What length of bus lane has been lost to cycle infrastructure
Request ID: FOI-1511-2122 Date published: 02 November 2021
You asked
Follow-up to 1304-2122:
Thank you for this. I understand the issue. I have changed my request.
1.Could you please tell me what nett length of bus lane has been lost since 2015 prior to the pandemic.
2. How much was in the planning stage to be permanently lost pre-pandemic.
3 How much has been lost as part of TfL and the borough’s temporary plans post pandemic.
We answered
TfL Ref: 1511-2122
Thank you for your request received by us on 12 October 2021 asking for information about bus lanes infrastructure. Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.
In your previous FOI request (ref FOI-1304-2122), you asked the following – “What length of bus lane has been lost to cycle infrastructure: Could you please tell me what length of bus lane has been lost to cycle lanes by year since 2015 and how much is in the planning stage to be lost”.
In response to this request we advised that this information has not previously been collated and there is no quick or efficient way of doing so. Hence your request was refused under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act. Your current request (FOI-1511-2122) asks for the following:
1.what nett length of bus lane has been lost since 2015 prior to the pandemic.
2. How much was in the planning stage to be permanently lost pre-pandemic.
3 How much has been lost as part of TfL and the borough’s temporary plans post pandemic.
As you have asked for the same information you previous requested (and more) the aforementioned sourcing and reviewal of material still applies, we are therefore unable to fulfil your request within the cost-limit.
Under section 12, a public authority such as TfL is not obliged to provide information if it would cost more than £450 to determine if that information is held, and to then locate, retrieve or extract that information from elsewhere. These circumstances still apply because the only way for us to fulfil your current request would be to look at each individual bus lane record and try to calculate exactly where bus lanes have been lost. Again, this is a complex matter and would be complicated by the fact that in some cases bus lanes have been removed for cycle infrastructure but new ones put in elsewhere to replace them. In some instances for example, two bus lanes have been replaced with a long one; or because bus lanes have been shortened and split into two or three for cycle infrastructure. With approximately 1,200 bus lanes in our dataset, we believe that sourcing the necessary data would take well in excess of the 18 hour limit to respond.
To bring your request within the cost limit you may wish to narrow the area of interest, focussing on the information that is of most importance to you.
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
Jasmine Howard FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
