With reference to TfL’s confirmed changes to bus routes 110, 419, 493, H22 and H37 in Richmond, I should be grateful if you could supply me with the following information under a Freedom of Information request: • Notes and minutes of meetings relating to the decision to cut back routes 493 and H22 and reduce the frequency on route H37 • Any costs and benefits assessed in relation to the changes to routes 493, H22 and H37 • Details of any assessment done with regard to the impact of these changes, including specifically on the elderly and vulnerable passengers, including wheelchair users and push-chair users • The calculations which estimated that the increased waiting time of the reduced H37 service would be 45 seconds on average. • The assessment of the impact on demand of the proposed flats at the Homebase site near Manor Circus (increasing the number of people there by 800 – 1,000) • The assessment, if any, of the impact on access to St George’s Hospital, Queen Mary’s Hospital, Roehampton and West Middlesex Hospital for passengers starting their journey between Manor Circus and Richmond Town Centre • The estimate TfL have made of capacity for the 493 buses to park at the Richmond Bus Station I am hoping that, since all these decisions have been taken, this information will be readily available and should not involve excessive work.

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TfL Ref 0597-2021

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on10 July 2020 asking for information about changes to bus services in Richmond, Twickenham and Whitton.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.  I can confirm that we hold the information you require. You asked for:

With reference to TfL’s confirmed changes to bus routes 110, 419, 493, H22 and H37 in Richmond, I should be grateful if you could supply me with the following information under a Freedom of Information request:

• Notes and minutes of meetings relating to the decision to cut back routes 493 and H22 and reduce the frequency on route H37
• Any costs and benefits assessed in relation to the changes to routes 493, H22 and H37
• Details of any assessment done with regard to the impact of these changes, including specifically on the elderly and vulnerable passengers, including wheelchair users and push-chair users
• The calculations which estimated that the increased waiting time of the reduced H37 service would be 45 seconds on average.
• The assessment of the impact on demand of the proposed flats at the Homebase site near Manor Circus (increasing the number of people there by 800 – 1,000)
• The assessment, if any, of the impact on access to St George’s Hospital, Queen Mary’s Hospital, Roehampton and West Middlesex Hospital for passengers starting their journey between Manor Circus and Richmond Town Centre
• The estimate TfL have made of capacity for the 493 buses to park at the Richmond Bus Station

Please see the information provided below and attached. Please note that this is provided on the assumption of a ‘normal’ situation rather than the current social distancing measures currently reducing bus capacities.

1. and 2.

Please find attached the following relevant papers. 

• BSM 522 – original scheme
• BSM 569 – revised scheme
• BSM 580 – consultation outcome paper
• BSM 581 – consultation closeout paper

However, in accordance with the FOI Act, we are not obliged to supply the information you have requested as it is subject to a statutory exemption to the right of access to information under section 43(2). In this instance the section 43(2) exemption has been applied as disclosure of the commercial sensitive items of contractual information contained in these documents is likely to prejudice our commercial interests as it contains details of confirmed or actual costs and revenues for the routes in question. This information is shared only between a bus operator and TfL and to disclose these details would mean other competitive bus operators could access the cost basis of bids and gain a commercial advantage over another operator.

The use of this exemption is subject to an assessment of the public interest in relation to the disclosure of the information concerned. We recognise the need for openness and transparency by public authorities, particularly where the expenditure of public money is concerned, but in this instance the public interest in ensuring that we are able to obtain the best value for public money outweighs the general public interest in increasing transparency of our processes.

3. This information will be published in the Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) which will be published on the TfL consultation portal as an update to this page in the next four weeks: https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/buses/bus-changes-richmond/.

Therefore in accordance with the FOI Act, TfL is not obliged to supply you with the contract you have requested as it is subject to a statutory exemption to the right of access to information, under Section 22 of the Act. In this instance the exemption has been applied as the information you have requested is intended for future publication.

This exemption is subject to a public interest test, which requires us to assess whether the public interest in applying the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure. In this instance, it is considered that the public interest favours the publication of this information, in context and according to the pre-determined schedule, rather than in response to your request, to ensure the information is provided accurately and in an accessible manner.

4. We are reducing the frequency of the H37 service from 10 buses per hour (bph) (every 6 minutes) to 8 bph (every 7-8 minutes).  The scheduled increase in wait time is up to 1 minute and 30 seconds.  The increase in average wait time is estimated at 45 seconds.

5. The final proposed number of residential units for the Homebase site on Manor Road is 425-435. Forecast trip generation is 111 in the AM peak hour and 86 in the PM peak hour. With the changes to the 493, H22 and H37 there will still be approximately 37 buses per hour in each direction. The minimum capacity of each vehicle in this area is 55 passengers and many will be empty as they start/terminate at Manor Road or Manor Circus. With this information, we made a decision that the Manor Circus area would continue to be adequately served by the bus network with the changes to the 493, H22 and H37 implemented.

6. We have publicly disclosed information on broken links between Manor Circus and the hospitals Roehampton/Tooting on page 27 of the published consultation report which can be found on the consultation page - https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/buses/bus-changes-richmond/ .

Therefore in accordance with the FOI Act, TfL is not obliged to supply you with the contract you have requested as it is subject to a statutory exemption to the right of access to information, under Section 22 of the Act. In this instance the exemption has been applied as the information you have requested is intended for future publication.

This exemption is subject to a public interest test, which requires us to assess whether the public interest in applying the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure. In this instance, it is considered that the public interest favours the publication of this information, in context and according to the pre-determined schedule, rather than in response to your request, to ensure the information is provided accurately and in an accessible manner.

With respect connections between Manor Circus and West Middlesex Hospital, there isn’t a direct service at present. Route H37 will continue to provide a frequent service between Manor Circus and Isleworth War Memorial. Route H22 will provide an improved service between Isleworth War Memorial and the West Middlesex Hospital grounds every 12 minutes, compared with the current 110 which runs every 20 minutes. This will still be supported by the 481 which runs every 30-40 minutes.

7. Please find attached the last specification for the 391. Page 7 shows it is officially allocated two stand spaces at Richmond Bus Station.

Please note that in accordance with TfL’s obligations under Data Protection legislation some personal data has been removed, as required by section 40(2) of the FOI Act. This is because disclosure of this personal data would be a breach of the legislation, specifically the first principle which requires all processing of personal data to be fair and lawful. It would not be fair to disclose this personal information when the individuals have no expectation it would be disclosed and TfL has not satisfied one of the conditions which would make the processing ‘fair’.

The impact of current circumstances on TfL’s resources means we are not able to answer FOI requests readily and we ask that you please do not make a request to us at present.

Answering FOI requests will require the use of limited resources and the attention of staff who could be supporting other essential activity. In any event, please note that our response time will be affected by the current situation.

If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.

Yours sincerely

Sara Thomas

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

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