FOI request detail

bus route 240

Request ID: FOI-0794-1819
Date published: 23 July 2018

You asked

I recently noticed on this TfL document ( http://content.tfl.gov.uk/tfl-permanent-bus-changes.pdf ) that bus route 240 will face a frequency reduction from every 12 minutes to every 15 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes. Firstly, please could you tell me how TfL justifies this frequency change, as "to match demand" is quite vague, and send me any copies of email correspondence within TfL and with Barnet or Metroline, minutes from meetings, relevant documents etc. relating to this change to route 240. Also, could you please inform me of any upcoming planned diversions, changes of bus types, operators, timetable, or any structural changes etc. relating to routes 240, 292, 186, 605, 113, 221 and 251 for as far into the future as possible. In addition, could you tell me what improvements will be made to the Euro 4 Enviro 400 Metroline buses at Edgware Garage in order to get them up to ULEZ standards; will they be replaced or upgraded and when will this occur?

We answered

Our ref: FOI-0794-1819/GH

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 23 June 2018 asking for information about bus routes.

Your request has been considered under the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and our information access policy. I can confirm that we do hold the information you require.

Firstly, please could you tell me how TfL justifies this frequency change, as "to match demand" is quite vague, and send me any copies of email correspondence within TfL and with Barnet or Metroline, minutes from meetings, relevant documents etc. relating to this change to route 240.

From 7 July, we are changing the frequency from 5 to 4 buses per hour, (bph) Monday to Saturday daytimes.

Our area planner has advised that the usage data was analysed, and it was shown that at the busiest point on the route, at the busiest part of the day, 4 bph was sufficient to meet the level of demand required.

We have also made the public aware of this change on the permanent bus changes part of our website: http://content.tfl.gov.uk/tfl-permanent-bus-changes.pdf

However, to fully answer this part of your request would exceed the ‘appropriate limit’ of £450 set by the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.

Under section 12 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to comply with requests if we estimate that the cost of determining whether we hold the information, locating and retrieving it and extracting it from other information would exceed the appropriate limit. In this instance, we estimate that the time required to answer your request would exceed 18 hours which, at £25 per hour (the rate stipulated by the Regulations), exceeds the ‘appropriate limit’.

This is because you have asked for any emails within TfL relating to the changes to this bus route over an unspecified time period. Searching for any such emails which are held would result in a large number of emails which would all need to be retrieved and the manually read to see whether they were relevant to your request.

To help bring the cost of responding to your requests within the £450 limit, you may wish to consider refining your requests to concentrate on matters which are important to you.

Also, could you please inform me of any upcoming planned diversions, changes of bus types, operators, timetable, or any structural changes etc. relating to routes 240, 292, 186, 605, 113, 221 and 251 for as far into the future as possible.

To answer this question would also exceed the ‘appropriate limit’ of £450 as we would need to search a variety of locations and involve several different teams to search their records for any such changes which may have been discussed.

In addition, could you tell me what improvements will be made to the Euro 4 Enviro 400 Metroline buses at Edgware Garage in order to get them up to ULEZ standards; will they be replaced or upgraded and when will this occur?

Any double deck bus routes that will enter ULEZ will need to be hybrid Euro VI by spring 2019. If they do not enter ULEZ, they will still need to be raised to the Euro VI engine emission standard by 2020 in line with a series of air quality commitments in the Mayor’s Transport Strategy. This will involve buses being retrofitted or replaced at all garages including Edgware.

If you are not satisfied with this response please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.

Yours sincerely

Graham Hurt

FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

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