Item 6, Appendix D Review of congestion in Street, Regent Street and Bond Street

Monday 2 November 2009 Council House, Road, , NW1 5PT

Attendees: Victoria Borwick, Assembly Member Kit Malthouse, Assembly Member for

Liam Brooker, Policy Analyst at Westminster Council Simon Birkett, Campaign for Clean Air London Guy Conway – (TfL) Lisa Farrell, Personal Assistant to Kit Malthouse, GLA Inga Staples-Moon, Assistant Scrutiny Manager, GLA Katy Shaw, Committee Team Leader, GLA

Heather Acton, Marylebone Association Yoram Blumann, Neighbourhood Association David Brookfield, Lumley Street Marie-Louise Burrows, Farm Street Stephen Carter, Hanway Place Michael Case, Prinston Mansions Mike Dunn, Park Street Cllr Jonathan Glanz, West End Ward David Goodthorne Richard Hopkin, David Irvine, Judd Street Residents Association Cllr Carolyn Keen, Bryanston and Dorset Square Ward Cllr Audrey Lewis, Bryanston and Dorset Square Ward David Miller Lois Peltz, Mount Row Penny Shepherd, Fitzrovia Neighbourhood Association

Victoria Borwick introduced the meeting and said that the review aimed to lessen the congestion on , Regent Street and Bond Street but without increasing traffic on neighbouring streets.

Presentation by Guy Conway – Transport for London (TfL) 23 bus routes, equating to 270,00 bus passengers used routes along Oxford Street each day. There were 2-3,000 taxi trips. For each bus trip there were an average 35 passengers on board.

In 2006-7 TfL had spent £3.8 million on physical improvements. 22 minor traffic schemes for pedestrians had been developed, including Legible London signage, the diagonal crossing at Oxford Circus, CCTV and traffic signal optimisation. There had been urban realm improvements at Marble Arch and planned footway works. There would be a significant enhancement at Piccadilly Circus including bus priority measures (TfL was currently testing the impact on traffic of these measures.

TfL was reducing bus numbers in Oxford by 20 per cent (10 percent in 2009 and 10 per cent in 2010). The following changes would result on the first 10 per cent reduction: Reduction in peak frequency of route 23 Withdrawal of route 176 between Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Circus Withdrawal of route 8 between Oxford Circus and Victoria (route C2 was extended from Regent Street to Victoria to maintain links into ) Diversion of route 113 to Marble Arch (will occur in November 2009)

Changes to achieve the second 10 per cent were under development and will be subject to consultation.

Bus contracts were let on a five yearly basis following a review of the route. In considering whether a bus route should continue TfL reviewed the patronage and the views of the community. There was a high demand for bus routes and as each was subsidised by TfL, it did need to look at the rate of return. Occasionally TfL would review a route before the end of the contract period and did have powers to end a contract but this was expensive. Before changes were made to a route there was a statutory consultation process with the boroughs, police, London TravelWatch residents and frontages associations. TfL did work with the boroughs to try to consult all relevant groups. People at the meeting stated they were unhappy with the C2 route and a representative of the Marylebone Association said that it was not usually consulted and that consultation on route 38 had taken place after the contract had been awarded.

In response to a question about whether bus bays could be constructed along Oxford Street, Guy Conway said that the pull-ins had been taken out in order to widen the pavement for the large amount of pedestrian traffic.

Presentation by Liam Brooker, Policy Analyst, Westminster Council, Liam Brooker noted that that diagonal crossing at Oxford Circus had been opened that morning. Changes to the area were delivered through the Oxford, Regent, Bond Street (ORB) Action Plan, which was a joint initiative between Westminster Council, the New West End Company and Transport for London. The plan included: Traffic improvements aimed at increasing the pavement space by 15% and traffic flows by 9%; Shifting taxi ranks to adjacent streets and behind department stores Improving bus movements Reaching agreements with freight operators to restrict loading to before noon and a pilot service consolidation scheme sponsored by The Crown Estate; The diagonal crossing at Oxford Circus which had increased the pavement space by 16%; Improving way finding with increased Legible London maps and signage; and Assessing options for shared surfaces in Oxford Street East. Loading pads – hard areas on the pavements for delivery vans Work with the Crown Estate on a Freight Consolidation Plan to reduce the number of lorries.

In response to concerns that cycle rickshaws created congestion and would probably start to wait on the loading pads Liam Brooker said that Westminster Council was seeking statutory powers to enable it to deal with rickshaws. It was also pursuing a voluntary code of conduct.

Issues Raised by Residents It was difficult for residents to drive north or south across Oxford Street, due to traffic and the phasing of the traffic lights. Side roads were also blocked off due to wide pavements and the sheer number of pedestrians. There had been a negative experience with re-routing of traffic in Oxford Street when it was pedestrianised during VIP days. Residents at the meeting were strongly against VIP days and any pedestrianisation of Oxford Street. ?? from NWEC said that it was not the intention of NWEC to campaign for this. Some of the reductions to bus services were just for the part of Oxford Street and not for its the full length

Private cars drove along Oxford Street because there was a lack of enforcement

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Shops should try to achieve a higher income rather than increasing the number of people visiting the areas.

Pedestrians should not be pushed into residential areas

Rickshaws were also a major impact on traffic.

The number of buses could be reduced in 2017 when opens.

The needs of pedestrians and bus users needed to be considered if bus services were going to be reduced, as buses were very crowded at weekend.

Northbound coaches which blocked Gloucester Place could be re-routed.

There was a mix of views at the meeting whether it would be practical for buses to turn round at Marble Arch and Tottenham Court ends of Oxford Street with a shuttle bus travelling along Oxford Street to link the services. Guy Conway said that splitting routes would lead to an increase in the number of buses travelling towards Oxford Street.

A solution to splitting bus routes would be to introduce an hourly ticket, which would enable people to take the first bus and change where appropriate rather that waiting for a specific but to arrive.

Presentation by Simon Birkett – Campaign for Clean Air in London

Simon Birkett highlighted the dangers of particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a toxic gas. London had the highest levels of NO2 out of 27 European countries and large parts of London would fail to comply with European air quality standards, which were due to come into force on 1 January 2010 (although it was noted that the Government was appealing to have this date delayed until 2015). It was estimated that poor air quality meant that 3,000 people a year died prematurely (up to 10 years early).

In the short terms the number of buses needed to be reduced, they should be cleaned up and there should be a scheme to pool freight. In the medium term a catalytic reduction kit should be fitted to all buses by 2015. In the long term a possible suggestion was a transit system and Crossrail would be operational. In response to a comment about pollution at , Simon Birkett said that Crossrail and trains did not get dispensation from European standards and so diesel trains would have to be made cleaner.

Kit Malthouse, Assembly Member for West Central Constituency Kit Malthouse did not believe that a shuttle bus would ease the congestion of buses in Oxford Street. In order to solve the problem the interaction between pedestrians and traffic needed to be improved. The entry treatments for side roads off Oxford Street meant that it took longer for cars to turn into them and pedestrians often crossed in front of cars. Pedestrians crossings on Oxford Street could be speeded up by the use of countdowns on pedestrian crossings. He added that the road layout was a mess with some signals being too close to each other. Strathmore Place, which had a resident’s parking bay in it, could only be reached by driving illegally along Oxford Street. Traffic movements needed to be rethought, for example the traffic flow at the western end, however this would need the /Gloucester Place corridor to be remodelled. The could take more capacity. He also suggested that too many buses were assigned to one bus stop and that the stops needed to be spread out.

Guy Conway replied that TfL was trying to put buses going to a common area at the same stop in order to take as little road space as possible for the stops. Bunching of buses was now regulated by

3 the i-bus technology. Buses could not use the current hard standings as a kerb was needed to allow the disabled ramps to be used.

Possible Solutions Victoria Borwick said that one suggestion was that taxis could use the roads to the north and south of Oxford Street and that the taxi stands could be moved. However some other people at the meeting thought that this might cause confusion.

The following suggestion were made for improving congestion:

A tram could link transport hubs at both ends of Oxford Street

Improved sign-posting was needed both for people travelling by car, so they are not unnecessarily directed to the area when travelling through central London, and for pedestrians, so they can find walking routes rather than using buses or the tube.

There should be more trees and green roofs as in Berlin.

Inspectors should be employed to keep buses moving.

Northbound coaches should be diverted out of the area and more imaginative signage used to help stop private vehicles driving into the area. .

The number of buses should be reduced in off-peak hours and at weekends when commuters were not using them.

The number of traffic lights should be reduced and their phasing reviewed.

The longer bus routes needed to be reviewed. There should be shorter bus routes with smart ticketing.

Introduce low emission taxis.

In response to some of the point made, Guy Conway said that all buses would be Euro IV1 compliant by 2015. All taxis had to be Euro III compliant by July 2008 and were assessed annually. The number of off-peak buses depended on passenger demand and some routes were reduced off peak.

Victoria Borwick thanked people for attending the meeting.

The meeting ended at 7.55pm.

1 Euro IV is an EU emission standard which limits emissions of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. 4