TfL have released more information on the replacements to the 507. As of Saturday, 25th July (edited – had August originally!) 2009. The note, which is available here as a PDF, says:
- Brand new two door single deck buses will replace the current bendy buses on route 507.
- Passengers will still need a valid ticket before boarding through either door.
- A more frequent service will run during Monday to Friday morning and evening peak hours. Buses will run about every three minutes.
- New service on Saturdays and Sundays. Buses will run every 15 minutes during the early morning and every 12 minutes throughout the day.
My thoughts, in the same order as above:
New buses are indeed going to be replacing, at non-zero cost, the perfectly decent and relatively new bendies.
One of the objections to bendies was fare evasion. You only had to touch in if you were using pay-as-you-go Oyster; people with passes didn’t have to at touch in at all. Only 1% of journeys, according to this TfL FOI request, were made using paper tickets. Because not everyone had to pass the driver – you could board at any door – it was impossible to verify except when an inspector was on board. It will be possible to board through either set of doors on the 12m replacements; that problem (which didn’t really exist, largely as they were used by commuters who have Travelcards anyway) isn’t solved.
The service will be more frequent; every three minutes instead of every five during morning and evening peaks. Mercedes-Benz Citaros carry up to 149 passengers (source). Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Darts have a maximum capacity of 61. At three minute intervals, the smaller buses would need a capacity a fraction over 89 to match the bendies. That is a reduction in capacity on busy routes, meaning more people queuing on Mepham Street at Waterloo and, more problematically, on Terminus Place at Victoria.
The new service on Saturdays and Sundays is to be welcomed. As I have previously said, the bus is principally used by commuters but it passes three housing estates, a couple of schools and goes through residential areas.
This represents very bad value for money: relatively new buses are going to be replaced and capacity is going to be reduced. As many people, including Dave Hill, Christian Wolmar, Adam ‘Tory Troll’ Bienkov, MayorWatch and BorisWatch have said, scrapping the bendies is a bit of a daft thing to do and suggests that Mayor Johnson didn’t know much about the diverse London transport situation (not that I claim to in any great detail) before running for this office and has either not bothered to learn since or has realised he is trapped into silly, headline-grabbing populist policies.
xD.