Transport for London (TfL) is planning to change central London bus routes in an effort to reduce congestion and pollution on Oxford Street and to adjust the services before Crossrail trains start running along the Elizabeth line in 2018.
TfL says it plans to change “23 central London bus routes to better match bus services with demand from passengers” and “improve the reliability of a number of bus routes that currently get caught up in congestion along Oxford Street.”
Earlier this year the Mayor of London announced plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street and local residents fear that buses and taxis could be diverted along parallel streets instead.
While pedestrianisation is still on the agenda residents and businesses in Fitzrovia, Marylebone, Mayfair and Soho have been pressing the Mayor to reduce traffic rather than divert it through side streets.
TfL’s new proposals would see more bus routes starting and finishing at Park Lane, Trafalgar Square and Tottenham Court Road rather than moving at very low speed along Oxford Street.
“The Mayor is already working with City of Westminster to make Oxford Street more pedestrian friendly and the proposals for changes to bus services in central London are designed to start reducing the number of buses running along Oxford Street,” says TfL.
The bus routes affected by the proposed changes are: 3, 6, 8, 15, 22, 23, 25, 46, 73, 137, 172, 242, 332, 390, 425, 452, C2, N2, N3, N8, N15, N22 and N73. Consultation: Have your say on proposed changes to buses in Central London. The consultation closes on 29 January 2017.