What's happening with school services and bus capacities?

Extra buses and school service prioritisation from September TfL is committed to helping London's schools reopen safely in September 2020. Around 250,000 school children use London's buses to get to and from school. So, from 1 September until the end of October 2020 we're planning to add over 200 extra buses to the network.

We're also planning to prioritise some of our bus services for school travel. Government guidance allows for all seats to be occupied on these 'school services', doubling their capacity, which is currently limited due to necessary social distancing.

These 'school services' will be clearly signed and are planned to operate on:

• Every other bus on key routes from 07:30-09:30 and 14:30-16:30 on weekdays

• All our existing school services

• Some additional buses on less frequent routes

They ask that schoolchildren travelling without adults use the designated school services where these are provided, to help ensure space for customers on other services.

They will also continually review how our network is operating to ensure our approach is working and meeting demand as best as possible.

By doing all of this TfL and the government will help increase capacity and free up other buses for other customers including your staff, and also help enable London's young people to make safe and reliable journeys to and from school.

Routes with extra buses being provided: 20, 50, 89, 110, 116, 117, 119, 122, 130, 138, 142, 152, 153, 167, 181, 186, 187, 201, 203, 206, 215, 216, 223, 225, 226, 228, 232, 233, 234, 246, 251, 255, 265, 269, 272, 273, 275, 282, 287, 289, 290, 293, 294, 300, 309, 313, 315, 317, 322, 323, 324, 325, 331, 339, 346, 352, 353, 354, 355, 356, 359, 360, 362, 367, 370, 372, 376, 377, 380, 382, 383, 393, 394, 395, 396, 397, 398, 401, 405, 406, 407, 411, 412, 413, 418, 428, 434, 444, 455, 462, 463, 465, 470, 481, 484, 487, 491, 492, 493, 496, 498, 499, 533, A10, B11, B12, B13, B14, B15, B16, E5, E7, E10, E11, G1, H17, H18, H20, H25, H26, H28, K1, K4, K5, P5, P12, P13, R1, R2, R3, R4, R6, R7, R8, R68, S3, S4, U3, W5, W9, W16 and X26. Plus school routes 601, 602, 603, 608, 612, 613, 616, 617, 624, 626, 627, 628, 629, 631, 632, 635, 638, 640, 642, 643, 646, 652, 653, 655, 656, 657, 661, 662, 663, 664, 665, 667, 669, 671, 674, 675, 677, 678, 679, 683, 684, 685, 686, 687, 688, 689, 690, 692, 696, 697, 698, 699

Routes with school priority buses running between 0730 and 0930: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 18, 21, 25, 33, 34, 35, 36, 39, 41, 44, 46, 47, 51, 53, 54, 55, 57, 58, 60, 61, 63, 64, 65, 66, 68, 70, 71, 80, 81, 83, 85, 86, 87, 92, 93, 95, 96, 97, 99, 102, 103, 108, 109, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 118, 120, 121, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 131, 132, 133, 134, 136, 137, 140, 143, 144, 145, 147, 150, 151, 154, 155, 157, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164. 165, 170, 172, 174, 176, 177, 180, 184, 185, 188, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 197, 198, 199, 200, 202, 204, 207, 212, 213, 217, 219, 220, 221, 222, 226, 227, 229, 231, 235, 236, 237, 244, 247, 248, 249, 250, 251, 256, 257, 258, 262, 263, 267, 270, 271, 276, 279, 283, 284, 285, 288, 296, 299, 301, 307, 312, 316, 319, 320, 321, 326, 329, 330, 332, 333, 337, 343, 344, 357, 358, 363, 364, 366, 371, 379, 380, 381, 391, 393, 410, 417, 419, 422, 425, 427, 428, 430, 432, 433, 440, 450, 452, 453, 466, 468, 469, 472, 473, 483, 484, 486, 490, 607, B12, C10, C11, D6, E1, E2, E6, E8, E9, EL1, EL2, EL3, H10, H12, H19, H22, H37, H91, H98, K2, K3, P4, R11, R70, S1, U1, U2, U4, U5, W3, W4, W6, W7, W8, W11, W13, W15 and W19.

Routes with school priority buses running between 1430 and 1630: 25, 33, 39, 46, 51, 54, 58, 61, 65, 80, 81, 92, 93, 95, 96, 110, 111, 112, 114, 120, 123, 124, 125, 126, 131, 132, 140, 143, 144, 147, 152, 157, 162, 163, 164, 165, 170, 184, 190, 192, 193, 200, 208, 213, 217, 221, 227, 229, 234, 235, 237, 238, 244, 248, 256, 261, 267, 270, 276, 279, 281, 284, 296, 316, 320, 326, 358, 364, 366, 371, 410, 419, 427, 433, 440, 444, 450, 469, 490, 607, C11, D6, E6, EL1, EL2, EL3, H10, H12, H19, H22, H37, H98, K2, K3, P4, R11, R70, S1, U1, U2, W3, W4, W6, W8, W13, W16 and W19.

Closed bus stops and diversions

Route 384 changes Route Affected: 384

From Saturday 29 August route 384 will be extended from Barnet, Quinta Drive to Edgware Bus Station providing new links to Barnet General Hospital as well as Barnet, Cockfosters and Edgware Town Centres.

From Barnet, Quinta Drive buses will run via Barnet Road, Stirling Corner, Barnet Way, Apex Corner, Selvage Lane, Hale Lane and Station Road.

From this date, the 384 will also be rerouted between Cockfosters and High Barnet in both directions via Mount Pleasant, Edgeworth Road, Park Road, Baring Road, Lawton Road,

Westbrook Crescent, Baring Road, Park Road, Victoria Road and Station Road to provide a quicker journey between Barnet and Cockfosters. Buses would no longer serve Grove Road, Northfield Road, Castlewood Road, Fordham Road and Victoria Road and also York Road, Longmore Avenue, Lyonsdown Road and Gloucester Road in New Barnet.  

Buses will also be rerouted in Barnet Town Centre towards Cockfosters only via Salisbury Road rather than Strafford Road and Stapylton Road.

There will be no changes to the frequency of route 384 with buses running every 20 minutes during the day on Monday to Saturdays and every 30 minutes during the evening and all day on Sundays. An additional school day only journey will run in the mornings from Barnet, Qunita Drive to Cockfosters Station and in the afternoons from Cockfosters Station to Barnet, Quinta Drive.

First buses are timed to depart Cockfosters Station at 0550 (0645 Sundays) and Edgware Bus Station at 0525 (0620 Sundays).

Last buses are timed to depart Cockfosters Station at 2345 and Edgware Bus Station at 2335 on all days.

Route 112 extended to North Finchley Routes Affected: 112

From Saturday 29 August route 112 will be extended from Brent Cross Shopping Centre to North Finchley Bus Station and rerouted between North Ealing Station and Ealing Broadway via Madeley Road.

Route 112 will be extended from the bus station at Brent Cross along the A406 North Circular Road and Finchley High Road to North Finchley Bus Station. The extended route will serve Henlys Corner, Great North Leisure Park, Finchley Memorial Hospital as well as providing access to the various shops in North Finchley town centre.

Route 112 will also be rerouted in both directions via Madeley Road between North Ealing Station and Ealing Broadway and will no longer use Uxbridge Road. This will provide a much faster journey into Ealing Broadway Station.

Route 112 will continue to run every 10 minutes during the daytime on Monday to Saturdays, every 15 minutes during the daytime on Sundays and every 20 minutes during the evening on all days.

Vauxhall Bridge closure - Buses diverted Routes Affected: 2, 36, 87, 88, 185, 360, N2, N87, N136   From 15 August Vauxhall Bridge will be closed Northbound only with buses diverted via Lambeth Bridge instead. Buses crossing the bridge in the Southbound direction will not be affected.

Routes 2, 36, 185, N2 and N136 will use Albert Embankment, Lambeth Bridge and Millbank instead serving all stops on the revised route. Bus stop X on Vauxhall Bridge will not be served, please use bus stop A at Pimlico Station.

Route 360 will use Albert Embankment, Lambeth Bridge and Millbank instead serving all stops on the revised route. Bus stop X on Vauxhall Bridge will not be served, please use bus stop W on Millbank next to the Riverside Walk Gardens.

Routes 87 and N87 will use Albert Embankment and Lambeth Bridge instead of serving all stops on the revised route. Bus stops T, N and ND on Millbank will not be served, please use bus stop NK on Millbank located after the junction with Lambeth Bridge.

Route 88 will use Albert Embankment, Lambeth Bridge and Horseferry Road instead of serving all stops on the revised route. Bus stop X on Vauxhall Bridge will not be served, please use the bus stop at Vauxhall Bus Station instead. Bus Stops S and L on John Islip Street and NP on Marsham Street will also not be served, please use bus stop NT located outside the Home Office building on Marsham Street. Bus route C10 will continue to serve these stops and can be used to reach route 88 by alighting at the stop named Millbank on Horseferry Road and then crossing over the road to bus stop NE.

Bishopsgate - Stop closure Routes Affected: 8, 11, 26, 35, 47, 133, 149, 344, 388, N8, N11, N26, N133, N242 Bus stop LN, named Threadneedle Street, on Bishopsgate is closed until further notice due to changes by City of London to aid social distancing. Buses will use stop W, named Wormwood Street, instead which is located opposite the 100 Bishopsgate building.

Northwick Park Hospital - Bus stop changes Routes Affected: 186, H9, H10    Due to roadworks within the grounds of Northwick Park Hospital route 186 will now start and finish at bus stop HV at the Accident & Emergency department. Bus stop HU opposite the Hospital Social Club will be served towards Brent Cross only.

Routes H9 & H10 will use bus stop HU opposite the Hospital Social Club and no longer serve bus stop HV at the Accident & Emergency department.

Bus capacity changes To further ensure the safety of customers and bus drivers, new limits to the number of customers on board at any one time have been introduced:

Double-deck buses with multiple doors now have a capacity of 30 people. Drivers have the discretion to allow up to 35 passengers if households are travelling together 

Single deck buses now have a capacity of between 11 and 14 people. Drivers have the discretion to allow up to 18 passengers if households are travelling together, depending on the size of the bus.

My comment:

I know that all of this is a bit of a headache to read and go through so I have taken the time to write it down in a simplified way. Here it is:

Double-decker buses can now hold 30 people +5 more if families/bubbles are travelling together. Single-decker buses can now hold 11-14 people +4 if families/bubbles are travelling together.

A few bus stops are closed see which ones and diversions under Closed bus stops and diversions. A few routes are running on more frequency see Routes with extra buses being added for all the routes this affects.

There are a few routes with buses being run only for school children during school rush AM hours, see Routes with school priority buses running between 0730 and 0930 for bus routes.

And a few buses are doing the same thing during the afternoon rush hour, see Routes with school priority buses running between 1430 and 1630 for bus routes.

Here's a video to help you understand more:

This video has been deleted because the account was deleted.

This article is from the TfL website: https://tfl.gov.uk/ https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/buses/bus-changes

I really hope that this helps you understand what is happening during these times.

Kieran Curtis, admin.