TfL to change New Routemaster boarding on all routes after successful pilot scheme on route 8 and N8

It has been revealed in a Freedom of Information request released by TfL that the aesthetic 3-door, 2-staircase hybrid bus known as the New Routemaster is undergoing changes to the boarding procedure, moving to front door entry only on all the routes served using these vehicles. 

Extracts from TfL FOI release on What Do They Know website

We are changing to front-door boarding to reduce the likelihood of customers coming on board without paying and reduce customer complaints about this issue. This will help reduce fare evasion which is currently more than double the rate on New Routemasters than elsewhere and is taking away revenue we need to invest in improving transport for everyone. There will also be accessibility benefits as wheelchairs will still be able to use the middle doors and will find it easier to access the priority space on boards. Our last estimates for fare evasion on NRMs indicated around £3.6 million is lost each year.

Early indications are that fare evasion has fallen sharply on route 8 and the night route N8.

We are still looking to roll out the change to the rest of our NRM fleet by early 2020 and we have recruited a senior Wrightbus engineer to assist with this programme. We are in discussions with Bamford Bus Company who have taken over Wrightbus to ensure we can continue with as little disruption as possible.

A small number of Bus News websites (including Coach & Bus week and Route One) have also reported on the FOI release in regards to the New Routemaster boarding changes.

A recent bus news update from LOTS said:

"After route 8 at Bow was treated, it is now confirmed that the entire fleet of LTs are being modified to discourage boarding other than at the front door."

The only benefit to the new boarding arrangement is the rear staircase and rear door to enable faster alighting for passengers using the service.

I do not know if the new NRM boarding arrangement has the same dwell times in comparison with the open boarding.

London Bus routes that are currently served using New Routemaster buses are:

3, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 19, 21, 24, 27, 38, 55, 59, 67, 68, 73, 76, 87, 91, 137, 148, 149, 159, 168, 176, 189, 211, 253, 254, 267, 390, 415 & 453.

East London Transit routes EL1, EL2 & EL3.

Night routes N3, N8, N9, N11, 12, N15, N16, N19, 24, N27, N38, N55, N73, 76, N87, 148, 149, 159, 176, 189, N253, 390, 453 & EL1.

If the NRM changeover to front door only boarding becomes successful, I believe this would give TfL an option to use a newer 3 door, 2 staircase bus in the future.

On the same FOI release, TfL has stated; "We have no plans to directly procure similar buses to the NRMs".

TfL has also stated on another FOI release:

There is no plan for a successor vehicle at this time but some manufacturers have taken some of the rounded design features from the vehicle and used them on their own makes and models.

As we know it’s the (two/one-door, one-staircase) Enviro400 City produced by Alexander Dennis - I’ll explain more about this in an upcoming article soon.

Bendy buses

During late 2011, TfL withdrew the bendy buses over the issue of tackling fare evasion and as part of Boris Johnson’s Mayoral priority (as the FOI release stated). There have been other issues such as the bendy buses catching fire and accident rates which have been released under Freedom of Information request.

Back in August 2017, the Greater London Assembly proposed reinstating bendy buses as part of increasing capacity and improving transport services.

In comparison to the New Routemaster buses in service, it will certainly be very controversial to remove them in mid-life service as TfL paid £346 million for 1,000 vehicles including design and development of the project. TfL stated (from another FOI request) they do not have plans to convert routes back to conventional buses. They also said they are planning for mid-life refurbishment of the NRMs which is expected to start in May 2020.

My conclusion

I’ve literally thought that the Mayor’s (Sadiq Khan) One Hour Hopper Fare would have reduced fare evasion on routes serving the open boarding New Routemasters?

If the bendy buses had remained in service in London, I believe TfL would have tried to change the boarding arrangement to front door only; I do not know if this would have been successful?

Therefore the 3-door open boarding arrangement for buses (bendy bus and New Routemaster) will remain a controversial and political issue in London.

Other services such as Trams, DLR, London Underground and National Rail (including London Overground and TfL Rail/Elizabeth Line) are prone to fare evasion, with or without ticket barriers at stations.

Other cities around the world have transport services with a proof of payment system and they are also prone to fare evasion.

Some examples are;

The SFMTA in San Francisco, California, United States of America and MTA’s Select Bus Services in New York City, New York, United States of America

I was going to keep adding to the above list and then I realised I published an article during 2017 about fare evasion on New Routemaster buses and proof of payment systems used in Europe and worldwide. You can read that article here.

I invite you to follow me on Twitter by searching for @CLondoner92

Image Attribution
By Darren Glanville from Acle, Norfolk, UK - New Routemaster, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35992868
By Gordon Joly - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56004043
By Arriva436 - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10736637
By Arriva436 - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10736561
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By Arriva436 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4447990
By Iwouldstay - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2798605
By Arriva436 - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11907324
By Arriva436 - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10736659
By Arriva436 - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10736736
By Arriva436 - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10736891
By Oxyman - Own work, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1882488
By Arriva436 - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10736826