TfL Ref: 0644-1718

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 8 June 2017 asking for information about funding for bus route 251 over the last five years and also asking whether our data on bus running times which we provided to you previously is independently verified.

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 some of the information you require.  

You asked: One point which I would appreciate a more direct answer to is about the funding for the route. I understand that it is organised by a third party, but could you please clarify whether the funding has changed over the last 5 years.

Firstly we need to clarify that TfL do not fund the bus routes, TfL contract the routes out to bus operators.

The cost of a contract may change over time (the initial cost will depend on factors like the number of bidders, what bids are offered, and any changes we plan to make to the route).  For example the contract awarded in September 2016 was awarded to the operator who had previously won it (London United). Their bid for the route included using existing buses in the operator’s fleet, so we did not have to include the cost of new vehicles into this price. Another operator might have submitted a bid using newer buses with a higher cost, for example. Since we did not increase the frequency of the route for the new contract, some costs remained the same. However if you look at the difference between the contract cost in 2011 and 2015, you can see how the cost differs even without major changes:

https://tfl.gov.uk/forms/13796.aspx?btID=844

Route 251 - award announced 04 March 2011

https://tfl.gov.uk/forms/13796.aspx?btID=1303

Route 251 - award announced 04 December 2015

The cost of the tender would only change if we altered the length, frequency or vehicle capacity, none of which we have done

If you would like further information on the funding of a particular bus route, please contact the bus operator directly to enquire about the cost of running the service (i.e. percentage amounts given for staff, fuel, etc) as the only data we hold is the tender figure. Please note that the bus operator is not subject to FOI so may refuse a request for further information.

You also asked: Further to the email below, could you clarify the source of the figures you provided, and whether they are independently verified. 

The data provided was obtained through our Hyperion GPS tracking system, which is used by ourselves and the bus operator’s iBus team to track vehicles across the network. The figures are based on the GPS positioning of the bus and the data was compiled by our Performance Team.

It is worth noting that the figures we provided covered the average of journeys in the period we reviewed. It is entirely possible that road-works, or traffic incidents on a specific day will see the buses delayed beyond this average, whereas on other days within that hour services will be running exactly on time.

There is no independent verification beyond what exists in the system, which sees our Performance Team check the operator’s operational data. As there are contractual targets for route performance, if they fail to meet this we can and do take steps to address this (such as by working with them to solve a known issue or re-work a schedule that no longer provides sufficient time for the service to run reliably).

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