Request ID: FOI-4119-2324 Date published: 08 March 2024
You asked
respectfully request full details under the provisions of The Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and The Freedom of Information Act 2000.
We request the following information with regard to Transport for London Bus route number 403 which runs between Croydon Bus Station and Sainsburys Warlingham, Surrey.
We are aware that the 403 bus frequently has to cut short its route by turning back at the following locations:
• Sanderstead roundabout
• Waitrose Sanderstead
• Warlingham Green
1. Is this due to traffic congestion along the route?
2. Is this due to traffic congestion leading to bus drivers approaching the legal time limit for hours driven?
3. Are records held as to how often and at what times these turn backs occur? If such records are held please forward a copy to us.
4. Would the increase in traffic caused by the building of 600 new homes in Warlingham have an effect on the reliability of the 403 bus service?
We answered
TfL Ref: 4119-2324
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 11 February 2024 asking for information about the 403 bus.
You asked for the following information with regard to Transport for London Bus route number 403 which runs between Croydon Bus Station and Sainsburys Warlingham, Surrey. We are aware that the 403 bus frequently has to cut short its route by turning back at the following locations:
Sanderstead roundabout
Waitrose Sanderstead
Warlingham Green
1. Is this due to traffic congestion along the route? 2. Is this due to traffic congestion leading to bus drivers approaching the legal time limit for hours driven? 3. Are records held as to how often and at what times these turn backs occur? If such records are held please forward a copy to us.
Without specific dates and times we are only able provide general comments as follows:
Looking at the route performance, the route generally performs well. There are some levels of traffic lost mileage which means the route has been curtailed due to traffic reasons. This could also be down to breaches in driver’s hours (noting it usually is for this reason) and also could be down to protecting the rest of the route (under the operator’s service control strategy).
Both TfL and the operators hold records regarding how often and at what times these turn back. The operators have more detailed information on why exactly the routes were turned and curtailed. We only have the information on how often and where.
We can say that in general in **period 11, the route lost 1.3% of its operated mileage to traffic. In *period 10 it was only 0.6%.
*Period 10 covered the days between (and including) Monday 11th December 2023 and Sunday 7th January 2024. **Period 11 subsequently covered the days between (also including) Monday 8th January and Sunday 4th February 2024.
4. Would the increase in traffic caused by the building of 600 new homes in Warlingham have an effect on the reliability of the 403 bus service?
TfL Spatial Planning responded to the Tandridge Local Plan Site Allocations which included a number of proposed housing sites in Warlingham in December 2016 with the comments set out below which were repeated when a full Local Plan consultation took place in September 2018. We have checked our records for planning application consultations from Tandridge District and we have not been consulted on any applications for individual housing sites in Warlingham so we are unable to comment on whether there would be an effect on the reliability of the 403 bus service.
Extract from TfL response to Tandridge Local Plan Site Allocations – 19/12/2016 and attached with TfL response to Tandridge Local Plan Regulation 19 consultation 10/9/2018
Although TfL has no comments to make on any of the site allocations in the consultation document, as a general principle, sites proposed for large-scale housing development should be easily connected to rail stations by foot, cycle and public transport. Any large-scale growth proposed in places without direct rail access will have to be carefully planned and supported by bus and cycle routes to the nearest stations in order to reduce new car trip generation. TfL would want to ensure that the site allocations took into account the need to minimise the impacts on the A22 or A23 road corridors within London. TfL would also welcome the opportunity to work with the council to explore options to improve bus services in the areas covered by TfL supported routes where large-scale development is proposed. This could include extending routes to serve new developments (subject to viability) and/or securing supporting bus infrastructure, such as stops and shelters and bus standing, in new development areas. Funding will obviously be a key issue and we would expect developers to fund such bus service enhancements through s106 agreements, for example by pump priming route extensions, and/or s278 agreements, for example provision of bus stops and shelters. Even in areas that have rail stations, the exact location of large-scale development will be important to consider, as will the subsequent ease of connecting to the local station. For large-scale employment uses, proximity to rail stations and other public transport will be important. Care should be taken in the provision of car parking to avoid encouraging additional trips on an already congested road network.
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
Sara Thomas FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
