London buses - are we worse off?

[bushopper]

NC for this as transport related issues seem to get everyone agitated these days.

Do you think we are worse off with all the redesign and rationalisation of the bus network in London?

For instance, one used to be able to use the 11 bus to get from Fulham Broadway to Liverpool Street on a single £1.75 ticket. No need to change.

Now, to cover the same route, you would most likely need to take 3 buses, and even if you tried to access the 'one-hour' hopper fare, it's unlikely you could as the traffic makes it virtually impossible to cover the whole route in one hour.

Also those with walking difficulties or unwell usually suffer as connecting bus stops can sometimes be 100 metres or more away

In winter, bad weather or when carrying shopping or luggage it can be a nightmare too.

What has been the point of it all?

I don’t know what you’re talking about
do you have a link for more info?

No, I don't have a link, but many bus routes that I found handy in the past have been cut or buses permanently rerouted.

The 11 route was niche but took up to 2 hours

The route is as busy as ever, but travelling now is a nightmare with all the hopping on and off

Whoever bussed it from Fulham to Liverpool Street? It would have taken an age. District line to Monument and brisk it.

tfl.gov.uk/modes/buses/central-london-bus-changes#on-this-page-8

Most the changes.

When I lived in Streatham hill I'd use the 133 to get home from the city when working late. But as I now live and work elsewhere I can't complain at the change.

It was a popular tourist route as it did lots of the sites

The point is to save tfl money.

The thing is if the entire route takes over 90 minutes then it is likely to be cut.

Chippy Northerner here. London buses are cheap and the public transport is good, unlike everywhere else where its both expensive and shit. Be glad for what you've got.

I'm not affected by this particular route but it's a good point about the one hour limit for the hopper fare. One other disadvantage of having to switch buses is that on a long journey, parents with buggies can get on at the start of a route, and be fairly certain they can settle for the journey all the way to their destination (unless it's needed for a wheelchair). If you have to change buses multiple times, you never know if the second or third bus you need will have a buggy space free, especially if you get on in the middle of the route. It makes bus journeys that much more stressful (and potentially longer, as you could be waiting for a couple of buses to arrive with enough space). The same issue would affect wheelchair users, although at least they have priority in theory.

I know we have more than most in London, but still struggle. I can't imagine what it must be in other parts of the country

I usually do part of the route and it still takes me more than an hour plus the time I need to go from one bus stop to the next

TfL were probably required to redesign to make savings after they were bailed out.

I can't imagine what it must be in other parts of the country

Absolutely dire, usually!

Presumably you've started this thread as you didn't get the support on your other thread here ?

Pros and cons really - before the hopper fare you saved if it was one journey, but lost out if you had to change buses & pay two fares.
I think the new system is fairer

They did a massive bus consultation after doing a few smaller ones.

As my DD, who is under 5 likes, taking buses I completed them for the random routes we take.

They decided not to cut those but have cut the frequency of the ones more close to home instead. I can drive those routes due to when we use them, but other people like school children, college/university students and workers can't.

No, it wasn't me

Public transport in London is fantastic. I live in the northwest in a sizeable town but with poor facilities. To next town is eight miles away and is where the closest hospital is. If you want to get there by public transport you have to use the bus which runs every two hours and costs £3.50 for a return.

When I go to the caravan in mid Wales the bus is every 2 hours and about 3 a day, no sunday service and there's one bus into the big town that's one bus a WEEK !!! Count yourself very lucky.

Well, to get to our local hospital I have to take two buses, takes about 90 minutes (would be 30 by car). One bus an hour but not till after 9 as they use all the buses as dedicated school buses before then. And it's two bus companies, so 2 separate fares, around £12 in total for return tickets. If I have to take a child, they're half price.

And I'm lucky to be on a main route, the next village over gets 3 buses a week.

I know we are very fortunate in London compared to other places. Services should definitely improve in other areas too.

I think what gets to me is that there's so much emphasis in getting everyone to use public transport while it's being reduced and made more and more inconvenient

While it's true that bus services outside of London are fucking appalling, that's no argument for bus services inside London to be made more difficult/expensive. We should be levelling up, not down, plus surely it's in all of our interests for our cities to have decent responsive public transport systems that lessen the need for cars with all the public health/environmental concerns that car use brings.

I am old enough to remember when Red Ken introduced the 60p bus fare + congestion charge. I sailed into work that morning atop a double decker that actually moved fast, all along the red route, knowing that I could do my commute for a fiver and if I missed one another would be along genuinely soon. It was ground breaking stuff. Everyone used buses, even people who hadn't been on one in years. Why wouldn't they, when things were working so well? That's the kind of thinking that we need both in London and across the UK.

*that is, a fiver a week, into the city and back.

I used to get the 11 bus home if I'd been working in Victoria/Pimlico. I could do a decent shop in the big Sainsbury's and be back to the City in forty minutes or so - I haven't caught it since it rerouted to Waterloo.

The 73 used to be handy for getting to Victoria from Kings Cross before they cut it short, and the 521 to London Bridge got dumped altogether. I realise we're still very well served, but I don't particularly like getting the tube and I wish they'd leave the routes alone even if the buses had to be slightly less often.