"Paul" wrote:

Details of associated bus diversion are on the TfL website.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/livetravel...nt=1081997_TfL

Is anyone else a little p****d off at this? Whilst trying to attract
more people to Oxford Street and Regent Street, they are diverting the
buses away, thus making it more difficult to get there, and
conseuqently making the tube more overcrowded than it already is.

I am just wondering whether the benefits of making Oxford Street car
free outweigh the disadvantages

FWIW this pre-Xmas car-free day [1] has been happening for several years. At
least all the Tube lines serving the West End will be operation on Saturday
(the Bakerloo closure between Queen's Park and E&C is on Sunday).

Generally speaking I can't get very worked up about it happening on just one
day a year, though I guess I hadn't entirely put two and two together to
connect this annual exercise to the wider push by Oxford Street traders to
reduce the number of buses going down 'their' street.

And looking at it from a wider perspective, I'd think the only way it's at
all remotely feasible to even begin contemplate pedestrianising Oxford
Street on a permanent basis would be if there was a tram that passed down
its length (or, I suppose, a - shock horror - uber frequent bendy bus type
shuttle arrangement, could even be a trolley bus). The knock-on consequences
of banishing all buses from Oxford Street would be immense though.

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[1] The West End VIP (Very Important Pedestrians) Day.