How poor public transport policy is putting the brake on cities | Letters
Why public transport in global cities is slowing to a crawl – visualised, 23 September).Transport for London’s own calculation that a 10% fall in speed costs 6% of demand and Imperial College London’s finding of the same decline across 15 cities show what happens to buses as the traffic thickens around them. Retiming the lights will not reverse it, and London is already trying. The phrase to notice in the article is one used by TfL: signals will give more buses priority “where possible”.There lies the difficulty.
- ▪Why public transport in global cities is slowing to a crawl – visualised, 23 September).Transport for London’s own calculation that a 10% fall in speed costs 6% of demand and Imperial College London’s finding of the same decline across 15 c
- ▪Retiming the lights will not reverse it, and London is already trying.
- ▪The phrase to notice in the article is one used by TfL: signals will give more buses priority “where possible”.There lies the difficulty.
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| Original publisher | The Guardian — UK |
| Canonical URL | https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/01/how-poor-public-transport-policy-is-putting-the-brake-on-cities |
| Publication time | Thu, 01 Oct 2026 16:38:51 GMT |
| Retrieval time | 2026-10-01T16:52:33.457Z |
| Last seen | 2026-10-01T16:52:33.457Z |
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‘Transport policy in London is guided by publicity rather than practicality.’ Photograph: Justin Kase z12z/AlamyView image in fullscreen‘Transport policy in London is guided by publicity rather than practicality.’ Photograph: Justin Kase z12z/AlamyRoad transportLettersHow poor public transport policy is putting the brake on citiesDavid Andrews suggests a tram network could be the answer to London’s clogged streets, while V Narayanan says unused cycle lanes are a waste of valuable road spaceThu 1 Oct 2026 12.38 EDTShareYour analysis of slowing buses in global cities sets out the mechanism exactly, and the remedy follows from it (London buses in decline? Why public transport in global cities is slowing to a crawl – visualised, 23 September).Transport for London’s own calculation that a 10%…
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