On November 25th 2015 I did an article about the proposed changes to the East
London Transit services. The proposed changes have now been given a green light
and will occur on 19th March 2016.
Updated
19 February 2016
Between
November 2015 and January 2016 we consulted on proposed structural changes to
the route EL2 and frequency increases to routes EL1 and EL2. Over 430 people responded to our
consultation, and we have been carefully considering these responses since the
consultation closed on 18 January. Thank you to everyone who took part.
We
had a number of detailed responses, but generally most people supported both
the structural changes to the route of EL2 and the proposed increase in
frequency of buses for both routes.
Following
the consultation, we have decided to proceed with these changes as detailed in
the original proposals. The changes are planned to take effect from 19 March 2016.
In
conjunction with these changes we also plan to bring the bus stops on the new
section of route served by the EL2 up to East London Transit (ELT) standard by
February 2017
For
more detailed information on the consultation responses please download the
reports below.
Route EL2 will run
between Dagenham Dock station and Becontree Heath serving Barking Town Centre
and Longbridge Road as they no longer serve the section from Barking to Ilford
along Ilford Lane.
Also an increase of
bus services for route EL1 and EL2.
So let's have a quick
look at the issues raised document:
Re-routeing the EL2
will detrimentally affect existing users – e.g. passengers will no longer have
a direct bus journey and be required to pay twice
The
scheme would result in the loss of a direct bus route between Ilford/ Ilford
Lane and locations east of Renwick Road. Currently there are around 160 such
trips made between these locations on a typical weekday. This is about 1.5% of
all trips made on route EL2. However, as many responses to consultation
highlighted, we need to address crowding issues on route 5 along Longbridge
Road. On route 5 alone, there are around 16,700 trips made per day on the
section of Longbridge Road where the EL2 would be extended. For this reason, it
is considered appropriate to continue with the proposal to re-route the EL2.
We
understand that for those who would lose their direct bus journey, travel would
be more complicated and some users would need to change buses, walk further to
route EL1, and pay twice. However, the scheme does minimise the disruption to
these passengers as frequency increases on routes EL1 and EL2 would mean wait
times when changing buses would be reduced. In addition fares are currently capped after three bus journeys.
Since many transport
services around the world have a smartcard ticketing system, TFL can implement
a 1 hour transfer to enable people to transfer to another bus route without
paying within an allocated time. TFL have a similar system with Tramlink which covers one
transfer made between trams, or between trams and connecting bus routes 64,
130, 314, 353, 359, 433 and 464 which are made within 70 minutes of touching in
to pay as you go at the start of your journey.
Another issue raised
is: Concern over frequency and capacity
on Ilford Lane.
Routes
EL1, EL2 and 169 all serve Ilford Lane and together provide a bus every 3 minutes during the daytime. The
scheme consulted on results in a reduction to a bus every 3-4 minutes on Ilford Lane. Ilford Lane would therefore continue to
be a high frequency bus corridor. When initial responses received to the
consultation raised these concerns, a further survey was undertaken to identify
passenger demand on Ilford Lane. The survey results supported previous survey
data that show the proposed frequency of a bus every 3-4 minutes on Ilford Lane
would be sufficient to meet passenger
demand without causing crowding.
Also, with the
frequency change to the East London Transit routes we will see an increase in
the Peak Vehicle Requirement for routes EL1 and EL2.
It's worth noting that
the East London Transit has some
parts of the route which have segregated roadways which they want to be
classified as a Bus Rapid Transit system.
There have been proposals to have more East London Transit routes but as it
stands there are just two routes, but at least route EL2 is being extended from
Barking to Becontree Heath.
I briefly mentioned
the East London Transit proposals in my previous article.
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