Lewisham to see £10m from TfL for bus improvement work
Lewisham borough is to benefit from £10 million funding from Transport for London to improve bus services.
The funding is to be spread across four years, with neighbouring Southwark also set to see £10m along with Haringey.
The project is part of the “Better Bus Partnerships programme which aims to drive “infrastructure and operational interventions that will improve journey times, reliability and customer experience.”
It aims to cut journey ties by up to 30 per cent. Changes will see:
- new bus priority measures to improve journey times
- better management of roadworks to reduce delays to buses
- bus stop improvements to make them more pleasant places where it’s safer to wait and easier to change modes of transport
- street improvements to make it easier and safer to walk to bus stops and stations
Route corridors
No exact details have been released of specific projects though Lewisham have mentioned two corridors; Grove Park to Greenwich and Sydenham to Bromley and Southwark.
All boroughs were able to bid for funding with three chosen.
Councillor Louise Krupski, Lewisham Council’s Cabinet Member for Climate Action, Transport and Environment, said: “We are thrilled to receive this crucial funding support from Transport for London. We are committed to making bus travel quicker, easier and more reliable for everyone. Almost half of our households do not own a car, so buses are a lifeline for many residents, especially in the south of the borough where there are fewer train connections and higher levels of deprivation.
“This really is a gamechanger. It will allow us to improve bus priority on key routes and make changing between buses and other transport easier. This means people can get where they need to go faster and more comfortably. We’re focusing on two vital corridors – north to south through Grove Park to Greenwich and east to west through Sydenham towards Bromley and Southwark to ensure our bus network works well for everyone. We are upgrading bus stops, connecting better with stations and also improving walking and cycling routes where we can to make them safer and more pleasant, whilst reducing delays on roads.”
They could have put the money into the Catford bridge bottleneck. 20 years later still the same issue and TfL says there is no money to move the south circular. Bus get stuck there all the time
There is already a superloop from Grove Park via blackheath.
Most of Grove Park to Greenwich has a 20mph speed limit.
Difficult to speed up buses.
I agree with both of the above comments.
Howrve4, I do want to see bus stops made safer for passengers waiting at them..
What we really need to see from TFL arec bus service frequency improvements to i improve reliability and capacity on buses while reducing the amount of time passengers have to wait at bus stops for their bus to arrive.
Lewisham needs a bus stand similar to London Bridge where passengers can get a bus and stops are designated to various numbers and routes. The bus stand at Thurston Road is not open to passengers. The buses route round the station for onward journeys is backlogged and full of holdups. A decent bus stand at the back of the High Street would be ideal and there is space for it.
That is an excellent idea a new purpose built bus stand where passengers can board their buses at the stand for outbound journeys..
But I also do agree that bus setvice frequencies do need to be increased. Many routes have seen frequency cuts come in by TFL. The state temporary timetables with reduced frequencies for roadworks etc but when the roadworks are finished they make the reduced timetable permanent.
We have some of the most infrequent bus services in South East London compared to other areas of London. This needs to change along with improvements to bus stops shelters etc.
Reinstating the indicator boards at bus stops would be a good start. Most have gone in my area, so you have no idea how long you’ll have to wait for a bus. I don’t mind waiting, I’d just prefer to know how long I’ll be waiting for.
And even a bus shelter at Lewisham Station stop D (Lee / Blackheath directions) would be a start…
@CatfordCat: ‘… a bus shelter at Lewisham Station stop D … would be a start’. Agreed. It also needs a countdown to indicate when buses are due. The other two stops has a shelter and a countdown and I can’t understand why stop D doesn’t at least have a shelter.
I agree all bus stops with bus shelters should have tbe IBus indicator boards installed at least you would have some idea when the bus is due. In my areas many of the bus indicator boards have been removed whi h is really annoying.
I also agree TFL also need to be looking at improving the bus services so they are more frequent and reliable over the whole of the route.
@CDT: TfL seem to be rolling out more of these indicators. It used to be that they were moved from location to location, but I now have one at my stop along Burnt Ash Road, and there is another outside the Sainsbury’s at Lee Green as well as at the bus stop across the road for buses going towards Crystal Palace and Grove Park. These have been there for a few months now, so I think the plan is to provide more stops with indicator boards.