That's going to cause some upset. That's a 50% cut in the service level and no peak or school time coverage which looks like a very clumsy mistake to me. The one time I've used the 375 out of Romford was the 1550 departure - it ended up full and standing. Doesn't sit well against the "protecting Outer London bus services" mantra from City Hall even with the dodgy business case for the 375. I expect Andrew Rosindell to march on City Hall with his bulldog sporting its Union Jack coat (and no I'm not joking about that last bit). I then expect the Mayor to tell him that the government axed £700m of grant funding which would have helped maintain the 375's timetable. I do think the 375 gets a slightly raw deal. 90 mins freq with no evening or Sunday service. Yes, the route is likely used yet Havering-atte-Bower is still within the tfl area. I think an hourly all day service may have attracted more demand. To be honest it's difficult. The area beyond Chase Cross is not hugely populated and there will probably be higher than average car ownership. Also the obvious links to places like Ongar and Epping and Theydon Bois went many years ago despite multiple attempts to keep something going. This will have pushed more people into car ownership or reliance on taxis. In a purely commercial world then the 375 would not exist. There is not even a business case on conventional TfL business case terms. The irony is that carries 3-6 times the numbers of routes like the 389, 399, 385 and W10 which do have minimalist shopping hours only timetables. TfL are therefore probably expecting ridership to fall by 40,000 pass jnys a year on the new timetable and yet they're going to run double deckers on it? I assume the scheduling fudge is an attempt to avoid having to fund a new single decker for the route. As I've said here before it only exists because Boris insisted on it happening because A Rosindell (the local MP) pestered him. I think the current service level is a reasonable compromise - there are buses at commuting times including back out from Romford at the tail end of the PM peak. It is a political creation and fiddling with it will have political consequences. To be frank if you want to kill routes like this then do it early in a new Mayoralty when people will have forgotten all about it by the time the next election comes round.
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Post by thelondonthing on May 16, 2019 23:22:29 GMT
In entirely predictable news, TfL has missed yet another date for the publication of its latest Permanent Bus Changes summary. TfL had most recently promised its arrival on the evening of Tuesday 14th, following multiple delays. On Tuesday evening, the page was edited again, stating that the next edition would arrive on Thursday afternoon. As I write this, in the early hours of Friday morning, the document still hasn't been published, and the page still refers to its arrival on "Thursday afternoon 16 May 2019". Attachment DeletedI'd certainly like to know on what basis TfL is picking these deadlines for release that it's consistently unable to meet. As others have noted, TfL's repeated failures in this regard would be bad enough at the best of times, but it's particularly unhelpful when TfL is actively telling passengers to look at this outdated, incomplete information to help them plan their journeys.
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Post by vjaska on May 16, 2019 23:36:07 GMT
The one time I've used the 375 out of Romford was the 1550 departure - it ended up full and standing. Doesn't sit well against the "protecting Outer London bus services" mantra from City Hall even with the dodgy business case for the 375. Was anybody still on it beyond Chase Cross? Yeah, on my sole trip on the route, loadings were light going out (it was 9am on a Saturday morning) but there was people beyond Chase Cross. The return journey was busy and had plenty of people joining on from the stop after Passingford Bridge right into Romford itself.
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Post by danorak on May 16, 2019 23:38:40 GMT
*taps slightly more aggressively on his watch*
Perhaps someone at TfL is a Douglas Adams fan. As he said, "I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."
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Post by lundnah on May 17, 2019 9:26:39 GMT
It's 17 May.
The current Permanent bus changes document... (published Wednesday evening 17 April 2019, reissued Friday morning 3 May 2019); Next edition due Thursday afternoon 16 May 2019 (delayed from Friday evening 10 May 2019)
...is now one month old.
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Post by redbus on May 17, 2019 18:17:53 GMT
It's 17 May.
The current Permanent bus changes document... (published Wednesday evening 17 April 2019, reissued Friday morning 3 May 2019); Next edition due Thursday afternoon 16 May 2019 (delayed from Friday evening 10 May 2019)
...is now one month old.
Send it to Mr M Brown, Transport Commissioner as evidence of how quality has been maintained at TfL.
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Post by danorak on May 17, 2019 23:47:37 GMT
The document's still not up but there is at least a section on the webpage now about the Central London bus changes. Now I know I'm Mr Picky, but it really isn't very well written. Compare it to a Local News leaflet from the 80s or any area review publicity from the 90s. I could understand if it was a full LOTS style list of changes but it's not even that.
I thought comms was an area where big organisations like TfL were supposed to be getting better over time. Something like this really needs a map - trying to set it out in text form is incomprehensible.
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