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Oxford Street congestion to be investigated

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The London Assembly’s transport committee is to investigate possible solutions to tackle the “chronic” congestion on Oxford Street, Regent Street and Bond Street, which collectively form the capital’s top retail destination with more than five million visitors a week.

Led by Victoria Borwick AM, the investigation will meet with key stakeholders, andconduct site visits to ascertain the likely likely effectiveness of current plans to reduce congestion on the streets and to consider if ay further measures are needed.

Launching the investigation, Borwick said: “The wall of metal that runs through Oxford Street is a nightmare for pedestrians and people trying to travel in and through this part of London.  As many as 187 buses alone travel through Oxford Street each hour during peak times so I am keen to investigate any way this might be reduced.  Oxford Street’s congestion is a problem recognised by retailers, Westminster council, Transport for London and the five million people who visit the Oxford Street area every week. 

“Traffic crawling bumper to bumper along these routes has become an all too familiar frustration for shoppers and people trying to make the most of this vibrant London landmark. Bus journey times from Marble Arch to Oxford Circus are reported to be as high as 20 minutes to cover just under three quarters of a mile.
 
”It’s time to take a serious look at the various proposals that have been put forward and identify the best ways to bring about a noticeable improvement.” 

Traffic levels in the area are likely to be affected by construction work on Crossrail, which could see parts of Oxford Street near Tottenham Court Road tube station closed for long periods.

Comments

  1. There is a bit of a bus wall along Oxford Street at times and Regent Street between Piccadilly and Oxford Circus can be painful. The new bus routings to avoid the TCR building works have improved things a bit at that end as less buses come get to the junction and have to do a left down Charing Cross Road. Sounds like this is a good idea.

  2. There is also a saftey issue here – I have ridden down Oxford street on my bike on many occassions and when passing stationary buses sometimes people walk between the small gap at the front of the bus and the back of the next one.
    – To be fair some astute bus drivers try to close this down so it’s not big enough to walk through.

    However the consequence is (and it’s happened to me before) is a pedestrian tries to cross in between buses and as a cyclist (or motorcyclist) you have no chance of stopping.

    This is further exasperated by the majority of pedestirans being tourists – who always look the wrong way as they are used to vehicles driving on the other side of the road!

    There is also the element of the ‘Indiana Jones’ game where as a cyclist you must get past the bus you are overtaking before the one in the other direction reaches you and crushes you!

    On top of this the road is wrecked by the buses – it’s got more dips in it than a sherbert dip with 4 lollies. These make it treacherous for pedestirans and 2 wheeled transport.

    They must pedestrianise the street – I know this would mean a lot of bus re-routing, but surely the benefits far outweigh the costs.
    However I suspect any analysis is suspect as it will not take into account the number of minor accidents that are not reported, nor the additional cost of repairing the road – or the benefit to trade.

  3. TfL were looking at the possibility of pedestrianising Oxford Street and running a Tram along it from Marble Arch to Tottenham Court Road. That was one of the schemes Boris stopped because of cost, but a lot of work has already been done on the idea.

    I hope the Committee will look at the idea of having a Trolley Bus or possibly a Guided Bus running along a pedestrianised Oxford Street. The modern Trolley Bus can be very like a Tram on rubber wheels without the rail tracks. If the overhead power fails it can continue under its own power. A Guided Bus is very similar but follows a precise route ‘painted’ on the road using sensors. Both are much cheaper and quicker to install and keep running than a Tram.

    Unfortunately TfL were, and probably still are, fixated with Trams and were never even willing to consider a Trolley Bus despite them being very successful in quite a few Continental Cities. I hope this Committee will be more Open Minded.

  4. Isn’t one of the problems that the pavement widens at certain points, so limiting Oxford Street to two lanes. This effectively means the buses can’t overtake each other but are stuck. This means longer journeys and more pollution.

    Regent Street has 4 lanes (2 each direction) so traffic flows reasonably quickly.

    What they should do is cut back the pavement so that Oxford Street has 4 lanes, and limit the number of bus stops and routes so that buses can overtake and aren’t stopping/starting the whole time. I know that sounds politically incorrect but the jutting out of the pavement that makes Oxford Street at times a 2 lane road just doesn’t work and makes the traffic situation a disaster.

    Making Oxford Street pedestrainised would just be too disruptive – how many buses can ‘go round the back’ exactly? It isn’t easy to just re-route so many bus links. Whilst i like walking myself, you can’t tear up a bus network (or delivery network of goods to shops along Oxford Street) for the sake of pedestrianisation.

    I agree Trolleybuses are the way foward; in fact London Transport introduced them to replace Trams. Trams are too costly and not the panacea they’re made out to be.

    But TfL like wasting our money on buses and high salaries so don’t hold your breath.

  5. I am delighted that Mrs Borwick will be leading this. I was very impressed by her during Conservative Mayoral Primaries. She always seem to have a real grasp of detail and an understanding of the concerns of ordinary Londoners.

    I wish her and her team every success with finding solutions for this very important challenge.

  6. Nick,

    “What they should do is cut back the pavement so that Oxford Street has 4 lanes”

    Are you mad?

    Have you seen the number of people on a busy shopping day on Oxford street? Even in a recession they completely fill the pavement.

    Thinning the pavements will only result in pedestrians wandering into the road – thereby making the situation more dangerous.

    I agree with the problem you raised that it’s not easy for buses to go ’round the back’ – but there are many alternative ways through London than Oxford street.

    How about making Marble Arch a major bus station, all buses from the West terminate at M.A. – from where an alternative frequent tram / trolley etc. can take them through to Holborn – where you can pick up another bus.

    There are very few trains which go straight through London (I can only think of City Thameslink) – and the same should apply to the buses. The Hub system operated at our major stations (Waterloo, Kings x, Euston, Paddington and Charing x) works very well – so why not adopt the same approach for buses?

  7. I agree that Oxford and Regents streets need to be pedestrianised, maybe with exceptions for early morning deliveries. But I am not sure of the need for a tram system to get people about. Neither road is that long, and with suitable bus terminals at Mable Arch, TCR and Piccadilly transport shouldn’t be an issue.

    Alot of the buses along Oxford street terminate at Oxford Circus, Mable Arch or Piccadilly already. So not too much change needed there.

    Also on the tram, the only firm idea I heard about was extending the West London Tram to TCR. But the West London tram was cancelled in 2007, well before Boris.

  8. Thanks for the ideas. We are asking everyone who uses Oxford Street to give us their ideas and experience – we will be having formal meetings with the department stores and retailers, as well as meetings with landlords, local councillors and a special residents meeting so that local residents who actually live here can have their say.

    Oxford Street, Regent Street and the surrounding area have been a traffic nightmare for some time and the wall of buses going down Oxford Street is pretty relentless, a point which has been made by many.

    Transport researchers also have several schemes and ideas that we shall be presenting and discussing with TfL to see if we can actually make this area less stressful, and a more pleasant experience to visit whilst helping the retailers in this important tourist area and revenue generator.

    If any of you would like to send representation on this research please send it to inga.staples-moon@london.gov.uk

    thanks
    Victoria

  9. At the risk of sounding like a zealot, if it’s felt that a tram would be too expensive for Marble Arch-Tottenham Court Road, the best option for a busy route where people make lots of short journeys would be a bendy bus.

  10. How about ditching all the buses as said times above. Make Marble Arch a terminal in the west, Euston in North, Holborn in East, and Picadilly in the South. Then instead of the road, just put conveyer belts like at Heathrow, which would make the walk quick, and with same rules as on escalators like stand on right and walk on left things.

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