Forum Topic

Too Many Buses on W7, W13, W5  Uxbridge Road

How come I have a choice of six different buses I can catch when going to and from Hanwell and the centre of Ealing?Apart from Oxford Street this stretch of road might actually be the most 'over-bussed' section of road in the world.On Saturday at 2:00pm I drove from Sainsbury's car park in West Ealing to Ealing Lawn Tennis Club at Ealing Common. This took me over 30 minutes just to travel two miles. Approaching Lido Junction I fought with five double-decker Buses in a line as I tried to enter the single staight-on lane. None of the buses were full and two of them were quite empty.Reducing congestion of the Uxbridge Road in W7, W13 and W5?   Rationalise the number of different buses cluttering up the road.

Eric Alan Leach ● 4887d22 Comments

I agree about the tram. By now it would have been up and running had not a rather vocal and well organised anti tram lobby managed to get it cancelled. More and more flats are being built on the Uxbridge Road. Probably a large percetage of buyers will want to use a car.Nothing happened with all the alternatives to a tram suggested by the opposition eg dedicated bus lanes so while the tram scheme needed some modification we threw the baby out with the bath water.In the meantime I must admit I do enjoy a first class bus service on the E2 and E3 which I use daily. And the Picadilly line is excellent.

Keith Mason ● 4883d

It's not taxing it's the way they are marketed and sold. That is what should be banned. They are as much an accessory as that unwanted but must have child that gets foisted onto nanny as soon as possible. All part of marketing and advertising strategies.Livingstones TfL had a mix of great innovations all too often pushed aside by some stark raving mad ideas bearing the politics of spite rather than common sense and practicality.Ken should never have let the lunatic fringe into TfL in the way he did after his first few years. Replacing the fast flowing Routemasters was stupid without a versatile replacement. It was already well known that removing the type from key routes created congestion overnight.The disability hype only addressed wheelchair users but often at the expense of other disabilities which are far more numerous. It was ill concieved and pandered to a noisy but small group at the expense of many others.Only now is real progress evolving.The Boris era has seen TfL far less of a Stalinesque authority and much more broader minded with it integrating all forms of transport.No-one can deny it's a huge challenge, space is minimal and our climate makes some modes often impractical in such a fast moving intense city.But as long as services are maintained and quality improved to the highest standard I for one will continue to support it - even though I am a lifelong petrolhead!!

Michael Brandt ● 4884d

Jeeps already are heavily taxed.I remember the early eighties when the public transport drivers went on strike.Traffic has never flowed so freely as when relieved of the rolling roadblocks known as 'buses'.Thank god that the idiot Livingstone's 'filled-in' bus stops to further impair traffic flow nonsense has been rescinded.

Tony Colliver ● 4884d

@Michael. Totally agree.Jeeps are for army warfare or working on farms. Pompously buy one for city use and then they should be taxed heavily.When I left school bus travel was more classless than today and generally far better behaved. I used to sit behind the august Hardy Amies each day when going to work. I think he could have just about afforded a taxi or a Bentley.I also recall a bowler hatted gent who asked his young neighbour if he could inspect young neighbours tranny, which was deafening a very full bus load of passengers. Flattered the tranny was handed over, and immediately said gent hurled it out of the window. Today he probably would have been stabbed to death.

George Knox ● 4885d

Re  to and from Hanwell and the centre of Ealing?            xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  probably  Eric  the buses that go through that stretch will all be going to vastly different destinations, Golders Green , Acton, Shepherds Bush,Ealing Central, Boston Manor, Chiswick,, Brentford, Greenford , Southall, Uxbridge , and all of which have to use that stretch of the Uxbridge Road. One good thing about London is the bus service, magnificent. But the comment by another re the shortness of the non-bus lane nr the Northfields Junction is very true, far too short and a real clogger upper and traffic staller.

Tony Price ● 4885d

Less buses means more cars or bikes of both types.The congestion will be far worse.Thousands have made the change and generally we Londoners now use the car far less than we did.The yummy mummies and their oversized 4wds occupy more space than they should and this is the area that needs to really be addressed.Cars sharing for school runs which does exist amongst some parents but not amongst Ealing's 'exclusive' set AKA the Chiswick wannbees.The bus is better servicewise than it has been in decades although the comfort and quality standards of several types of bus is poor and positively third world compared to the comfort of the Routemaster era.The best thing Ken and Boris have managed is to make big moves forward in making public transport classless. Not an issue for the tube but the bus had been the poor relation for too long.Quality and keeping on top of undesirable behaviour is the key.

Michael Brandt ● 4885d

I sometimes have to completely empty my car in order to transport an exceptionally large amount of goods (it was boxes for a charity recently), should I return by public transport rather than drive my empty car back home?

Chris Bell ● 4885d

Actually, the part of the borrough that has the most bus routes in not, funny enough, the Uxbridge Road but Greenford Broadway. Hence the ever present congestion there both on the Greenford Road and on the Ruislip road East. The crossroad serving this junction is in desperate need to be looked at and re-designed. Of late, there is far too much death time between changes of traffic lights and roads at these junctions could do with been made wider, especially as pavements there are bigger than roads. At pick-time, traffic is backing all the way as far and behond Greenford Avenue if not on to the new roundabout of Argyle/Ruislip Road East. This makes the Uxbridge Road look like an easy ride.

Rosa Popham ● 4885d

Ealng's Bus network is pretty goodJust because several routes converge on to the Uxbridge road at some points is pure geography.Buses feed from north south and all points of the borough and beyond. They go to where people need to or want to go.The 65 links Ealing with the surrrey towns of the South west. 83 The suburbs of the north west. The 207 is one of londons busiest routes runs East west and the E routes criss cross the Ealing Borough towns.The tram is really just one route. It cannot deviate, overtake or stop at request stops all stops have to be built and would be fewer than bus stops.Bus routes would still need to be present and at a level to serve demand.The biggest problem is delivery vehicles blocking roadways. Not their fault they are part of the cogs of the economy, but to facilitate them is never properly factored into any scheme.

Michael Brandt ● 4886d

I am less bothered about the number of different route numbers than whether they are doing a useful job. I do not often need to go along the Uxbridge Road, but I had noticed that the "express" service hardly ever overtook the regular "stopping" service along the same route, it just followed on behind. The first bus to turn up for a while has to take more passengers, at almost every stop, so the lightly loaded bus that follows soon catchrs up.In my local area there are generally four per hour along each of two bus routes that I often use, and they almost always follow each other down the road, just not quite close enough to enable passengers to swap busses, followed by a long wait for the next pair.

Chris Bell ● 4886d

I had equipment to transport to my Ealing Common destination and impossible to have transported this stuff on the bus.It would have been reasonable then to take the car for this type of trip. Ok, I accept this.  Yet 8 out of 10 cars travelling down the Uxbridge Rd are not carrying an abnormal load of luggage, nor will there be more than one person sitting in it. People will always want to justify their car trips instead of saying that we should attempt to take public transport more.

Ben Owen ● 4886d

The last time I had to do some research it was clear from one of the Ealing Council documents that a very considerable number of people who live in the Borough use a vehicle for domestic and especially for business purposes or getting to and from work purposes.. So a Tram would have upset a huge number of people.Perhaps Eric had a worse journey than normal, and if he does it again he can always practise on the back doubles.In general I am in favour of a lot of buses on the Uxbridge Road and mighty glad the bendies have been eliminated. What I would strongly favour is for the buses to go further into London,  and more to go North and South. It was a fatal move to shut the bus stations. I want to see a new one beneath Ealing Common and possibly underneath Ealing Hospital or near the Iron Bridge.

George Knox ● 4886d

Does anyone other than car owner/usersever criticise the tram idea?  Seems to work very well where ever it has been installed.  And as pointed out, the mass plethora on the Uxbridge Road suggest a clear need for a better form of public transport.

Steve Charls ● 4886d

Driving through Richmond I noticed 17 different buses on a single bus stop about half a mile south of the station. Admittedly two were night buses, however, I do not think that the Uxbridge Road has the monopoly on multiple buses.

John Arthur Forest ● 4886d

Ben,I'm 68 and I can make rational decisions. I know I do it - but we shouldn't lecture people!!I had equipment to transport to my Ealing Common destination on Saturday and it would have been impossible to have transported this stuff on the bus with me!I have no problem with having an efficient bus service to Ealing Hospital for as long as the hospital exists. We will need new bus services for Ealing residents to access the nearest hospitals with surviving A&Es and maternity units.

Eric Alan Leach ● 4886d

Eric, We need to encourage people to leave the car behind on short journeys.  The average car journey in London is 4.5 miles - on a bus using the bus lane it would probably take a max of 20 mins so you would have probably been better off leaving the car at home for a tiny trip!The Uxbridge Rd serves Brentford Chiswick EALING HOSPITAL Hayes Golders Green Southall Uxbridge and Wembley. To help people leave cars at home and take the bus instead.But it is the hospital must be one of the key reasons to have so manys buses. How would we manage with Northwick Pk? No bus connections is your (correct) view from Ealing. You have a freedom pass to assist you to leave the car at home: use it!

Ben Owen ● 4886d

Is that such a bad thing for the real residents of the area? I am quite serious in saying this. I view most of Ealing Broadway and South Ealing as inhospitable and over-priced "No Go" areas with a few businesses that I need to go to. It is nothing like the "community" that used to underlie this area. The businesses are there to exploit passing trade.

John Arthur Forest ● 4886d

Well shops...There are examples in the UK (Sheffield perhaps) where the installation of tram only through a retail strip has resulted in the death of that retail strip.

Eric Alan Leach ● 4886d

You are absolutely right. The tram was a poorly thought out project. I have often wondered what effect making the Uxbridge Road "buses and cabs only" would have. Diverting all through traffic onto the A4 and A40 wouldn't harm anyone and it would solve so many issues in Southall, Ealing, and Acton too. The only people who would object would of course be the shops!

John Arthur Forest ● 4886d

At least the Tram was approaching the linear transport problem east/west with just one tram service!However the Tram service, as designed, would have caused horrendous car congestion on Singapore Road, Leeland Terrace and rat runs north and south of the W7,W13,W5 Uxbridge Road.

Eric Alan Leach ● 4886d

Eric, I think that the situation you encountered might well have been intended to be addressed by the West London tram.

John Arthur Forest ● 4886d

That bus lane is much to close to the traffic lights . Theres allways a queue of cars waiting to get in the 'straight on' lane. I have no idea who to complain to about this. I think when they put the, much needed, crossing in they could have widened the road a bit to make another shorter turn right only lane. Theres never that many turning right into northfields. As the pavement beside deans garden is very wide.

Marie Shelny ● 4887d