save the 73 by sam horley

Move over Doris Day. My life is idyllic. I smile as I greet the day, watch my cat happily squat amongst the daffodils in the garden, silent but for the noise of birdsong (and foxes at night). I skip to the bus stop, clamber aboard a big red London Bus, and head to work.

Yes, I am exaggerating, but life is really not bad. Like many Stokie-ites, I traded in a small place in Islington for a bigger place in N16 knowing I would evermore be reliant on the 73 bus. It would mean a longer journey to work, but no more sweaty, packed tubes...ever!
Now that is quality of life. The 73 can be infuriating, with endless roadworks on Essex Road and full buses sailing past while empty ones pootle the other way. But there’s usually another bus close behind. Nine times out of ten I get a seat and a comfortable, if lengthy, journey to work on an old Routemaster or new double-decker. 

By October, all these buses on route 73 will be replaced by (fewer) European Bendy Buses. TfL issued a press release in January informing us how much ‘more comfortable’ it would make our journeys. Bendies can take up to 135 people (including 85 standing). Double Deckers 77 (5 standing).

Am I missing something here? If there are fewer buses and only 45 seats, no one after the first two stops will get a seat during rush hour. And if you pack 85 people in self-same bus, make them stand for up to an hour, whilst hanging onto straps and poles, and send them down one of the bendiest routes in London, aren’t they going to get a little tossed about? TfL, mind if I ask how on earth you can suggest this is ‘more comfortable’?

TfL Buses serve up some impressive stats about faster loading and unloading due to three open doors and ‘pre-pay-ticketing’, making for a speedier journey time, minimal extra waiting time, better accessibility for disabled passengers, that the majority of 73 users are short-hop passengers who are happy to stand, and so on. How amusing they consider me a long-distance commuter as it takes me up to an hour to travel four miles.
However, what I do know from the constant barrage of emails I receive is that you think this is rubbish: they increase congestion by sheer length, they cause mobile roadblocks as drivers pile up behind them afraid to overtake, they are more dangerous to cyclists and motorbikes, they are packed with non-paying passengers abusing the open-doored system, they cause motion sickness, elderly passengers are getting knocked around, and you don’t want to stand anyway. 

A common question has been ‘How do you get two past each other in Church Street?’. 
Answer: all parking in Church Street will henceforth be banned.  While passengers will relish a faster journey to work (no more delays from buses having to navigate parked cars), it seems that many shop-owners are concerned that business will be affected in nonrush-hour periods by car users avoiding shopping/eating in Church Street altogether.

At a recent meeting, TfL Buses spokespeople, rather sweetly, did their best to make me believe (as they genuinely did), that all their research proves that we will love these buses once they are implemented. I told them I was prepared to admit I was wrong. All I was asking on behalf of the hundreds of people who had signed the petition against the buses was that the route be tested, during rush hour, for a two week period and passengers asked their views. If the majority of people approved the buses, I would go away and leave them alone. They said that was a great idea and they would put it forward. Silence.

Of course, recent fires on Bendy Buses have overshadowed this campaign but there is still no plan to cancel the conversion of route 73 to Bendy Buses once the rest are back on the road following checks and modifications.

Meanwhile, this particular Doris Day is wondering whether it’s time to consider moving from the Black Hills of N16 back to N1’s Windy City, as, let’s face it, an hour twice a day in the 73 saddle is bad enough, but an hour on the hoof in two cattle trucks attached by elastic is certainly not quality of life, no matter how much I love Stoke Newington.

The first-round petition to ‘Ban the Bendy Bus’ was handed to the London Assembly on 17 March, and was the only one to get a resounding ‘Hear hear!’ from the members. Whip crack away!

For more information on the buses and the campaign see www.savethe73.com