D7 Bus Lighting

The request was successful.

Dear Transport for London,

My name is Alex Uhde and I have a question about the blue lighting on the D7 bus route. I believe from research that this lighting is intended to make it more difficult for injection drug users to find a vein to inject in. I'd like to know the answers to the following questions:

- Am I correct that the purpose of this lighting is to deter injection drug users?

If this is the case:

- What metrics have been studied to learn if this has been effective?
- Based on these metrics, has this been effective?
- What impact does TfL believe this has on drug abuse overall in London? That is to say, is there reason to believe any reduction in use isn't simply displaced to elsewhere?
- What impact does this have/is this expected to have on safety of drug users who may attempt to inject despite this lighting?
- What impact does this have/is this expected to have on the general public who may find it more difficult to see any hazardous litter left on a bus with such dim, blue lighting?

If this is not the case:

- What is the purpose of these lights?

In any case:

- What risk assessment has been done in relation to the installation of these lights? Please share this risk assessment.
- What discussion took place regarding the impact on accessibility this may have, especially to customers with visual impairments and neurodivergent customers?
- What, if any, plans are in place to expand this lighting elsewhere in the London bus network? If any, will there be a public comment period prior to its introduction?

Thank you very much in advance for this information!

Yours faithfully,

Alex Uhde

FOI, Transport for London

Dear Alex Uhde

 

Our Ref:         FOI-1319-2223

 

Thank you for your request received on 1 September 2022 asking for
information about the D7 bus lighting.

 

Your request will be processed in accordance with the requirements of the
Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.

 

A response will be sent to you by 28 September 2022. We publish a
substantial range of information on our website on subjects including
operational performance, contracts, expenditure, journey data, governance
and our financial performance. This includes data which is frequently
asked for in FOI requests or other public queries. Please check
[1]http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transpar... to see if this helps you.

 

We will publish anonymised versions of requests and responses on the
[2]www.tfl.gov.uk website. We will not publish your name and we will send
a copy of the response to you before it is published on our website.

 

In the meantime, if you would like to discuss this matter further, please
do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Gemma Jacob

Senior FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

 

[3][TfL request email]

 

 

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FOI, Transport for London

1 Attachment

Dear Alex Uhde

 

Our Ref:         FOI-1319-2223

 

Thank you for your request received on 1 September 2022 asking for
information about the D7 bus lighting.

 

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of
the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.

 

We do not hold the information you have requested. An audit of the London
bus contracted fleet is carried out once a year. The data provides
information such as the fleet size and average age by operator for
comparison with previous audits. This information is provided to us by the
bus operators. They do not provide information on lighting.

 

The choice of which model bus will operate a route is dependent on several
factors including the average ridership of the route and the vehicles
available to that operator. Bus operators can, and often do, move buses
between routes to maintain an effective service; any bus in their fleet
can be used on any of their routes.

 

Non-white lighting is a practice widely used in the bus industry to reduce
reflections in the windscreen for the driver to improve their visibility
in poor lighting conditions particularly at night time, whilst providing
sufficient lighting for customers as they board and alight services.

 

If you require further information please contact the relevant bus
operators whose details can be found on our website:
[1]https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/buses/who-runs-....

 

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to
appeal.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Gemma Jacob

Senior FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

 

[2][TfL request email]

 

 

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Hi Gemma,

Thank you for clarifying the purpose of this lighting, and who makes these decisions. Have a great day!

Cheers,

Alex Uhde