Central London Bus Services Review RTIR Appendix J

Central London Bus Services Review Appendix J: London Bridge and Hackney Road (Routes 26, 48 & 55) April 2019 1. Proposal Usage over the past five years on routes 26, 48 and 55 has fallen significantly. Routes 48 and 55 share the same roads between Lea Bridge Road, Bakers Arms and Shoreditch High Street. Route 26 runs on the same roads as route 48 between Hackney, Well Street and Bishopsgate, and route 55 between Hackney, Well Street and Shoreditch High Street. Currently we have spare capacity on these services at the busiest point on Hackney Road. Route 55 is the most popular service on this corridor, with the remaining demand split between routes 48 and 26. We are proposing to no longer run the 48 and extend the 55 to retain the connection to Walthamstow. We would increase the frequency of the 26 from every 10 mins to every 7 to 8 mins Monday to Saturday, to ensure there is appropriate capacity it its busiest point. Routes N26 and N55 would remain unchanged. We consulted on the following proposal: Routes 26, 48 and 55 No longer run route 48 Re-route 55 away from Leyton High Road and extend to Walthamstow Central bus station via the current route 48 Increase frequencies on the 26 to from every 10 mins to every 7.5 mins Monday to Saturday Click here for the proposed routes 26, 48 and 55 map Routes 26, 48 and 55 and all run between Hackney, Well Street and Shoreditch High Street Route 26 runs between Hackney Wick, and Waterloo Route 48 runs between Walthamstow Central and London Bridge Route 55 runs between Leyton Bus Garage and Oxford Circus, Harewood Place Route N55 runs between Oxford Circus, Harewood Place and Woodford Wells Routes 48 and 55 parallel each other between Lea Bridge Road, Bakers Arms and Shoreditch High Street. Route 26 parallels route 48 between Hackney, 2 Well Street and Bishopsgate, and route 55 between Hackney, Well Street and Shoreditch High Street. Across routes 26, 48 and 55 up to 18.1 buses per hour are required in the morning peak hour at Hackney Road towards central London, 22 are scheduled. During the evening peak across the same routes, 16.2 buses per hour are required traveling towards Hackney Central, 22 buses per hour are provided. Across routes 48 and 55, a maximum of 8.3 buses per hour are required in the morning peak towards central London between Hackney Town Hall and Lea Bridge, 19 are scheduled. During the evening peak up to 7.4 buses per hour are required towards Lea Bridge Road on routes 48 and 55; currently 16 buses per hour are scheduled. At the busiest point, nearly 60 per cent of all customers arrive and depart using route 55 during the busiest hour, making it the most popular service. The remaining 40 per cent of customers are evenly split between routes 26 and 48. Route 48 is the only service that connects Walthamstow Central to central London via Bakers Arms. This generates nearly 5,000 direct customer journeys between Walthamstow Central and Shoreditch High Street. The busiest point on route 26 is Hackney Road, Queensbridge Road towards Waterloo in the morning peak, where 4.6 buses are required to meet demand and six buses are scheduled. Route 26 experienced a drop in usage across all days over since 2013/14 with an 18 per cent decrease on weekdays, and a nine per cent decrease on weekends. The busiest point on route 48 is Hackney Road, Queensbridge Road towards Walthamstow in the evening peak, where five buses per hour are required to meet demand, and six are scheduled. Since 2013/14 usage on route 48 has dropped by 21 per cent on weekdays, 17 per cent on Saturdays and 13 per cent on Sundays. With the exception of 2016/17 where usage was broadly stable, there have been consistent declines in usage. The busiest point on route 55 is Hackney Road, Queensbridge Road towards Oxford Street in the morning peak, where 11.2 buses per hour are required to meet demand, 12 buses per hour are scheduled. Impact of change Our proposals provide a total of 21 buses per hour on Hackney Road. They would retain a bus service between Walthamstow Central and Shoreditch High Street, with adequate capacity. These proposals would releases stand space at Leyton Green for future network planning and resilience. If implemented, these proposals would realise a net savings of £2,662,000 per annum. 3 As a result of our proposals some customers would need to change bus, where previously their journey was direct. This will affect: Eighteen per cent, 4,000 trips on route 48 A total of 2,300 of the route 48 customers originate from north of Hackney Central Station and the remaining 1,700 originate between Hackney Town Hall and Cambridge Heath Station. Customers wishing to travel towards London Bridge would need to walk 200 metres along Shoreditch High Street and interchange using routes 35, 47 or 149. 2. Response to issues commonly raised Listed below are our responses to the key issues raised during the consultation for this group of routes. Where a route number has been included in the header of the issue it signifies that the comment relates to the indicated bus route. Where no route number is shown then either the comment encompasses all routes within the group or we were unable to determine if the comment was specific to a given route. The tables below outline the most common comments for these routes. For an issue to be included in this report it had to be raised by either 2% of the public or by a minimum of 20 people, whichever is lower. Where a new route alignment was suggested by the minimum number of people we have provided a response to that suggestion. Broken journeys Concern withdrawal of route will make it harder to access London Bridge (mobility issues) As a result of these proposals, some journeys that are currently completed on one bus will require customers to change bus in order to reach their destination. Following our consultation we are revising route 388 to run additionally between Liverpool Street and London Bridge from October 2019, replacing this section of route 48. This will enable an interchange for customers east of Hackney at the same stop in Mare Street between routes 55 and 388. Interchange will also be possible for customers in Hackney Road at the same stop in Bishopsgate between routes 26 and 388. These changes can be made at accessible stops with shelters (except for one stop in Bishopsgate, where we aim to provide a shelter if possible). Buses remain the most accessible form of public transport in London and our drivers will do as much as they can to assist people with mobility issues using our bus network. We will also review the online information available for journey planning so that 4 interchange information is clearly explained and highlights accessibility requirements. In addition, we will brief drivers on selected routes to expect more customers interchanging so they are able to provide information or assistance to customers who may require it. This includes details about alternative routes and interchange points. Concern withdrawal of route will make it harder to access the City (i.e. 48 Shoreditch, Liverpool Street, Fenchurch Street) As a result of these proposals, some journeys that are currently completed on one bus will require customers to change bus in order to reach their destination. Following our consultation we are revising route 388 to run additionally between Liverpool Street and London Bridge from October 2019, replacing this section of route 48. This will enable an interchange for customers east of Hackney at the same stop in Mare Street between routes 55 and 388. Interchange will also be possible for customers in Hackney Road at the same stop in Bishopsgate between routes 26 and 388. The Hopper fare means that there will be no additional cost for customers who need to change buses to complete their journey as long as it is within 60 minutes of starting their journey. All changes described above can be made within that time at one or more of the above locations. These changes can be made at accessible stops with shelters (except for one stop in Bishopsgate, where we aim to provide a shelter if possible). We will also review the online information available for journey planning so that interchange information is clearly explained and highlights accessibility requirements. In addition, we will brief drivers on selected routes to expect more customers interchanging so they are able to provide information or assistance to customers who may require it. This includes details about alternative routes and interchange points. Concern areas of Hackney with worse public transport coverage are disproportionately impacted by changes These changes were made where we found excess capacity in central and inner London. We will continue to monitor where capacity is needed on the bus network in Hackney and will address this when required. We are mitigating some of our proposals around Hackney. We are revising route 388 to replace some of the broken links resulting from route 48 no longer running, and to ensure interchange at the same stop for customers east of Hackney to and from the Liverpool Street and London Bridge areas. We will also increase the frequency of route 26, as described in the consultation. Additionally, we are not 5 reducing the frequency of route 242 as much as planned and we are introducing a new N242 service, extending route 242 to Tottenham Court Road at night.

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