Nick wrote:
And I maintain the quality of the bus environment in Bexley (in terms of
broken bus shelters, vandalised and dirty buses) is very, very poor - way
below expectations, particularly given the amounts TfL have spent on the
network overall. Maybe someone other than Ken Livingstone would've directed
TfL and those who have appropriate power to improve the dreadful situation
in Bexley; presumably, therefore, he hasn't and doesn't care very much.
I can confirm that bus services in Bexley are appalling. Over three
years ago it was announced that route B14, which was quite unreliable,
was to increase in frequency to 3 buses per hour. But they never
actually made that change. Buses still only run every half hour, except
that they don't run to schedule because reliability has actually
DECLINED despite three changes of operator. I'd be surprised if it
wasn't the worst in London now.
But still the B14 was very useful for old people who can't walk very
far. Many people used it to get up a steep hill (Kimberley Drive) until
this year TfL changed the route so that it goes down the hill in both
directions!!!
Although I've returned to Australia, my grandmother still lives in
Sidcup. She's written many letters to TfL, and each time they reply -
but it's usually just standard replies, and always a complete lack of
action. After 6 months she contacted Travelwatch, and TfL sent her a
letter saying they're disappointed she felt the need to!
The fact that they removed the most useful part of the route suggests
they don't know what they're doing. The fact that they did it without
consulting residents shows they're out of touch. And the fact that after
6 weeks they've still not fixed the problem shows just how useless they
are.
I used to be in favour of extending bus regulation throughout the
country, but in order for it to work, the regulators have to be
competent. Now they demonstrate their incompetence in London, and there
doesh't seem to be anything anyone can do about it.
--
Aidan Stanger
http://www.bettercrossrail.co.uk