Jenny Jones, is asking the Mayor of London why the
consultation on the articulated bus routes 38, 507 and 521 does not
include any information on the environmental impacts of replacing bendy
buses with larger numbers of conventional double and single decker
buses.
Transport for London have specified that the switch from
bendy buses to conventional buses on these three routes requires that
during the peak periods there will be a total of 24 more buses an hour
in the evening and 29 buses an hour in the morning. On routes 521 and
507, this means a bus every two minutes during the morning peak and
every 2-3 minutes in the evening peak. Transport for London accept that
boarding and alighting will take longer at the busiest stops.
Jenny Jones said:
"I’m
shocked by the fact that the mayor hasn’t considered the impact that
all these extra buses will have on air quality in London. I’m a big fan
of buses, but you can have too much of a good thing. A bus every two
minutes in the rush hour will guarantee that we have more bus jams,
more pollution and more frustrated drivers and passengers."
"The
London mayor can’t say that improving air quality in London is a top
priority and then spend twelve million pounds on a gimmicky idea which
will actually make things even worse for asthma sufferers and other
people with respiratory problems. The least the mayor can do is delay
getting rid of bendy buses until we can replace them all with hybrids,
but even this wouldn’t solve the additional problems of congestion."