Consultation on possible changes to bus routes 205 and N205 Consultation Report January 2015
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Consultation on possible changes to bus routes 205 and N205 Consultation Report
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Contents
1 Introduction ...... 2 2 The consultation ...... 2 3 Responses from members of the public ...... 3 4 Responses from statutory bodies and other stakeholders ...... 6
Appendices Appendix A – Copy of the consultation leaflet ...... 7 Appendix B – List of stakeholders consulted ...... 10
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1. Introduction Transport for London recently consulted stakeholders and the public about a proposal to permanently reroute routes 205 and N205 along Great Eastern Street and Bishopsgate. The consultation took place from 26 September to 7 November 2014.
Since July 2013, routes 205 and N205 have been on diversion between Old Street and Houndsditch along Great Eastern Street and Bishopsgate because of Crossrail works at Moorgate. The routes previously ran along the southern part of City Road and London Wall. The diversion gives useful links to Shoreditch and the north of the City of London. Weekday usage on the diverted section between Old Street Station and Houndsditch has risen compared to the previous routeing via Moorgate. We are therefore proposing to make the current diversion route permanent.
The proposal means that routes 205 and N205 would no longer serve City Road, Finsbury Square, Moorgate, South Place, Eldon Street, Blomfield Street, London Wall and Wormwood Street. About 800 passengers per weekday had their direct bus trips broken by the diversion, mostly to or from Moorgate or Finsbury Square. Route 214 will continue to link Finsbury Square with Angel and King’s Cross, and route 43 links Moorgate, Finsbury Square and Angel. Both these are 24-hour routes.
This report explains the background to the proposal, the consultation and summarises the responses. It will contribute to the decision on whether to go ahead with this proposed change or not.
2. The consultation The consultation was designed to enable TfL to understand local opinion about the proposed changes to routes 205 and N205.
The potential outcomes of the consultation are: We decide the consultation raises no issues that should prevent us from proceeding with the scheme as originally planned. We modify the scheme in response to issues raised in consultation. We abandon the scheme as a result of issues raised in the consultation.
2.1 Consultation objectives The objectives of the consultation were: To give stakeholders and the public easily-understandable information about the proposals and allow them to respond To understand the level of support or opposition for the change To understand any issues that might affect the proposal of which we were not previously aware To understand concerns and objections To allow respondents to make suggestions.
2.2 Who we consulted The consultation intended to seek the views of people who use the bus routes involved and those who might potentially use the service. We also consulted stakeholders including the affected Councils, traffic police, London TravelWatch, Members of Parliament, Assembly Members and local interest groups. A list of the stakeholders we consulted is shown in Appendix B and a summary of their responses is given in Section 4.
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2.3 Consultation material, distribution and publicity The consultation was published online. The dedicated webpage explained the background to the proposal. We invited people to respond by answering a number of questions and leaving comments. We raised awareness of the consultation by sending an email to approximately 14,000 registered Oyster Card holders who have used routes 205 and/or N205, and to key stakeholders. We also put up posters at bus stops served by the routes. Copies of the consultation materials are shown in Appendix A.
People were invited to respond to the consultation using a variety of methods. They could respond via our freepost address (FREEPOST TFL CONSULTATIONS), by emailing [email protected] or by accessing the online consultation where they could let us know their views.
3 Responses from members of the public We received a total of 643 responses. There were 639 responses via the website and four via email.
3.1 Public consultation results To help us understand more about who replied and their thoughts on the route and proposal, we asked a number of questions;
We asked respondents whether they currently use routes 205 and N205.
Do you use route 205? 650 600 550 500 450 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 Yes No Not answered Total Number of replies 606 22 15 643 % of total 94.3 3.4 2.3 100
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Do you use route N205? 400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0 Yes No Not answered Total Number of replies 347 284 12 643 % of total 53.9 44.2 1.9 100
Respondents were asked to give us their views on our proposals for routes 205 and N205.
Are you in favour of this proposal for route 205? 550
500
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0 Yes No No opinion Not answered Total Number of replies 510 115 10 8 643 % of total 79.3 17.9 1.6 1.2 100
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Are you in favour of this proposal for route N205? 450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0 Yes No No opinion Not answered Total Number of replies 404 76 155 8 643 % of total 62.8 11.8 24.1 1.3 100
3.2 Additional comments Respondents were given the opportunity to provide further comments about our proposal. Of the 643 responses, 317 provided comments. The tables below summarise the views and suggestions made. A separate document will respond to the main points raised by respondents.
Number of Comments and suggestions times raised Generally supportive This provides a useful bus link to Shoreditch 53 Moorgate/City Road are already adequately served by other routes 26 This will help ease congestion at Liverpool Street/Moorgate 3 Proposed route makes access to Liverpool Street station easier 2 Passengers who need to travel to Moorgate can use Tube/train 1
Generally against The proposal will mean less bus links to Moorgate/City Road 12 The route via Shoreditch takes longer than the old route via 5 Moorgate, particularly at peak times This proposal will increase congestion on Bishopsgate 4 Route 135 already provides an alternative to the proposed 205 route 3 This will mean there is no bus route from Moorgate towards 2 Whitechapel Holywell Lane is too narrow for buses 2 This will mean there is no direct bus link from Paddington to the City 1 5
N205 is already very busy. Rerouting via Shoreditch may make it 1 worse Proposed route makes access to Liverpool Street station more 1 difficult There are already a multitude of bus routes that go past Liverpool St 1 station and into the Shoreditch area Passengers wanting to go to Shoreditch can change at Old Street 1 The bus stops in Shoreditch are rarely used 1
Existing service/reliability Increase frequency of route 205 16 Can the 214 serve Liverpool Street station again? 6 Can route 214 be more frequent and/or have double deck buses? 5 Increase frequency of route N205 3 Install an additional bus stop on Bishopsgate outside the Heron 2 Tower Too many eastbound buses on route 205 terminate at 1 Aldgate/Whitechapel/Mile End
Routeing suggestions Run route 205 along Commercial Road to Aldgate instead of going 4 via Houndsditch and Bishopsgate Extend route 205 to Stratford 2 Keep the old routeing and provide a new bus route to serve Great 2 Eastern Street and Bishopsgate 205 should run via Shoreditch Town Hall instead of Great Eastern 1 Street. Change the route so that it only runs between Bow and City Road 1 If this proposal goes ahead route 135 could terminate at Aldgate or 1 Liverpool Street A bus link from Paddington/Kings Cross to Hackney Road or Bethnal 1 Green would be better Will the former 205 route be covered by another route? 1 Would like to have a direct bus route from Caledonian Road to 1 Liverpool street
4 Responses from statutory bodies and other stakeholders We received one response from stakeholders, shown below.
London Borough of Hackney Hackney Council welcomes this proposal.
The City of London and the London Boroughs of Islington and Tower Hamlets were also consulted, but did not respond.
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Appendix A – Copy of the consultation material
Bus Stop notice
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Email to Oyster Card holders We sent an email to registered oyster card holders who have specified they use either route 205 or N205. The email was issued to 14,314 people on 1 October 2014 and provided a link to our consultation page.
Respondents were asked to review our proposals on consultation webpage. Respondents were able to reply online. Details of the responses are set out in section 3
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Copy of the consultation webpage
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Appendix B – List of stakeholders consulted
London TravelWatch
Elected Members Caroline Pidgeon AM Darren Johnson AM Gareth Bacon AM Jenny Jones AM Murad Qureshi AM Nicky Gavron AM Andrew Boff AM Victoria Borwick AM Tom Copley AM Stephen Knight AM Fiona Twycross AM Joanne McCartney AM John Biggs AM
Jennette Arnold AM
Rushanara Ali MP
Meg Hillier MP
Mark Field MP
Cllr William Dove Bishopsgate ward Cllr Simon D'Olier Duckworth Bishopsgate ward Cllr Stanley Ginsburg Bishopsgate ward Cllr Wendy Hyde Bishopsgate ward Cllr Neil Redcliffe Bishopsgate ward Cllr Tom Sleigh Bishopsgate ward Cllr Patrick Streeter Bishopsgate ward Cllr Suluk Ahmed Spitalfields and Banglatown ward Cllr Gulam Robbani Spitalfields and Banglatown ward Cllr Troy Gallagher Bunhill ward Cllr Robert Khan Bunhill ward Cllr Claudia Webbe Bunhill ward Cllr Kam Adams Councillor, Hoxton East and Shoreditch ward Cllr Feryal Dimirci Hoxton East and Shoreditch ward Cllr Tom Ebbutt Hoxton East and Shoreditch ward
Local Authorities City of London London Borough of Hackney London Borough of Islington London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Police & Health Authorities Metropolitan Police City of London Police Hackney, Islington and Tower Hamlets Safer Transport Teams City, Hackney, Islington and Tower Hamlets Care Commissioning Groups (CCGs) 10
London Ambulance Service
Transport Groups AA Green Flag Group Association of British Drivers Motorcycle Action Group Association of Car Fleet Operators Motorcycle Industry Association British Motorcyclists Federation Road Haulage Association Freight Transport Association
Local Interest Groups Islington Transport Aware City of London Access Group
Other Stakeholders Action on Hearing Loss (formerly RNID) London Older People's Strategy Group Age Concern London MIND Age UK National Children's Bureau Asian Peoples Disabilities Alliance National Grid BT Port of London Authority Campaign for Better Transport RADAR London Access Forum Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Rank and Highways Representative for Unite CTC, The national cycling charity RNIB Disability Alliance Royal Mail Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Royal Parks Committee EDF Energy Sense Greater London Forum for the Elderly Sixty Plus Guide Dogs for the Blind Association Stroke Association Joint Committee on Mobility of Blind and Sustrans Partially Sighted People (JCMBPS) Joint Mobility Unit Sutton Centre for Voluntary Sector Living Streets Thames Water London Cycling Campaign The British Dyslexia Association London Fire and Emergency Planning
Authority
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