Can you tell me why, in my experience, ALL route 407 buses that show a destination of Whyteleafe terminate at the Maple Road bus stop and not the Whyteleafe & Upper Warlingham Stns bus stop as one would expect and as confirmed by @TfLBusAlerts (see attached screenshot)? Although inconvenient, I understand why buses are terminated short of their normal destination. What I don’t understand is why buses are terminated before their displayed destination. As I am sure you are aware, Whyteleafe & Upper Warlingham Stns has a shelter to get out of the weather, seating, local shops and alternative modes of travel available (train and mini-cab). The Maple Road bus stop has none of this. As can be seen from the attached conversation on Twitter, @TfLBusAlerts were able to confirm, by looking at GPS data, that this is an issue. Using this GPS data could you tell me, for the period that the route has been operated by the present operator, how many 407 buses have been terminated at Whyteleafe (as a total and percentage) and of these how many failed to stop at the Whyteleafe and Warlingham stop? As I understand it, operators are paid on a per mile basis. Can you tell me how many miles have been missed by the operator due to buses terminating early at Maple Road rather than running to Whyteleafe & Upper Warlingham Stns? Has to operator been paid for this missed mileage? If your data allows it could you also tell me the number of times buses finish at Maple Road when another 407 has just overtaken it (within two minutes or so) but the overtaking bus has failed to wait for the passengers who have alighted from the terminating bus? In my view, there is no reason why the other bus couldn’t wait for the passengers. I feel I am in this situation far too often. Can you give me TfL’s view on the issues raised well as the response from the operator?

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TfL Ref: FOI-3475-1819

Thank you for your email of 7^th March 2019 to our customer services team asking for information about the 407 bus route.

The specific requests for information in your email have been passed to TfL’s Freedom of Information (FOI) Case Management Team to consider in accordance with the requirements of the FOI Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold the information you require. You asked the following questions which fall within the scope of the FOI Act (the numbering is ours):

“(1) For the period that the route has been operated by the present operator, how many 407 buses have been terminated at Whyteleafe (as a total and percentage) and of these how many failed to stop at the Whyteleafe and Warlingham stop?;

(2) Can you tell me how many miles have been missed by the operator due to buses terminating early at Maple Road rather than running to Whyteleafe & Upper Warlingham Stns? Has the operator been paid for this missed mileage?

(3) If your data allows it could you also tell me the number of times buses finish at Maple Road when another 407 has just overtaken it (within two minutes or so) but the overtaking bus has failed to wait for the passengers who have alighted from the terminating bus?”

TfL only holds data as far back as March 2017. The following answers to your questions are therefore based on this period only, up until 8^th March 2019:

1) 51 trips terminated at Maple Road stop and did not serve Whyteleafe & Upper Warlingham Stations stop. This is 0.08% of 62041 scheduled trips.

2) The 51 trips terminated at Maple Road equates to 117 lost miles. Bus operators are not paid for lost mileage. There is an annual contract price and an annual scheduled mileage included in the route agreement. In the event the operator does not provide the full service, the payment they receive will be based on the actual level of service provided.

3) We do not hold the exact data you have requested. There were 9 instances of another bus being within 2 minutes prior to one bus terminating at Maple Road stop. There were 16 instances of another bus being within 2 minutes after one bus terminating at Maple Road stop.

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

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