Consultation on possible changes to buses due to the removal of Aldgate Gyratory Consultation Report June 2014 1 2 Consultation on possible changes to buses due to the removal of Aldgate Gyratory Consultation Report 3 Contents 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 2 2 The consultation ............................................................................................................. 2 3 Responses from members of the public ......................................................................... 4 4 Responses from statutory bodies and other stakeholders ............................................ 13 Appendices Appendix A – Copy of the consultation booklet and stakeholder letter ............................... 14 Appendix B – Booklet distribution area ............................................................................... 22 Appendix C – List of stakeholders consulted ...................................................................... 24 1 1 Introduction We consulted stakeholders and the public about proposals affecting the bus network in the Aldgate area. The consultation was open from 24 February to 4 April 2014. The City of London proposed to remove the gyratory system around Aldgate. After their consultation closed they decided to implement their proposals from the summer of 2014. The scheme will see the southern section of Houndsditch between Duke’s Place and Minories pedestrianised. St Botolph Street, Minories and Aldgate High Street will become two-way. Mansell Street, the rest of Houndsditch and Duke’s Place will remain one-way. As a result of these changes it will be necessary to make changes to the bus network including changes to stopping arrangements. Routes 15/N15, 25, 40, 42, 67, 78, 100, 115, 135, 205/N205, 254, N253, N550 and N551 currently operate using the gyratory. Our proposals take into account the changes that will be made as a result of the removal of the gyratory. As the road network changes to accommodate the necessary works the bus routes will be subject to temporary changes. Implementation of the final scheme will not take place until 2017 when the works have been completed by the City of London. We have considered the views of the public and stakeholders and this document summarises responses to the consultation. 2 The consultation The consultation was designed to enable us to better understand the views of local residents, businesses and stakeholders with regards to the proposal. 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 live near to the proposed route, current users of the service and other potential users. 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 2 stakeholders we consulted is shown in Appendix C and a summary of their responses is given in Section 4. 2.3 Consultation material, distribution and publicity We produced a booklet outlining the proposal which was distributed to around 1,500 households and businesses in and around the Aldgate area. The booklet contained information about why we had developed the proposals and information informing people of the proposed routeings and bus stops of effected routes. A copy of the consultation material is shown in Appendix A and a map of the distribution area can be found in Appendix B. People were invited to respond to the consultation using a variety of methods. They could respond via the reply slip from the booklet using the freepost address, by emailing [email protected] and by accessing the online consultation where they could let us know their views. The booklet questionnaire asked six questions; What is your name? What is your email address? What is your organisation? How did you hear about this consultation? What is your postcode? Do you have any comments regarding the proposals for changes to the bus network around Aldgate? Braille, audio and large font versions of the consultation material were available, as was a translation service to other languages if requested. The online questionnaire asked 12 specific questions relating to the proposals (see paragraph 3.1 for specific questions). Eleven of the questions asked people if they supported, opposed, had no opinion or were not sure of the proposals. The remaining question gave people the opportunity to give us any other comments they have on the proposal. There was also a letter sent out to stakeholders outlining the proposal. This can be found in Appendix A. The consultation was also advertised via an email campaign which uses Oyster card data to target customers who have registered as users of chosen routes. 3 3 Responses from members of the public We received a total of 211 public responses. There were 209 responses via the website, one via email, and one via the return of the consultation booklet. Response type 220 200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Website Email Booklet Total Number of replies 209 1 1 211 % of total 99 0.5 0.5 100 4 3.1 Public consultation results Q1. What do you think of our proposal for routes 15 and N15? What do you think of our proposal for routes 15 and N15? 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 No Not Oppose Support Not sure Total opinion answered Number of replies 25 71 13 91 11 211 % of total 11.8 33.6 6.2 43.1 5.2 100 5 Q2. What do you think of our proposal for route 25? What do you think of our proposal for route 25? 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 No Not Oppose Support Not sure Total opinion answered Number of replies 25 71 13 91 11 211 % of total 11.8 33.6 6.2 43.1 5.2 100 Q3. What do you think of our proposal for route 40? What do you think of our proposal for route 40? 120 110 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 No Not Oppose Support Not sure Total opinion answered Number of replies 18 47 14 119 13 211 % of total 8.5 22.3 6.6 56.4 6.2 100 6 Q4. What do you think of our proposal for routes 42, 78 and 100? What do you think of our proposal for routes 42, 78 and 100? 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 No Not Oppose Support Not sure Total opinion answered Number of replies 19 67 16 93 16 211 % of total 9.0 31.8 7.6 44.1 7.6 100 Q5. What do you think of our proposal for routes 67? What do you think of our proposal for routes 67? 140 130 120 110 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 No Not Oppose Support Not sure Total opinion answered Number of replies 11 40 9 135 16 211 % of total 5.2 19.0 4.3 64.0 7.6 100 7 Q6. What do you think of our proposal for routes 115? What do you think of our proposal for routes 115? 110 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 No Not Oppose Support Not sure Total opinion answered Number of replies 21 52 9 108 21 211 % of total 10.0 24.6 4.3 51.2 10.0 100 Q7. What do you think of our proposal for routes 135? What do you think of our proposal for routes 135? 110 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 No Not Oppose Support Not sure Total opinion answered Number of replies 25 54 13 104 15 211 % of total 11.8 25.6 6.2 49.3 7.1 100 8 Q8. What do you think of our proposal for routes 205/N205? What do you think of our proposal for routes 205/N205? 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 No Not Oppose Support Not sure Total opinion answered Number of replies 22 84 10 80 15 211 % of total 10.4 39.8 4.7 37.9 7.1 100 Q9. What do you think of our proposal for routes 254 and N253? What do you think of our proposal for routes 254 and N253? 130 120 110 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 No Not Oppose Support Not sure Total opinion answered Number of replies 15 47 7 126 16 211 % of total 7.1 22.3 3.3 59.7 7.6 100 9 Q10. What do you think of our proposal for routes N550? What do you think of our proposal for routes N550? 140 130 120 110 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 No Not Oppose Support Not sure Total opinion answered Number of replies 8 44 13 131 15 211 % of total 3.8 20.9 6.2 62.1 7.1 100 Q11. What do you think of our proposal for routes N551? What do you think of our proposal for routes N551? 140 130 120 110 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 No Not Oppose Support Not sure Total opinion answered Number of replies 8 36 11 140 16 211 % of total 3.8 17.1 5.2 66.4 7.6 100 10 Q12.