I would like to get a handle on whether bus drivers are using the new iBus announcements and whether they are making a difference for disabled people. The announcements in question are: "A customer needs the wheelchair priority area. Please make space." and, if necessary, “Customers are required to make space for a wheelchair user. This bus will wait while this happens." Please can you tell me when the new announcements were rolled out on buses? Does your system register each use of the iBus announcement so that you have usage stats? And stats for the announcement they replaced? If so, please provide usage rates for the two new announcements and the old announcement that's been replaced. Do you log instances of wheelchair users not being able to get on the bus due to occupation of the wheelchair space by non-disabled people? What metrics do have on this? I checked the Big Red Book to see if I could identify what stats are reported and compiled on such problems but I couldn't see anything. For some reason, pages 162-307 of the Big Red Book you released at https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transparency/freedom-of-information/foi-request-detail?referenceId=FOI-2272-1617 are missing, please explain? Please exercise your S16 obligation to provider me with advice and assistance as to what information you hold that may be of interest or use to me in this matter.

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TfL Ref: FOI-1223-1718

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 21 August 2017 asking for information about iBus announcements and the wheelchair space.

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

1a. Please can you tell me when the new announcements were rolled out on buses?

This was on 26 May, 2017, and a full list of the pre-recorded announcements available from that date is attached for reference.

1b. Does your system register each use of the iBus announcement so that you have usage stats? And stats for the announcement they replaced? If so, please provide usage rates for the two new announcements and the old announcement that's been replaced.

PERIODS	2	3	4
START	30/04/2017	28/05/2017	25/06/2017
END	27/05/2017	24/06/2017	24/07/2017
Announcement
a.) Can Passengers Please Clear The Wheelchair Priority Area	15,556	4	-
b.) Wheelchair space requested	-	7,176	13,969
c.) Wheelchair Priority space required	-	7,372	9,239
TOTAL	15,556	14,548	23,208

The table above shows the number of times the old iBus announcement was used in periods two and three (see a.) before it was phased out and replaced with the two more specific announcements (see b and c) that started from period three and were exclusively in use from period four. The relative newness of the system, drivers opting to play announcement c.) in the first instance or repeatedly is attributed as the possible reason for numbers of c.) announcements being higher than b.) in period three. However, from period four, the number of b.) announcements began to exceed c.), indicating passengers might be making way after the first request announcement and did not need the subsequent c.) message.

2. Do you log instances of wheelchair users not being able to get on the bus due to occupation of the wheelchair space by non-disabled people? What metrics do have on this?

In terms of customers contacting us, our customer services teams record comments and complaints about driver behaviour which can help us identify occasions where drivers do not ask passengers to vacate the wheelchair bay or refuse to admit a wheelchair user. We also can report on comments and complaints about passenger behaviour, although we cannot report on whether these mentioned the wheelchair space specifically.

We do not have a measure for collecting the number of journeys made by wheelchair users. We can generate rates as a proportion of 100,000 passenger journeys on the network but using such a large base figure against comments from wheelchair users would incorrectly suggest a rate of little statistical significance so we would look at absolute numbers instead. Please note that as part of the move to a new software system in May of this year, we introduced some changes to the reporting system which might also affect comparisons.

3. I checked the Big Red Book to see if I could identify what stats are reported and compiled on such problems but I couldn't see anything. For some reason, pages 162-307 of the Big Red Book you released at https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transparency/freedom-of-information/foi-request-detail?referenceId=FOI-2272-1617 are missing, please explain?

They are not missing. These pages are no longer included. In previous versions there was a Bus Service Guide (Travel Information) section listing routes that serve particular places in London and details of each London bus route. This section quickly gets out of date because of the number of changes that constantly occur on the network to reflect changes in travel patterns so it was removed. We are happy to provide this from a previous version if you would like to see this, however please be aware it would be around three years out of date and therefore not a contemporary record.

If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for some 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

Lee Hill

Senior FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

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