Request ID: FOI-2038-2425 Date published: 23 October 2024
You asked
I request information held by TfL on injuries and fatalities on London buses, further to the already available information.
Specifically, the following areas:
a) How many people were injured or killed in each month of the last three years (2021, 2022, 2023) after standing on the top deck of buses? Please distinguish between injuries and fatalities.
b) How many people were injured or killed in each month of the last three years (2021, 2022, 2023) after standing on the lower deck of buses? Please distinguish between injuries and fatalities.
We answered
Our Ref: FOI-2038-2425
Thank you for your request received on 27 September 2024 asking for information about injuries and fatalities incurred while travelling on a bus.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and our information access policy. I can confirm we do hold the information you require.
Unfortunately, to provide the information you have requested 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 a request 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. This is calculated at £25 per hour for every hour spent on the activities described.
We have estimated that it would cost over £450 to provide a response to your current request. This is because it is estimated that it would take in excess of 18 working hours to retrieve and compile the information you have requested.
We do not hold this data in a format we can report on. We would need to review thousands of incidents where passengers were injured in order to determine where they were on the bus at the time of the incident. In some instances this information may not have been recorded. In any cases that are identified, it is possible that we will need to seek further information from the relevant bus operator.
To help bring the cost of responding to your request within the £450 limit, you may wish to consider narrowing its scope so that we can more easily locate, retrieve and extract the information you are seeking. For example, you may wish to limit the timeframe or refine your request so that you just ask for information about fatalities. If you want to refine your request or make a FOI Act request in future, please bear in mind that the FOI Act allows you to request recorded information held by us. You should identify the information that you want as clearly and concisely as you can, specifying the types of document that you are looking for.
Although your request can take the form of a question, rather than a request for specific documents, we do not have to answer your question if it would require the creation of new information or the provision of a judgement, explanation, advice or opinion that was not already recorded at the time of your request.
Please note that we will not be taking further action until we receive your revised request.
In the meantime, if you have any queries or would like to discuss your request, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.
Yours sincerely
Gemma Jacob Senior FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
