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Slow buses on Sundays
• YOUR article, Scrap plans for 7-day red route, traders tell Boris (September 5), does not consider the benefits that red route enforcement can offer.
Last year, London TravelWatch, the statutory watchdog for transport users, examined bus performance on Sundays and surveyed various locations across London. We had anecdotal evidence that bus services perform poorest on a Sunday. Our work found that passengers, bus operators and Transport for London’s own monitoring supported this.
Londoners want a bus network that operates efficiently 24/7. Poor bus performance on Sundays is, in part, because of a lack of parking controls and operational bus lanes and poorer enforcement where restrictions are already in place.
One location we looked at was Upper Street, Islington, where a very few legitimately parked vehicles in the bus lane on the eastern side were delaying many hundreds of bus passengers. We are delighted to hear that the red route at this location is to become operational on Sundays, and we are sure bus passengers using Upper Street will agree.
One size doesn’t fit all and there will be sections of bus routes that may not be continuously congested but, more importantly, buses need to be able to operate reliably day in, day out if they are to be an attractive alternative. Extending waiting and bus lane operational hours will ensure this happens.
We recognise the legitimate needs of business for loading and unloading. This proposal would allow for prescribed loading bays on the red route just as it does during weekdays.
DAVID LEIBLING
Chairman, London
TravelWatch
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