TfL has opened up a consultation to pedestrianise Oxford Street; the purpose of this article is to show the proposed changes to bus services serving Oxford Street.
From TfL consultations
In our last consultation in April 2017, we explained that our vision is to transform Oxford Street into the world’s best outdoor shopping experience and an unrivalled place to live, work and visit. We received nearly 12,000 responses. There was support, as well as some understandable concerns, and many respondents indicated the key issues they felt we should consider. We have listened very carefully to the issues raised and in the months since then we have discussed our vision with a large number of local residents groups, businesses and others to help us understand such issues in more detail. As a result, we have developed a set of detailed proposals for the transformation of the street and the entire surrounding district. We genuinely believe these proposals respond positively to the concerns raised by some and would enable us to deliver a significantly improved Oxford Street and the wider Oxford Street area for everyone.
Our vision is not simply to transform Oxford Street: the proposals we have developed are for the entire district. They would:
- Make it much easier to walk throughout the area
- Create beautiful, safe, accessible and inspiring public spaces full of life and spectacle to address some of the very serious and pressing issues of poor road safety and air quality in the Oxford Street area
- Support businesses to grow and respond to the district as it transforms and create new jobs
- Equally protect and enhance the quality of life for residents in the area
- Support the introduction of the Elizabeth line to the area
Our proposals represent one of the most significant investments in central London for many years. This is a once in a generation opportunity to transform a key area in central London.
For the first time ever we are substantially reducing the number of buses in the area. This has allowed us to bring forward these proposals.
Doing nothing to transform the Oxford Street district would mean that traffic and pedestrian congestion on Oxford Street and in the surrounding area would worsen. Transformation gives us an opportunity to address the very poor air quality in the area, and reduce the number of collisions on Oxford Street in which people are hurt. It would give us the opportunity to create a network of truly world-class and inspiring public spaces, in which businesses could thrive and grow. It would deliver investment for transformational improvements to the entire area.
Our proposals set out how we would improve the look and feel of the Oxford Street West district, and changes to how people could access and use the space. All of the proposals are intended to transform the way that the West End feels and functions for everybody. We have made no decisions on whether to proceed and we will not do so until you have had your say and we have had chance to consider the points you raise.
About our consultation
We propose to transform the district surrounding the section of Oxford Street from Orchard Street to Oxford Circus. For simplicity, we will refer to this section as ‘Oxford Street West’. Other sections of Oxford Street will be subject to transformation work in later phases.
The proposals for Oxford Street West have been developed in response to our previous consultation on the transformation of Oxford Street, which ran from April – June 2017 (details of which are available here). We have also continued to work with a range of local stakeholders, residents groups and business to refine the proposals and address the concerns raised.
We recognise that we are proposing a number of significant changes across a wide area, and that different people may be more interested in responding on some aspects in particular. We have organised this website into sections, each of which deals with how the changes we propose to make would affect particular uses and users, including residents, of the Oxford Street district. We would like to know if you support our proposals, and if you have any comments on any aspect of the changes we plan to make.
Our vision is also to transform the district including the eastern section of Oxford Street, from Oxford Circus to Tottenham Court Road (or ‘Oxford Street East’). We have made no assumptions about what changes should be proposed for Oxford Street East and will be developing specific proposals in the coming months. We plan to hold a separate consultation on the detail of these proposals in early Summer 2018 but are seeking your views about the principle of changes to this part of the district now. We believe that subject to consultation, these proposals could be in place by late 2019 or early 2020. We explain below what issues we will be considering as we develop these proposals. We would like to know if you think we should be considering any other issues.
We have provided a consultation questionnaire, although if you wish to reply in writing please do so to our postal or email address. Further details are below. The closing date for comments is Sunday 17 December.
Here’s the section where TfL is proposing changes to bus services.
Buses on and around Oxford Street West
TfL has made a number of changes to the West End bus network over the past few months, following a consultation which ran from late 2016 – early 2017.
There has already been a reduction of four bus routes down Oxford Street since 2017. In all, only nine bus routes now serve Oxford Street West during the day: these are routes 7, 10, 23, 94, 98, 113, 139, 159 and 390. Eleven night buses serve Oxford Street West: routes 10, 23, 94, 139, 159, 390, N7, N98, N113, N137 and N207.
Improvements to the fleet
Although not the subject of this consultation, we thought it would be useful to explain some of the steps TfL is taking to reduce noise and other harmful emissions from the London bus fleet.
TfL is making good progress in introducing around 3,000 Ultra Low Emission double-deck buses to central London. We plan to have completed introduction of these vehicles by 2019. By this time, all buses operating in central London will meet the latest ‘Euro VI’ standard in engine technology. These produce 95 per cent fewer harmful NOx emissions than the previous generation of buses. TfL will introduce a further 250 Zero Emission single-deck buses into central London by 2020.
These new buses will contribute to significantly improved air quality in the central London area, and are also much quieter than previous generations of buses. There is a commitment that those bus routes still operating in the Oxford Street district will be a priority for low emission vehicles.
Futher changes to buses using Oxford Street West
The graphic below shows which bus services currently use Oxford Street West, the destinations each route serves and how passengers can interchange between each service.
We have thought very carefully about what further changes could be made to the bus routes which currently serve Oxford Street West during the day and at night. We propose making a number of changes, as set out in the following table:
We have already consulted on a proposal to withdraw route 23 during the daytime between Aldwych and Paddington, and extend it to Lancaster Gate, with a night bus route N23 continuing to run between Westbourne Park and Aldwych (details are available here). The changes we propose to route 23 in the table above would replace these changes. This would give passengers in the Westbourne Park and Paddington areas a new connection to Knightsbridge. It would also reduce the amount of space required for buses to stand at Marble Arch.
The following graphic shows how these routes would serve Oxford Street West in future, including their new destinations and how passengers could interchange between them.
Each route would run via Wigmore Street and Henrietta Place 24 hours a day, as shown in the map below. Route 139 would run every eight minutes during the day and every 30 minutes at night in each direction. Route 390 would run up to every six minutes during the day and every 30 minutes at night.
The table below shows how frequently each route would run (in terms of the number of buses that would run in an hour) throughout the day and night during the week.
And this table below shows how frequently each route would run at the weekend.
The map below shows the route each service would take in the Wigmore Street area.
Having considered the issue very carefully, we propose that no night buses should operate on Oxford Street West. Routes 94, N113 and 159 would therefore terminate at Marble Arch 24 hours a day. Routes N7, N23, N98 and N137 would be diverted to follow the same route as they do during the day. Route N207 would run via Park Lane and Piccadilly to Trafalgar Square to retain connections to the West End. Routes 10 and 23 would be withdrawn and replaced by a new 24-hour route between Hammersmith and Westbourne Park as described above.
Impacts on passengers
For people wishing to access Oxford Street West directly, the changes we propose would mean that they will have to walk a short additional distance to and from their bus. Those people who travel beyond Oxford Street West may need to change buses to complete their journey, depending on where they are travelling to and from.
We aim to limit the extra distance people would need to walk by keeping the remaining routes and their stops as close to Oxford Street West as practical, hence buses will use Henrietta Place where possible. We are also looking to improve all of the connecting streets, widen footways, and introduce new pedestrian crossings to make these short trips as safe and convenient as possible.
The introduction of the Elizabeth line to central London at the end of 2018 will serve newly step-free stations at Bond Street and Tottenham Court Road, and will also help make Oxford Street and the surrounding area much more accessible.
TfL’s bus Hopper fare allows people using pay as you go on a bus to make a second bus journey for free within one hour of touching in on the first bus. TfL is also now testing new technology that will allow customers to take unlimited bus transfers within one hour, which is not possible with current system software. Provided this testing is successful, it is anticipated that customers will be able to benefit from the changes in early 2018.
We have given very careful thought to how we could help people access Oxford Street West in light of our proposals for local bus services. We explain what improvements we propose in the surrounding area in the following section ‘Improvements in the Oxford Street district’. The section ‘Impacts on accessibility’ describes what possible further steps we could take to assist people to access Oxford Street West.
Bus stops and stands
The changes we propose to bus services on Oxford Street West would mean that it is also necessary to change the location of some bus stops and stands.
All of the bus stops on Oxford Street would be closed and removed as result of the proposal to remove buses from Oxford Street West. We would introduce two new stops on Wigmore Street, close to the junction with Duke Street, which would become a key point of access to and from Oxford Street. We explained in the section ‘Walking on Oxford Street’ that we plan also to improve key side roads between Wigmore Street and Oxford Street, including James Street. We will introduce additional new stops in Henrietta Place, keeping routes close to Oxford St and to significant destination stores. We have reviewed the locations of stops in the Marble Arch area, and propose moving some stops in order to make it easier for people to interchange between routes if necessary, and additionally to reduce the distance to Oxford Street.
Bus stands are very important because they allow us to account for and minimise the effects of traffic congestion or other delays on bus services. We propose creating new bus stands at North Row and Park Lane in the Marble Arch area, and on Welbeck Street (south of Wigmore Street), Wimpole Street (south of Wigmore Street), Great Castle Street and Great Portland Street in the Oxford Circus area to accommodate those routes which we propose would terminate there in future.
The map below shows where buses would operate in the Oxford Street West district. We have prepared a pack of additional maps which provide further detail about our proposals.
You can read more about the consultation here and take part in the survey here. The consultation closes on 17th December 2017.
What they forgot to mention is the affected routes 10, 159 and 390 are served by the three-door two-staircase hybrid buses known as the New Routemaster.
As route 10 is currently served by New Routemasters and part of the proposal is to withdraw routes 10 and 23, it will be interesting to see if the route 10 New Routemaster batch will be withdrawn and sent to other operators as extra spares..... or maybe they could be transferred to the new proposed route? Let me know what you think in the comments section below.
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