TfL Ref: FOI-0806-2425
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 8th June 2024 asking for bus occupancy data.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act And our information access policy.
Specifically you asked:
“I write to ask if TfL are able to provide the level of user demand, at peak times of use, on bus service numbers 47, 53, 177, 225, 453, N53 and N89. Ideally, the data would be provided in the form of onboard departure loads per bus, for each stop served by the requested routes, for each 15-minute period of the day.
I am also trying to find the capacity of the buses that service these routes. Please can you let me know if this information is available for review.
Finally, could you please provide data on bus users to and from the following stops between Monday April 22nd and Sunday April 28th 2024:
Deptford Bridge Station (Stop S)
Deptford Bridge Station (Stop T)
Deptford Bridge (Stop N)
Deptford Bridge (Stop P)
Deptford Bridge (Stop Y)
Deptford High Street (Stop E)
Friendly Street (Stop R)
Friendly Street (Stop Q)
Florence Road (Stop F)
Greenwich High Road/Blackheath Road (Stop W)
Greenwich High Road/Blackheath Road (Stop V)”.
I can confirm that we hold the information you require.
In regard to the first part of your request, as TfL is planning to publish bus occupancy and boarding / alighting data in the near future (for the entire bus network, broken down by route, stop and time of day), the information is exempt from disclosure at the current time under section 22 of the Freedom of Information Act, which can apply to information that is ‘due for future publication’.
Section 22 is a ‘qualified’ exemption, meaning we have to consider whether the greater public interest rests in the exemption applying and the information being withheld, or in releasing it now. We appreciate the need for openness and transparency in the running of our business, and the fact that you have requested the information is in itself an argument in favour of immediate release. However, we have to balance this against the need to make the most effective use of our resources, which come at a cost to the public purse. In this case, with the data planned for publication in the next 1-2 months anyway, we believe the greater public interest rests in the exemption applying, and the information being released according to the pre-determined schedule.
In regard to the second part of your request, the capacity of buses serving these routes is 87 for Double deck routes and 60 for Single Deck routes. All the routes listed are Double Deck with the exception of Route 225 which is specified as 60 capacity single decks.
In regard to the final element of the request, please see the spreadsheet attached (you may need to expand the width of some columns to read the data in full). Note that the data is based on Oyster Card and Contactless Payment Card transactions only – i.e. it does not include passengers using paper tickets or not validating their ticket when boarding.
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,
David Wells
FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London
