Passengers on bus route 521 could find themselves having to wait longer to board a bus and stand during their journey when the current bendy buses are withdrawn from Tuesday (1st September).
The route is the second to replace the bendy buses with shorter, lower capacity, single deck vehicles. To make up for the loss of capacity more buses will need to operate on the route but even this won’t guarantee everyone a seat.
Using Transport for London’s own figures of 15 bendy buses per hour compared to 24 of the single deck buses per hour, seating capacity will fall from 735 seats per hour to just 504.
Kulveer Ranger, the Mayor of London’s Transport Advisor, said: “The Mayor was elected with a clear manifesto of getting the bendy buses off our streets and he’s delighted to see the second set of them leaving the Capital. Route 38 will be the next to lose bendy buses later this year, after which there will be just nine routes left to convert before the end of 2011.”
TfL officials say the choice of single deck vehicles was in part to allow the route to continue to use the Strand underpass. It’s understood that some converted routes, including route 38, will use double deck vehicles.
Speaking in July at the time of route 507’s conversion from bendy buses, London TravelWatch Chair Sharon Grant, said the passenger watchdog: “have yet to hear a credible reason for scrapping bendy buses, and we are unaware of any evidence that supports it. We do not believe it represents value for money for London’s travelling public, especially at a time when Transport for London (TfL) is short of funds.”
