London Green Party has unveiled plans for a vastly improved new bus stop design for London’s streets.
If Sian Berry is elected as the first Green Mayor in May, she has pledged that she will commission a full redesign of London bus stops, which will be used for all Transport for London bus stops as soon as possible.
The key features of the Green proposals include:
Real-time bus arrival time and air pollution information
Shelters with proper, comfortable seating, with arms to help older and disabled people stand up
A ban on unethical advertising, and ring-fenced advertising space for local small businesses and services
Solar generating glazing
Attractive, bee-friendly planting on the shelter rooftop, alongside further solar power generation
Zebra crossings across any cycle paths next to the bus stop and new pedestrian crossings in the right place for every main road bus stop
The proposal for a new standard bus shelter responds to problems raised by Londoners with current transport infrastructure.
These include badly designed seating, the lack of safe crossings on main roads that help people reach bus stops, and the removal by TfL of many ‘countdown’ boards showing when the next buses will arrive.
Live information is less available now despite London Travelwatch surveys consistently finding this is a high priority for bus users, and that older freedom pass holders are less likely to own a smartphone to be able to access online substitutes.
The bus stop also adds brand new improvements, such as bee-friendly roofs, which have been successfully pioneered on over 300 bus stops in Utrecht, Netherlands.
London Green Party believes that the upgraded bus stops will support a greener London, providing better, more comfortable public transport journeys for older passengers, disabled passengers, and passengers in outer London who are more dependent on bus journeys.
Caroline Russell AM and Green Party Transport spokesperson said:
“Whenever I chat to people at bus stops, it becomes more and more clear that they aren’t good enough for the older people and outer Londoners who rely upon them.
“Greens will develop a new higher standard for new bus stops in London, making them better, more comfortable, more accessible to all Londoners, particularly older and disabled people, and greener too.
“With a Green Mayor, London will have the best bus stops in the world.”
