Open letter to Heidi Alexander on the number 12 bus
This was a letter sent to Heidi Alexander, Deputy Mayor of London for Transport. The original letter is available here.
10th July 2019
Dear Heidi Alexander,
We are the elected councillors in East Dulwich and the Southwark Cabinet member responsible for transport. We are writing to ask you to reverse the cut to the Number 12 bus service. With no consultation, TfL has reduced its frequency by a third. This substantially weakens our transport links locally and across the capital.
As you are no doubt aware, the Number 12 bus takes passengers from East Dulwich all the way to Oxford Circus. Its route connects our residents to local town centres like Peckham, Camberwell, and Elephant and Castle. And it connects East Dulwich to key locations across London like Westminster, Trafalgar Square and Soho.
The Number 12 bus provides a valuable service to our residents at a much lower cost than the train. And it provides access to neighbourhoods poorly served by train stations, like the southern end of East Dulwich and the northern end of Camberwell. Moreover, it runs 24 hours a day so is particularly important for our residents who work nights and unsociable hours. We would oppose a reduction to the service in any circumstances.
But these are not just any circumstances – the circumstances are galling.
The reduction has been introduced as part of a raft of changes to bus routes and bus timetables. In most cases, the changes followed consultation. But not for the Number 12 bus. The first we heard of the cut was when the final decision was announced. There was no opportunity for residents or representatives to shape the decision and no evidence of an Equality Impact Assessment either. Last year when TfL cut the frequency of the RV1 bus they conceded that they should consult on future reductions in bus frequency. This promise has been broken with the Number 12.
We understand that the Tory Government’s savage cuts to the TfL grant have led to difficult decisions. But we do not see the justification for taking this decision without consultation. Please reverse the cut to the Number 12 bus.
Yours sincerely,
Cllr James McAsh - Goose Green
Cllr Victoria Olisa - Goose Green
Cllr Charlie Smith - Goose Green
Cllr Maggie Browning - Dulwich Hill
Cllr Jon Hartley - Dulwich Hill
Cllr Richard Livingstone - Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport and the Climate Emergency.