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Post by busman on Mar 18, 2024 10:19:25 GMT
A small change that somebody in Bexleyheath suggested is the 269 and B14 swapping routes between the Hurst Road/Penhill Road roundabout and Bexleyheath. A better service via Crook Log and Danson Road and the B14 should be adequate via Bexley with the SL3 having taken a lot of the 269 custom. That’s not a bad idea, as I think there is a lot of latent demand along Danson Road and Penhill Road catchment areas. The B14 would need to be augmented with more decker school journeys to account for Townley loadings. The one downside is that reliability of the 269 maybe impacted as it would be forced to contend with traffic along Danson Road and Penhill Road. All things considered, I would favour a small increase to the B14 perhaps to every 20 minutes daily during the daytime, introduce a full time service on Sundays, and implement fixed stops along Penhill if possible. Also keep the B14 as it is, retaining the R6. As someone else mentioned, extending the R6 to Foots Cray Tesco would be a good option. It’s ridiculous how difficult it is to get from Orpington and St Mary’s Cray to Tesco around the corner.
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Post by busman on Mar 7, 2024 18:32:50 GMT
2027? I’m questioning whether the E1 is the right route to serve the development. Residents will have access to Hounslow and the Piccadilly Line via the H28 and H91. Access to Ealing Broadway via a connection to the E8. What is missing is a connection to Southall and the Lizzie Line station. It will be easier grabbing a seat at Southall than at Ealing Broadway for sure. If/when the Southall bus changes take place, maybe TfL should consider routing the E5 to the Osterley development instead of the current proposal to loop it back on Merrick Road. E5 buses could instead continue along Norwood Road serving Tentelow Lane, Windmill Lane and Syon Lane down to the new development. There are numerous schools and facilities along that route which would benefit from a direct service. It looks like a long extension on paper, but the journey time will be quite reliable and quick due to a relatively long distance between stops along the top part of Windmill Lane after Warren Farm. The frequency of the E5 would probably be more appropriate for the development and it would avoid risking reliability of the high frequency E1 just for the sake of serving some densely packed high rises nowhere near its current catchment area. I think Hounslow and Ealing will likely be the main destinations from the redevelopment. Something like the E1 extension will be needed, as the E8 doesn't stop that close to the development - though I am unsure if there will be the demand for a high frequency DD route. I think Ealing Broadway is fine for an Elizabeth Line connection, certainly closer than Southall. And in terms of rail links generally, if anything the priority should be to reinstate a higher frequency on SWR services at Syon Lane Station to/from Waterloo. Would this be possible once all of the new 701s enter service? Ideally a more direct bus link to Hounslow should be looked into as well - compared to the current H28 service. I've suggested before that the 117 could divert up to terminate at Osterley, then send the 235 to West Middlesex, and introduce a new DD route covering Brentford-Hounslow. A local link between Osterley and Brentford would be useful too. Maybe amend the H28 somehow, or could even loop the 195 up to Osterley from Brentford (via Syon Lane Station) - this would also link Osterley to Boston Manor Station, Ealing Hospital and Southall, and stop close by to Hanwell Station. I agree with your point about SWR services from Syon Lane. A development of that size and the existing residents could do with a few extra stopping services at busier times. Call me cynical, but I think this E1 extension is no longer linked to solid demand. The developer is probably paying for a bus link to Ealing Broadway, hence the delay until 2027. Splashing “direct to Ealing Broadway in x minutes” sounds sexier on a marketing brochure than “Southall in 10 minutes”. Gotta sell those apartments hard to foreign investors… If Ealing is a major travel destination for residents of the new development, I still don’t see how extending the E1 is the best way to do that. Given the E1 extension isn’t happening until the first homes are ready indicates that the aforementioned role of supporting the 65 is no longer an objective. Also GSK are vacating the Brentford building, which further dampens demand. So why make the high frequency E1 contend with traffic on the A4 and disruption during Brentford games just to serve this development? IMHO linking the development with Ealing would be better done by a short extension of the E2. It would require a lower PVR increase and would actually create better links to serve Brentford, West Ealing, as well as the main Ealing Broadway shopping area.
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Post by busman on Mar 7, 2024 15:15:01 GMT
2027? I’m questioning whether the E1 is the right route to serve the development. Residents will have access to Hounslow and the Piccadilly Line via the H28 and H91. Access to Ealing Broadway via a connection to the E8. What is missing is a connection to Southall and the Lizzie Line station. It will be easier grabbing a seat at Southall than at Ealing Broadway for sure.
If/when the Southall bus changes take place, maybe TfL should consider routing the E5 to the Osterley development instead of the current proposal to loop it back on Merrick Road. E5 buses could instead continue along Norwood Road serving Tentelow Lane, Windmill Lane and Syon Lane down to the new development. There are numerous schools and facilities along that route which would benefit from a direct service. It looks like a long extension on paper, but the journey time will be quite reliable and quick due to a relatively long distance between stops along the top part of Windmill Lane after Warren Farm. The frequency of the E5 would probably be more appropriate for the development and it would avoid risking reliability of the high frequency E1 just for the sake of serving some densely packed high rises nowhere near its current catchment area.
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Post by busman on Mar 7, 2024 8:09:47 GMT
Nice bit of variety from Go-Ahead currently heading through Sidcup this morning: MHV69 on the 625, closely followed by WHV182 on the 286.
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Post by busman on Mar 4, 2024 13:47:48 GMT
Perhaps we need a politics channel on this forum.
As with most other countries, politics and politicians suck. Neither the right nor the left has the monopoly on what is right vs. wrong, good vs. evil etc. Just hold your nose and vote for whoever you most agree with.
As an enthusiast with low tolerance for long waiting times, dirty vehicles, slow journeys etc I’m happy that bus services are finally receiving some attention and investment. I’m dismayed at seeing comments about withdrawing routes when wheels have barely hit the ground. The 269…I’ve driven up and down the SL3 route between Abbey Wood and Bromley a few times. What struck me was how many more buses the SL3 provides along that Sidcup - Bromley corridor. If you’re local, you cannot fail to notice that the SL3 is now the dominant route and it has prominent branding to show people where it goes. In the early evening around 6pm on Saturday it was noticeable how much busier the SL3 was compared to how the 269 used to be. I’ve only observed the SL3 in person since Friday, but it looks to me like the SL3 is already inducing new demand. Whether passengers are ditching rail or car is unclear, but it isn’t all coming from passengers switching from the 160 and 269.
It’s far too early to start talking about withdrawing the 269, similar to how people were talking about withdrawing the B11 when the 301 was launched. The 301 introduced new and more frequent links between important destinations and has massively boosted non-Lizzie line ridership along the route. The B11 is as busy as ever and the 301 is still heaving in the peak hours between Abbey Wood and Bexleyheath. On Friday morning buses in both directions along Brampton Road were packed, with passengers still standing towards Abbey Wood. The B11 has now evolved to providing essential support to the 301 and will probably fulfil the same role for the SL3. Note that the 301 is really well run by DT…it’s just that it’s so popular, the B11 looks fine in its current form. It looks to me like the SL3 is generating similar demand. Chislehurst, Bickley and Sidcup are solid car territories, so there is plenty of scope to induce passenger growth. Let’s wait a while before drawing conclusions and rewriting the bus map in the area. Put your crayons back in the box, or at least play in the correct area of the forum.
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Post by busman on Feb 29, 2024 7:43:22 GMT
What a surprise. Did the councils think that we would just leave our cars at home? LTNs do not encourage people to abandon the car for other forms of transport. They just contribute to standing traffic creating more pollution, more delays and further reduces the appeal of shopping in these areas - which impacts local businesses. End LTNs that have not been voted by people living in the impacted areas. End blanket 20mph speed limits.
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Post by busman on Feb 28, 2024 19:31:56 GMT
Theres a graph on a summary document created by matthieu1221 showing that the decline in relative demand on the parallel routes is proportionally lower than the increase on the SL7. Although I still don't think the slight decrease justifies a cut to any parallel routes I can see alterations rather than out right cuts. Remember that post-Covid there were a lot of frequency cuts. Now that the network is back to 95% of 2019 usage levels, that freed up capacity on parallel routes might come in handy and remove the need to increase frequencies on those routes. Companies are moving away from remote working and are mostly insisting on some level of office presence so the recovery in bus usage looks to be sustainable. The SL7 frequency increase has been an undoubted success. To think there were people on this forum who said it should remain at 2 bph or only increased to 3bph. These metrics demonstrate that providing fast and frequent services attracts new users to the network.
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Post by busman on Feb 28, 2024 11:29:18 GMT
Lots of juicy stuff in the board documents that are out which I'll get to in the other thread tonight, but just this quick update on the first reviews of Superloop implementation:
Concern about capacity on the free Woolwich ferry once the Silvertown Tunnel opens and the associated charging regimes. Investigating whether a charge is needed for ferry .... What a shocker!!! Incompetent w⚓s. Won't be happy until London is completely gridlocked. Poor planet! We asked for a proper road crossing. The local vote in the “consultation” was overwhelmingly in favour. But the mayor decided to replace 3 ferries with 2 very unreliable ones. Two ferries left no resilience breakdowns. Additionally, boarding and docking is much slower than the old boats. They should be talking about buying additional ferries, not placing a charge to the Woolwich ferry. Also the Dartford crossing is supposed to be free by now.
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Post by busman on Feb 28, 2024 10:01:22 GMT
My first peak time run this evening so I missed all the kids thankfully! However, I did pretty much queue from Bromley to Sidcup with only a few brief traffic free bits. I didn’t lose a huge amount of time though and was only a few minutes down at Bexleyheath. The traffic through there and along Long Lane lost me a bunch of time again though and I got an Abbey Wood turn. Despite my leader being not that far in front I picked up a very healthy load at Abbey Wood and again at Bexleyheath. Very few ‘do you stop at’ questions as well It’s a shame there’s so much traffic - I’m not sure the route is sustainable if it’s going to be sitting in so much traffic Bromley to Sidcup has always been a nightmare in the evening rush hour. I used to use the 314 to New Eltham and then the 321 sometimes when coming home from work a few years back as the 269 route would just take so tediously long because of the amount of cars on the road in Bickley/Chislehurst. The SL3 will be held back by it definitely. Traffic issues hold up all forms of transport between Bexleyheath and Bromley. I still think the SL3 will be a success as the faster journey times make it an attractive alternative to a car. Also it opens up new journey possibilities from Thamesmead to Bexleyheath Station without changing buses. Removing the need to change buses alone can save up to 20 minutes on a journey time. No small thing. Family and friends have been using the route daily this week between Thamesmead, Abbey Wood and Sidcup. They have been very impressed so far. The NRMs and USB chargers are going down a treat and journey times between Abbey Wood and Sidcup done in around 30 minutes. Superloop is a game changer for bus travel in South East London.
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Post by busman on Feb 23, 2024 11:14:21 GMT
They must have changed the diversion between Bexleyheath and Blackfen from Crook Log to Hurst Road in Old Bexley/Albany Park, I saw that Tuesday morning. These gas works will definitely make the first month of SL3 operation less than super in terms of speed between Bexleyheath and Sidcup. I suspect the timetable for the SL3 as a result is woefully ambitious. I was really disappointed with my try of the SL5, I suspect I’ll be apocalyptic about the SL3, which is a real shame. Sadly I’m away until next weekend, so I won’t get to ride it but that might be a blessing in disguise. I think it will take a couple of months for the SL3 to settle down. Feb and March is going to be messed up by roadworks in the middle of the route. At least the route is well supported by the 301 and 160 either side of the carnage. Other people in my house will try it out next week for actual journeys so it will be interesting to hear their thoughts. For comfort, sitting on a New Routemaster definitely beats anything out of DT any day of the week. But for speed…initially it might not be much quicker for travel between Abbey Wood and Sidcup.
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Post by busman on Feb 23, 2024 10:02:43 GMT
I drove this afternoon at about 5:30 and it took an hour to get from Sidcup to Bexleyheath, because of the gas works at Penhill Roundabout. They couldn’t launch an express route at a worst time! As well as there being temporary traffic lights on the junction of Sidcup High Street/Carlton Road/Main Road/Station Road. The lights stay red for what feels like an eternity. I expect to see a lot of complaints about the SL3 service in the first few weeks, but it will be nothing to do with the operator or timetable. Those gas works look significant. A huge stretch of Penhill Road southbound is closed completely until the latter part of March which will mean heavier traffic through Hurst Road approaching Penhill Roundabout. Blendon Road is closed in the same direction as well..perhaps that’s why I saw a 132 towards North Greenwich heading past Crook Log on Saturday. It might be a good opportunity to snap some Abbey Wood, Bexleyheath and Sidcup Station curtailments.
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Post by busman on Feb 22, 2024 11:46:39 GMT
So much for local democracy. I hope the council wins and other London boroughs follow. Next target - blanket 20mph speed limits.
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Post by busman on Feb 21, 2024 15:41:33 GMT
The SL3 tile has indeed been installed at the Hatherley Crescent/Sidcup Station stop towards Bromley. Oh dear. No Hurst Road zoominess for the SL3 then. Not fun being stuck on Hurst Road turning into Foots Cray Lane in the morning school run and the reverse direction in the afternoon. Also as others have said, the lights at Hatherley Crescent are a nightmare. I’ve made the mistake of going that way once or twice before…never again.
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Post by busman on Feb 21, 2024 15:05:44 GMT
This article shows what is wrong with British politics and the mindset of the media. There is absolutely nothing wrong in changing your mind if you see you were wrong about something in the first place. The real question is why do parties create policies without properly thinking through the implementation and impact on other policies, budgets and areas of unintended consequence? This is what happens when we have a group of election wonks advising politicians what to say in order to get people to vote for them. Detail and critical thinking doesn’t matter anymore. Just get people to vote for you and worry about the detail later. So here, we see a daft back of a napkin „policy“ ditched and the headline is about u-turns rather than a party not taking governance seriously. This is a problem across all parties and it’s a sad state of affairs right now. But anything has to be better than the Tories. They have decimated the country in 13 years by implementing stupid policies and only thinking about the consequences afterwards. Will Labour be any different? Sadly not, but like I said they can’t be any worse. This quote from that BBC article said it all: „A phrase first uttered into my ear at the Labour Conference last autumn. "We need to be the smallest possible moving target".“ Basically, Labour will say what they need to say in order for people to vote for them. That’s why Starmer is accused of standing for nothing and being wishy-washy. The country is in such a mess it needs a cohesive plan to rebuild it. Education, Business, Healthcare, Taxation, Law & Justice, Housing, Immigration, Environment etc cannot work in silos. Their policies have to work in harmony. We need a leader of the magnitude of Lee Kuan Yew to rebuild this country and realise our tremendous potential, but no such person exists in British politics nor will the individualistic electorate and click-baity media tolerate such a figure.
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Post by busman on Feb 20, 2024 19:15:41 GMT
I suspect it may be less 'loopy' My money is on the 112/232 corridor getting an 'SL11' - I think there's other places where there would be space for an orbital express bus. I think the South Circular corridor could do with some faster and more direct bus links. I’d personally like ‘spokes’ coming from significant places immediately outside London heading for the first significant place inside London, but appreciate that the likelihood is small and that county councils will likely need to help out. A “hub and spoke” model is something that the London Assembly have talked about in the past. The hub being a rail station or other significant place of interchange and buses providing the “spokes”. Given that an inner ring is already formed by the London Overground, I wonder if we will see equivalents of the SL4, SL6 and SL8 proposed in other parts of London connecting to the newly named LO routes and Superloop outer orbitals, rather than more “loopy” routes.
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