On Sun, 13 Aug 2006 10:14:39 +0100, "Steve"
wrote:

Haveing jsut spent the best part of a Saturday (I know I shouldn't but
need's must) doing Oxford Street and witnessing the nightmare of buses and
traffic I have a posssible solution.

Causes of the problems.
Too many busses
Too many bus stops/laybys which despite busses pulling in, others can't
overtake and then the ones that do, block the ones that pulled in from
escaping.
Too many tourists not understanding 'pay before entry' and unable to read
the English only instructions on the roadside ticket machines.
Drivers telling passengers they can't take money, then waiting at the stop
while the passenger tries to figure out the machine.

My possible solution.
Trams have been talked about for years but too expensive to introduce.
Why not make the busses solve the very problems they are causing.
The street should be zoned off to Busses only, not cabs or bikes or anything
else, from Orchard Street (Selfridges) to TCR

I can't see this happening. TfL have a policy to encourage cycling while
Westminster and the local Traders Association would not wish to see
taxis curtailed. There is enough of an outcry over the alleged effects
of the congestion charge without adding to it.

The road should be single lane only in each direction, (this still leaves
space for emergency vehicles to pass in the now redundant road space).

It is already isn't it apart from the approach to Oxo Cir junction from
the west where a right turn lane is required for buses to Regent St.

All central islands should be removed.

I can see some merit in this but islands are only an issue between Oxo
and TCR. I can't think of any between Oxo and Selfridges following the
changes to the lights / pavements.

All traffic lights at roads crossing or joining OS should be phased
together.
All bus stops removed.
When buses enter OS they become part of a shuttle, travelling in single file
and not overtaking or needing to pull in.
All traffice lights crossing the street will turn red together stopping
movement on the whole of OS while traffic crosses. Meanwhile all the busses
will open doors and allow entry or egress to passengers at the same time.
Lights turn red/amber and doors close.
Lights turn green and all buses move at once at a dictated speed suggest 5
or 10mph
Lights turn red, all busses stop (off a junction).
Repeat

I don't get this at all. This would mean boarding and alighting points
varied by time of day and day of the week. It would cause chaos and
confusion and I doubt it would pass any sort of safety verification.

The extent to which traffic moved would be entirely dependent on the
volume of vehicles and also the cycle times at traffic lights. There is
also the issue that traffic light cycle times would surely have to be
somehow linked to the volume of bus passengers boarding and alighting.
How would the traffic lights know how many people wished to board and
alight from each bus? The added complication is that a fair proportion
of bus demand on Oxford St occurs from people decided to hop on board
when a bus is already at a stop.

Possibility perhaps of creating a terminus at Marble Arch and Centrepoint
for busses to turn, therefore reducing the number of busses on the streets.

Funny I thought there already were stopping areas at both of these
places. If not I'd be interested to know where the 1, 14, 134, 242, 159
and 30 all terminate.

Maybe also introducing JayWalking byelaws on the length of the zone except
when all busses are at a standstill allowing people to cross anywhere.

Pointless as it is unenforceable. Are we to have "plastic policemen"
acting like morons every metre of so along the length of Oxford St?
Surely they need to be protecting us from the imminent terrorist threat?
Half of London could explode at any given moment.

Remember half the people on the street appear to be Americans who are fully
aware of Jaywalking laws to the point they won't cross even when it's safe
to do so!

Not sure how you can readily identify half of the people as Americans.

Admittedly, this plan is a little rough round the edges and some tightening
up may be needed, but your comments would be most welcome.

This has been done before - there have been reports recommending huge
cuts to the bus network to make it happen. Oxford St cannot operate
properly without high volumes of public transport provision whether by
bus or by Tube - the Central Line closure showed that. There will
always be a part of the shopping crowd who want access to taxis so it
will be hard to ban them.

The few things I can think of are

a) Link together some bus services that were previously split - the
8 and 98 spring to mind. This might reduce the volume of buses still
needing to run along the street.

b) Review some service groups like the 10 and 390 to see if they
could be thinned out.

c) Divert some services from the West to run via Wigmore Street
where they terminate at Oxford Circus - 113, 137 and 189 spring to
mind.

d) Block off some of the side streets between Oxo and TCR. I
appreciate this will create some difficulties but it would reduce the
need for traffic light controlled junctions. Some of the remaining
junctions may need longer cycle times to allow the higher volumes of
traffic to pass through them without blocking all of Soho and Fitzrovia.

e) Have the same streetscape design between Oxo and TCR as there is
between Oxo and Marble Arch. This may improve pedestrian circulation a
little bit if coupled with the removal of central islands.

I still doubt that the above would create much of an improvement because
the high passenger volumes mean lots of buses are needed and there are
very long established routes which millions of people rely upon to get
to work and to the shops. If there was an easy solution it would have
been found by now.
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!