Key information
Petition presented by: Valerie Shawcross
Date petition submitted: Tuesday 9 December 2014
Petition presented at: London Assembly Plenary
Summary of petition
“We the undersigned call upon the Mayor of London to increase the number of bus countdown indicators on Greyhound Lane and Streatham Vale. As the busiest station in Streatham, we believe that Streatham Common Station is under served in terms of information about onward bus travel. This is especially relevant to women and those travelling late at night when they have been advised not to get mobile phones out on leaving the station by the police”.
Response information
Name of person responding: The Mayor
Response date: Friday 30 January 2015
Thank you for the petition you presented to the London Assembly (Plenary) meeting on 9 December 2014 about bus arrival information on Greyhound Land and Streatham Vale, and at Streatham Common Station. I apologise for the delay in responding to you.
The successful completion of Transport for London’s (TfL) Countdown II on-street sign upgrade project in July 2012 delivered over 2,500 signs across London. This represents a significant increase from the original estate of around 1,900 signs. For the roll out, all existing Countdown I locations retained the service, while TfL introduced over 600 signs in new locations, agreed with the local boroughs, in sites that maximised benefits to customers.
Since then, the London boroughs have been offered the option of purchasing new signs where they can identify their own, or third-party, funding to support this aim. A review process, managed by TfL, ensures funds are targeted to bus stops that are accessible and include a shelter before they are considered for a sign. More than 30 externally-funded signs have been installed since the introduction of this review process and TfL has ongoing discussions with a number of boroughs for even more signs to be installed.
The Countdown II project also introduced many new ways to access live bus arrival information for all 19,000 bus stops. This includes through personal handsets on TfL’s website or using TfL’s SMS service, as well as through its open data policy, which has enabled hundreds of live travel information apps to be developed. TfL uses advances in technology to ensure more and more customers have access to this information.
‘Digital sign’ subscriptions have also enabled third-parties to display on-screen real-time bus arrival information free of charge at a range of locations, such as shopping centres, schools, libraries and health centres as well as other busy interchange locations. TfL is also working to develop a means of displaying real-time bus arrival information in bus stations. This is currently being trialled at a small number of selected locations and, if successful, could be rolled out across London.
I fully appreciate that your constituents would like to see Countdown signs at these locations. In light of the rapid changes in the way people are accessing this information, TfL has no funding allocated to increase the number of Countdown signs at stops. TfL remains happy to work with all London boroughs to install and connect new signs in locations where third-party funding can be found.
Thank you again for writing to me.