1,889 killed or injured in accidents involving TfL buses

Transport for London has been urged to routinely publish the number of fatal and major accidents involving buses after figures published today show 1,889 people were killed or seriously injured in such incidents over the last five years.

The figures were released to the Conservative group on the London Assembly under the Freedom of Information Act and cover 2008/09–2012/13.

Their publication comes on the same day a woman was involved in a collision with a bus on Vauxhall Bridge Road.

Spokesperson Richard Tracey AM branded today’s figures “alarming” and urged TfL’s bosses to name and shame the worst performing bus companies and routes by publishing quarterly figures.

Mr Tracey said TfL had been unable to provide a borough by borough breakdown for incidents involving their own buses “despite persistent questioning for several months”.

A new report published today by the Conservative group says TfL should collate more detailed figures and routinely present them both to its own board and to the Assembly’s Transport Committee.

It also calls for an audit “to identify particular hot spots for accidents, to see if any further lessons can be learned.”

Commenting on the report, Mike Weston, TfL’s Director of Buses, said: “Any death or serious injury involving the bus network is deeply felt by us, and we do everything possible to minimise such incidents.”

Despite TfL’s assurances, the overall number of Londoners killed or seriously injured on the roads increased last year.

Last month Green Party AM Darren Johnson said the TfL board needed to ask “serious questions” about the increase.

Today he called on TfL to include safety requirements in its contracts with bus operators and for the Mayor to “commission a safety study which looks at where there are particular bus routes, or stretches of road that need to be made safer.”