Bus routes 112 and 611 Consultation Report April 2020 Contents Executive summary ..................................................................................................... 1 Background .............................................................................................................. 1 Consultation overview .............................................................................................. 1 Summary impact analysis ........................................................................................ 2 Key findings: ............................................................................................................ 2 Next steps ................................................................................................................ 3 1 Summary of consultation responses ................................................................... 4 1.1 Summary of responses to Question 1: Which of these buses do you use and how often do you use them?............................................................................. 4 1.2 Summary of responses to Question 2: How do you think the proposed changes to routes 112 and 611 would affect your journeys? ............................ 5 1.3 Summary of responses to Question 3: Which school do you or your family attend? ............................................................................................................. 7 1.4 Summary of response to question 4: Do you have any comments on the proposed new bus stops ................................................................................... 8 1.5 Summary of response to question 5: Do you have any other comments on the proposed changes to routes 112 or 611? ......................................................... 9 1.6 Summary of responses to question 6: Do you have any comments on our Equality Impact Assessment?.........................................................................10 1.7 Stakeholder responses ................................................................................... 11 1.8 Petitions or campaigns ................................................................................... 12 1.9 Response to issues raised ............................................................................. 13 2 About the consultation ........................................................................................ 15 2.1 Purpose ........................................................................................................ 15 2.2 Potential outcomes ....................................................................................... 15 2.3 Who we consulted ........................................................................................ 15 2.4 Dates and duration ………………………………………….……………..…….16 2.5 What we asked. ........................................................................................... .16 2.6 Methods of responding ................................................................................. 16 2.7 Consultation materials and publicity ............................................................. 16 2.8 Publicity and advertising………………………………………………………...17 2.9 Equalities Impact Assessment …………………………………………………17 2.10 Analysis of consultation responses ............................................................. 18 3 About the respondents ...................................................................................... 19 3.1 Volume of respondents ................................................................................ 19 3.2 How respondents heard about the consultation ........................................... 19 3.3 Who responded ............................................................................................ 20 3.4 Comments on the consultation process and material ................................... 22 4 Next steps ......................................................................................................... 24 4.1 Next steps .................................................................................................... 24 Appendix A: Stakeholder list ..................................................................................... 25 Appendix B: Stakeholder summaries ........................................................................ 33 Appendix C: Consultation notification and publicity materials ................................... 36 Executive summary This document explains the processes, responses and outcomes of the consultation on proposals to extend route 112 and withdraw route 611 to improve the areas served. Background Over the past ten years, there has been substantial growth on bus route 112. In the last five years, the number of passengers has increased by 50 per cent. With development plans at Stonebridge Park, Harrow Road and Brent Cross, passenger numbers are expected to increase further. Route 112 currently runs from Ealing Broadway to Brent Cross via Hanger Lane and Stonebridge Park. We set out proposals to extend route 112 from Brent Cross to North Finchley bus station via Henlys Corner. As the 112 extension would broadly parallel the 611 school route, we proposed to withdraw this route. The 611 runs one morning journey from Stonebridge Park station to East Finchley cemetery and one afternoon journey from East Finchley cemetery to Stonebridge Park with around 60 trips each way on a double deck bus. Our analysis showed that only one trip per school day would be broken, this is a passenger using stops on Regents Park Road. Consultation overview Between 11 September to 28 October 2019 we consulted on proposals for changes to bus routes 112 and 611 to improve the areas served. We received 231 responses to the questions in the consultation; 225 were from members of the public and 6 were from stakeholders. See tables below. Respondents Number Per cent Public 225 97% Stakeholders 6 3% Total 231 100% Table 1. Volume of consultation respondents Number Question Response 1 Which of these buses do you use and how often do you use 91% them? 2 How do you think the proposed changes to routes 112 and 611 90% would affect your journeys 3 Which school do you or your family attend? 63% 4 Do you have comments on the proposed new bus stops? 61% 5 Do you have any other comments on the proposed changes to 69% routes 112 or 611? 6 Do you have any comments on our Equality Impact 78% Assessment? Table 2. Consultation questions and response rate 1 Summary impact analysis • Just over half all respondents perceive it would prolong their journey time, over a third it would decrease or stay the same. The remainder didn’t know or it wasn’t applicable. • Over a third of respondents thought more interchanges would be required but over half of the respondents thought it would decrease or stay the same. The remainder didn’t know or it wasn’t applicable. • Just under half stated it would decrease levels of comfort and well over a third thought it would increase comfort levels or stay the same. The remainder didn’t know or it wasn’t applicable. • Just under a third of respondents stated it would decrease the frequency of the 112 service, nearly a half of the respondents perceive the proposals would increase the frequency of the service or stay the same. The remainder didn’t know or it wasn’t applicable. Petitions There were no petitions submitted as part of the consultation. Summary of response from those attending schools The majority of respondents who attended schools or had a family member attend a school were from Bishop Douglass Catholic School (61 per cent) and to a lesser degree 2 per cent stated they attended Christ’s College and the remainder (38 per cent) covered mainly a range of other schools in the area. Key findings: Main themes and insights provided by respondents included: • Supportive of 112 extension and it would mean less changing & waiting for buses • Against the withdrawal of the 611 bus service • Changes will be an inconvenience for school students • Safety concern for school children, crossing busy roads, waiting for buses • Health and safety concerns for children and others on busy roads • Concerns about congestion/ overcrowding on the bus • Changes will result in longer journeys for students • Larger buses are needed to match demand and would increase frequency Key issues and responses raised by stakeholders included: • Opposed to the withdrawal of the 611 route • Removing the 611 service would put more children at risk (collisions, accidents, pollution and violence). • Christ’s College and Bishop Douglass will be most affected by the changes • Support the extension of 112 bus route to North Finchley bus station as benefit to passengers. 2 • Suggest an increase in frequency and capacity on other routes to compensate withdrawal of 611 which passengers may be diverted to. More detailed analysis can be found in Sections 1.1 – 1.9 and Section 3 below. Next steps Following our analysis and consideration of all the consultation responses, we have decided to proceed with our proposals to extend the 112 route. We have also decided to withdraw route 611 route at the end of the summer term 2020 but will continue to monitor loadings and impact on routes 112 and 232. Suggestions were made about providing bus priority along the 112. TfL is investing in bus priority schemes and route 112 will be examined as part of this programme. A number of other service proposals were provided, including improving bus links to the Royal Free Hospital. TfL will consider these as part of the ongoing