Our Ref: MH/1011/Stage1/General/Spring/0209
Consultation and Engagement Centre
Surface Transport Communications
Transport for London
11th Floor, Zone B2, Palestra
197 Blackfriars Road
London SE1 8NJ
11 February 2009
xxxxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx
Dear Stakeholder
2010/2011 - Spring bus service review programme – we need your input
Consultation
As you may know, Transport for London constantly reviews the structure and
performance of the London bus network. When undertaking this review work,
we positively encourage feedback from customers together with information on
local developments, customer research and survey data. We have an
extensive programme of liaison with stakeholders and a formal consultation
process which facilitates the understanding of the aspirations of our
stakeholders and customers and which we continue to develop.
We are keen to seek any initial comments additional to those you have shared
through our on-going liaison with you. I have sent this initial request for views
to:
• London
Boroughs
• London
TravelWatch
• London Assembly Members & London Members of Parliament
• Key stakeholder groups, including local interest groups, disability and other
interest groups
Our three stage consultation process is as follows:
•
Stage 1 – Represented by this letter which summarises the bus services
which are to be reviewed over the next six months.
•
Stage 2 – Consultation on more detailed proposals is triggered when our
initial plans have been developed.
•
Stage 3 – Consultation on the preferred option following negotiations with
the operators and/or tender award.
The bus routes listed are those with contract end dates between September
2010 and March 2011. Most routes operate under Quality Incentive Contracts
(QICs) where provision is made for an extension of two years if performance
meets or exceeds the required standard. Major review work is best scheduled
for the end of the initial five year contract. Where a route contact is extended
any changes recommended at the end of the 5 year stage have often only
been implemented for a short period by time of the 7 year stage review and so
there is generally no requirement for a further major review of these routes.
The routes which may be eligible for extension are shown in
bold on the table
that follows.
Stakeholder Input
We positively welcome comments that you may have following discussion or
representation from members of the public or a constituent, from members of
your committee (as appropriate) or your own observations. We would
particularly welcome information on any particular problems you may have
identified rather than a specific suggestion for extension or enhancement of an
individual route. This is because the best solution to a problem may be a
change to another route rather than the one being directly reviewed.
Suggestions might include:
• ideas which enhance social inclusion
• corridors or areas which might benefit from new or enhanced Sunday or
night services
• areas or corridors on which you feel increased frequency or larger vehicles
are needed to cater for demand
• identifying routes which you feel are unreliable
• ideas which improve integration with other transport modes or interchange
with other bus routes or improve access to major developments
I look forward to receiving your suggestions and will respond when we consult
again on more detailed proposals. Once we have input from stakeholders and
undertake the review work, proposals for change are evaluated to ensure that
those which are progressed represent value for money and that our finite
resources are fairly distributed across the capital. This means that although not
all suggestions made can be progressed, it is important that we have your
ideas in order to understand the differing priorities which stakeholder groups
may have.
Next Steps
I am asking you to return comments by
Friday 10 April 2009.
Responses can be sent by either post or e-mail to:
• Transport for London, Consultation and Engagement Centre, Surface
Transport Communications, 11th Floor, Zone B2, Palestra, 197
Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NJ
• xxxxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx
London TravelWatch
I’m sure most of you are aware that London TravelWatch is the official
watchdog representing the interests of transport users in an around the capital.
In the Autumn we passed copies of stakeholder responses to London
TravelWatch as we received them. This allowed them to comment strategically
on our review programme with the benefit of being aware of other
stakeholder’s comments and knowing the context. We will assume you are
happy for your comments to be passed to London TravelWatch for this review
unless you indicate specifically in your response that you do not wish for this to
happen. London TravelWatch is also happy to discuss any issues you may
have with the bus service review independently of TfL.
Please can I positively encourage you to engage with this process. If you feel
that conveying and expressing your views in a local forum (perhaps involving
local groups and/or adjoining boroughs) would be beneficial, we would be very
happy to discuss the best way of facilitating this. In addition please feel free to
pass this on to the other organisations or groups that may have an interest in
commenting. Alternatively, let us have their contact details and we will be
happy to contact them directly. If you have any further questions or require this
consultation material in an alternative format, do please let me know.
Yours sincerely
Peter Bradley
Head of Consultation and Engagement Centre
xxxxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx
Surface Transport
Transport for London