Andrew Dismore

Labour London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden Andrew Dismore has criticised the decision of Transport for London (TfL) to reduce the frequency of the C11 bus route between Brent Cross and Archway. Mr Dismore wrote to TfL asking for an explanation of the decision, and to urge them to reconsider.

In their response, TfL said:

‘Our review of the service on route C11 has shown that at the busiest point on the route (Swain’s Lane, travelling towards Archway in the morning peak) fewer than six buses an hour would be sufficient to accommodate the current levels of passenger usage. We are therefore looking to decrease the service to six buses per hour, to allow us to make better use of our resources by matching capacity to demand.

‘I can assure Mr Dismore there will be no other changes to the route and the C11 service will continue to serve the Royal Free Hospital. With a bus every 10 minutes, the route will still be classed as a high frequency bus service.’

Responding to the news, Mr Dismore said:

 ‘This is not good enough. Residents complain to me of crowded buses; a reduction in services will exacerbate this, and make the service less reliable. Given the rationale for not providing direct bus services between Finchley and the Royal Free Hospital is that the hopper fare makes the cost of using  two buses the same as  one journey, this makes a mockery of that decision.

‘TfL keep saying they match services to demand, but they don’t realise that reducing services undermines them; as services become less regular, users start to consider alternatives, further reducing demand. It is also unfair on those who still use these services. And if TfL are matching service to demand, where are the increased services? Given the woeful performance of the 13 bus, why aren’t they increasing services there?’

ENDS

Notes:

• Andrew Dismore is the Labour London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden