Tooting residents staged a public demonstration on Saturday 3 May to protest Transport for London’s (TfL) operational changes to the G1 bus service.
TfL’s changes mean reduced daytime frequencies on the route, where buses will now run every 20 minutes instead of every 15 minutes until 7pm Monday to Saturday.
Residents gathered on Clairview Road in Tooting to share their concerns about reductions to the popular service, which runs between Streatham and Clapham Junction via places including St George’s Hospital and Furzedown.
Resident Dr Bob Broad said: “This bus provides a lifeline for those patients and relatives going to and from St George’s Hospital, as well as for local school children, families, carers and those with mobility issues.
“When people need to get to a school or hospital they need to be able to trust their local bus service will be frequent and reliable.
“Only this week I was told of a carer who had to pay for an Uber to get to her patient on time because the G1 bus was delayed, and this was before the service was reduced.”
Resident Radha D’Souza added: “Elderly and less-abled people, school children, and people without cars like myself rely on G1 to go to hospitals, for grocery shopping, National Rail services, tube stations and much else.
“Existing services are inadequate. To reduce it further, and without consultation at that, is simply not acceptable.”
Another resident, who preferred to remain anonymous, said: “Like many others, I rely on the G1 to get to and from St George’s for regular cancer treatment.
“Less frequent buses will mean more crowded buses, or even buses being full.
“Both scenarios are very bad news for those of us needing to travel to hospital frequently.”
The G1 will also be rerouted back to the Springfield University Hospital site following the completion of works.
Buses will run in both directions from Burntwood Lane via Springfield Drive, Lapidge Drive and Bicknell Way back to Springfield Drive serving bus stop Y in both directions before heading back to Burntwood Lane via Springfield Drive.
A TfL spokesperson said: “We continuously review services to ensure they reflect customer demand and offer value for money.
“As part of this work, we have also identified that we are running more buses on route G1 than is required to meet current and expected demand at certain times.
“We will keep the changes under close review to ensure demand continues to be met.
“The flexible nature of the bus network means we can make changes such as frequency adjustments at relatively short notice if required. ”
More details about the changes to the G1 and other bus services can be found on the TfL website.
Featured image credit: Sue Pearson
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