TravelWatch: Scrapping bendy buses ‘would increase costs’
Passenger watchdog London TravelWatch has said there’s “no case” for replacing the bendy buses serving routes 521, 507 and 38 and that doing so “represents poor value for money for bus users”.
Transport for London is proposing scrapping the controversial bendy buses and replacing with single and double-decker buses.
Chief Executive Janet Cooke said her body “believes that the use of articulated buses on routes with a high volume of passengers has overwhelming advantages, in terms of accessibility, manoeuvrability in limited road space and loading and dwell times.”
Cooke claimed that scrapping the bendy buses would increase operating costs commenting: “We have estimated, and TfL has not disputed the figure, that additional costs on these three routes alone could be in the region of £12/13 million pounds per annum.”
Correct me if I’m wrong – but I noticed the other day a positive feature of bendy buses which never seems to come up.
When these buses go round tight corners (which there are plenty in London), they manage to do it without mounting the kerb, the same cannot be said for double-decker and single decker buses.
Does TFL and the Mayor’s assesment into the costs include the cost of repair to our road edges and furniture?
…or as I suspect it’s a cost bourne by the local council – then this is conveniently omitted?
What concerns me is that removing bendy buses was one of Boris’s big election promises. Are we to conclude that his team did not research the true costs beforehand – or perhaps the great man will basically say anything to get elected?
I’ve heard of a Mandelson (the length of time it takes Peter Mandelson to start complaining about Gordon Brown) so how about a ‘Johnson’ – the length of time taken for a politician to back track on his election promises once reaching office.
I think 8 months is about right – you watch how many pre-election promises are buried over christmas..