78 bus

I walk as much as possible - except when carrying two heavy bags of shopping.

How I wish more people did write to TFL!

All of this talk of walking reminds me of an excellent web site called Walk It:

http://www.walkit.com/

which gives you a mapped out walking route which can either be 'direct', 'less pollution', etc. and tells you how many calories you'll burn, how long it will take and how much CO2 you've saved.

No connection, etc.

Sorry, I just want to rant about the 78!

Has anyone else noticed, particularly over the past few weeks, that about 3 out of every 5 journeys on the 78 have suddenly changed destination at around Aldgate and either stopped at Aldgate or at Liverpool Street.

Honestly, this is ridiculous!!!

It took me 4 buses and 1h 26mins to get to work today (normally takes about 45 mins and 2 buses).

Grrrrr... I've got a good mind to write a letter!! :o/

With regards to the 78 bus: I agree that there was a slight improvement on the route just after the last time Val Shawcross got involved, but since the beginning of this year it is as bad as it ever was.

I take the bus all the way up to Commercial Street, i.e. a couple of stops past Liverpool Street, and last week not a single bus went past Liverpool Street, they all terminated early in Aldgate or Liverpool Street.

My understanding is that the bus company is judged on how timely the bus runs, but not that the bus always runs to the end station. My assumption is then that they will be fined if they are not running the buses on time (i.e. with 10 minutes apart) but they are not fined if the buses are not running the whole route (i.e. terminating early so that they can turn around and be on the timetable). If this is indeed correct there is a fundamental flaw in how the bus service is judged, and we will soon end up with a very timely 78 bus route which is running every 10 minutes between Tower bridge and Aldgate...

Friday, I was waiting for the 78 on the bus stop Commercial Road just north of Liverpool Street, and just saw a 78 bus leaving about 5 minutes before I arrived to the bus stop. I then waited for 20 minutes until I saw that the next 78 was due another 20 minutes later. 45 minutes between buses? I am sure this is because there was no 78 buses running up to Shoreditch.

The other aspect that really winds me up is that the drivers never actually inform people that the destination has changed until they have arrived to the destination where they now terminate. Communication...

I am not even getting into the amount of overcrowding on the bus...

Val - please don't forget about the 78... we still need your fantastic work...

Many thanks

Jenny

Hi Jenny

We've been on to TfL today about the 78 as the contract is due for retendering and Val has been expecting news about whether they are going to take this opportunity to make changes to the route such as increasing frequency and using larger and newer vehicles as Val has requested.

TfL tell me that their proposals will be sent to us by the end of the week and we'll post them up as soon as we have them.

Regards

Fiona Colley
Researcher for Valerie Shawcross AM

Further to my previous post, TfL have written to Val Shawcross saying

Route 78 Shoreditch - Nunhead
We do not propose any changes to the structure or frequency of this route. However, the London Borough of Southwark has raised issues of crowding around the Old Kent Road and we will continue to monitor this. We are currently investigating the possibility of using double deck buses instead of the current single deck vehicles.

Comments and suggestions regarding these proposals should be received by Friday 19 March 2010 to STEngagement@tfl.gov.uk

Thanks for the info on the 78. But I noticed there is quite a lot of discussion about the C10 here. I commute on this bus every day from Drummond Road to Victoria Coach Station. I'm virtually guaranteed some kind of headache every day. I hear the familiar 'ringtone' of the driver's radio in Abbey Street, and IMMEDIATELY I know the driver is going to terminate early at Tate Britain - before the controller EVER says exactly that. To get home on Thursday, I waited for 25 minutes for the C10 at Vic C Stn, which is packed with people by the time it arrives, after only THE FIRST STOP, Victoria Station! The passengers couldn't get on at the Elephant Newington Causeway. The driver claimed the bus would be too heavy (and it was packed anyway). 10 minutes of stalemate as the would-be passenger complained and nobody got off, nobody was let on. Meanwhile the bus that should have showed up at the regular interval attempted to pass us on the right....

I've been trying to think of practical solutions but my understanding is for various practical 'it won't fit' reasons, no double-decker is allowed. This isn't easy, I know. Still, I was particularly annoyed when the high-vis jacketed person rode every single morning from 1-5 Feb, presumably to help evaluate the service, and lo and behold, a Drummond Rd to Victoria service showed up - which has never happened before in my 2 years of commuting on the service. There's a consistent bus from Drummond Rd to the Elephant - but NEVER all the way to Victoria Stn. Very disingenuous ...

Philpotts24 wrote:

How I wish more people did write to TFL!

Andrew Miles, TfL wrote to Cllr Bob Skelly recently re the number 78 bus route and I laughed at the first line!

"The scheduled level of service on route 78 generally provides sufficient capacity. However reliability has at times been poor and this was mainly caused by delays due to traffic congestion. To deal with this, a new schedule with extra operating resources was introduced in April 2009. Since then both the level of bus-km operated and waiting times have improved considerably. We are continuing to monitor this. A new operating contract will commence in 2011. The possibility of double-deck operation is being considered and we will be consulting stakeholders in the normal way. However, continued delivery of reliable operation will remain the principal means of delivering the required capacity"

I have written to Mr Miles and brought this message thread to his attention. If any other SE1'er would like to contact him & let him know their views, please feel free ...

Andrew Miles
Government Relationship Manager
Transport for London
Strategic Relationship Centre
Floor 11 - Zone B2, Palestra
197 Blackfriars Road
LONDON, SE1 8NJ

tel 020 3054 0153 / int 80153
mob 07738 140 788
e andrew.miles@tfl.gov.uk
w http://tfl.gov.uk

Gwynaethva wrote:

Sorry, I just want to rant about the 78!
Has anyone else noticed, particularly over the past few weeks, that about 3 out of every 5 journeys on the 78 have suddenly changed destination at around Aldgate and either stopped at Aldgate or at Liverpool Street.

This is happening yet again! My bus suddenly stopped at L. Street (without any prior warning) and then the next 78 to arrive was also stopping there!

Ridiculous! Grrrr

My experience has been that the 78 and 42 are still horribly overcrowded in the mornings and evenings, but that on one out of every five-seven journeys you'll magically get a bus that's not packed full. It does seem like I don't stand there waiting for a half hour without seeing any bus as often as I used to, but seeing three buses go past in ten minutes without stopping because they're packed to bursting with people instead of seeing one bus pass by without stopping doesn't really help me much. It's a bit more depressing, really, because that's three times I saw a bus in the distance I dared to dream was going to let me on. When you do get on, it's a nightmare inside. In the past two weeks I have seen three fights break out over people jostling and pushing at the door, no doubt trying to get on before the driver lets them know that's all the people he's going to take by slamming the heavy bus doors closed, separating the chosen, the rejected and the slightly smushed people in between. The occasional 42 double decker they are now running is a joyful sight. Just adding double deckers to the 78 route would help a lot, at least on the stretch of the route I use. Also employing fewer sadists to drive them.

Really obnoxious incidents I report here... http://www.tfl.gov.uk -> Help and contact -> I would like to: make a complaint