I’ve responded to the Greater London authority request for inputs about their bus deliberations. Based on receive resident feedback and my own experiences using bus services:

1. Countdown.

I often don’t feel safe getting my smart phone out to check when buses are due. I find countdown really helpful. With modern technology I find it remarkable that Countdown displays are so antiquated and not universal.

Do you have research about how they or if they increase or change bus usage?

If you don’t then you should seek such research being initiated by TfL.

I would imagine mass producing such displays and using 4G data services would result in £500/bus stop for a 5 year period total cost of ownership – my day job is estimating and procuring telecoms and devices.

2. Changing Drivers.

Why does this occur in the middle of bus routes and take so very long?

I despair when it happens and I’ve never seen it take less than 3-5 minutes and often longer. This can mean the end to end journey time has large variability beyond traffic congestion and makes buses less attractive.

Could buses have a light if this is going to occur – I would often choose not to get on a bus indicating a change of driver was going to occur.

3. Bus Announcements.

We hear so many I’m now finding I’m tuning out from hearing them.

Can the announcements have different voices at different times or randomly. Something so they ‘re harder to tune out please. They’re also rather dull. A bit of variety would be welcome and could be fun.

4. Noise and Pollution

Great the bus fleet is gradually improving. But this need to accelerate. Night buses especially are often way too noisy for very quiet residential routes.

What changes and improvements do you think TfL buses need to make?