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OXFORD Street is packed with Christmas shoppers - and it's a nightmare. Billed as Britain's premier shopping street, in reality it is a permanent gridlock of people, buses and taxis with a polluted, congested and dirty atmosphere that is increasingly becoming unacceptable to shoppers.
Everyone agrees that it can't go on like this. Even the New West End Company, representing Oxford Street's retailers, accepts that "there has got to be a better solution" than the current situation with shoppers being crowded onto narrow footways while empty buses and taxis ply their trade in the permanent traffic jam down the middle.
But the crush and the credit crunch are not the only threats to Oxford Street's viability. My daughter is off to do her Christmas shopping in Westfield rather than her traditional haunt of Oxford Street - and we live in far-off north London. Her friends are following suit.
With two more major shopping centres at King's Cross and Stratford to come, competition is hotting up in London's retail scene. As shoppers discover the pleasures of shopping in pleasant warm malls, without having to venture out of overheated shops through those ghastly fan heaters into the freezing cold, Oxford Street could be plunged into an irreversible downward spiral unless there is a huge improvement in its ambience.
And the only way to do that is to get rid of the smelly buses and taxis thronging the street. The success of the fourth annual VIP (Very Important Pedestrians) day at the weekend, when both Oxford and Regent Streets were closed to all traffic, suggests that it is the only feasible long-term solution to its problems.
According to the retailers, far more than one million people came to the area and yet London did not grind to a halt as opponents of the pedestrianisation suggest, even though there were problems on two Tube lines as well as a climate-change march. Sure, some people had to walk a bit further to reach a station, and some suburban bus services were disrupted but, by and large, London coped, as it always does.
London lags well behind other European cities in terms of creating a pleasant city-centre environment for its shoppers. Whereas virtually every capital city, such as Stockholm, Copenhagen, Vienna and even Paris, have long pedestrianised streets where premium retailers are concentrated, London has converted only a few, such as Carnaby Street and Leicester Square.
Both have been great successes but there has always been fierce resistance to pedestrianisation schemes in London.
Leicester Square took 20 years to fully pedestrianise - older Londoners will remember when the west side still allowed cars - and has contributed to the vibrancy of the West End entertainment scene. No one would suggest reversing that decision today, despite the lengthy controversy that delayed the inevitable.
The view among retailers about banning buses and taxis has changed. In the past they resisted pedestrianisation, arguing that it would reduce footfall because people want to know where they can park as close as possible to the shops. In fact, there is now a considerable body of research to show that the opposite is true.
Tony Armstrong, the head of pedestrians organisation Living Streets, says that far from losing customers, pedestrianisation, on average, increases turnover by 17 per cent and often very much more.
"When we did a survey at the VIP event last year, 92 per cent liked it and 70 per cent said it made them more likely to shop there," he says.
This is a big opportunity for Boris Johnson. While welcoming the weekend pedestrianisation, he is taking a cautious approach. He told the Evening Standard: "I accept there is a need for buses and taxis to use Oxford Street but I have asked for a thorough review of bus services in the area to see if the situation can be improved." In particular, he has asked his Transport Commissioner to take 10 per cent of buses out of Oxford Street both next year and in 2010. But this is not the sort of direct approach to getting things done that we expect from the plain-speaking Mayor.
For the Olympics, many major roads will be turned over to VIP use only. There is talk of banning normal traffic from the central area for the whole duration of the Games and even possibly making that permanent. This is the kind of radical thinking that is so badly needed but has been noticeably absent, which is why Oxford Street today is such a mess.
There is no doubt that instantly expecting Oxford Street to be permanently pedestrianised is a big ask, although that must be the medium-term goal. But Johnson could make a good start by booting all the taxis out.
By God, how they will moan as they are the biggest vested interest group in the capital. They even objected to Saturday's VIP day. But a lot of the time they clog up the street even more than buses and serve no purpose, since no one is mad enough to take a taxi along Oxford Street and spend £15 getting between Marble Arch and Tottenham Court Road. In compensation, taxi ranks could be created down most side streets, ensuring people had access. But would Boris have the courage to take them on?
As for the buses, it's true that moving the 18 bus routes along Oxford Street, which cater for up to 175,000 passengers per day, will not be easy. Some could go along Wigmore Street, despite the protests of the affluent locals. Others could turn around at Tottenham Court Road or Marble Arch, since most of the buses along the street are empty anyway. Smaller buses could be used in the side streets, as happens in places like Vienna. With enough political will, a way will be found.
Then we could have a monthly VIP day, say the first Saturday of every month, which would be a fantastic testing ground for ironing out problems. Extra accommodation for buses would be needed, and possibly extra vehicles to ensure a smoother service for the suburbs, which suffered on Saturday, but it would be a great start to improving Oxford Street. Hundreds of thousands of extra shoppers would be attracted, and the feel of the whole street would start to change.
But we can't just do nothing. Despite the retailers' PR stressing that all is wonderful and that Westfield, with an expected turnover of £600 million compared with Oxford Street's £5.5 billion is no more a threat than Shepherd's Bush Market, the street faces a crisis. And it is no good, as Transport for London suggests, waiting for Crossrail, which will not be completed for nearly a decade. By then, shopping anywhere except online, let alone in Oxford Street, might have gone out of fashion.
Reader views (17)
The solution to Oxford Street's transport problems already exists and operates along the eastern end of the street!
It is the Route 25 which uses ARTIC buses. Instead of Route 25 running from Oxford Circus to Ilford thus encouraging fare dodgeing given the cost of a similar rail fare even honest people only pay 80p for the journey using PAYG.
Route 25 should run from Stratfod Bus Station to the new White City Bus Station at a high frequency. The ability of these buses to move large numbers of people over short distances would then be optimised. With the Olympics in mind it it called be called "The Javelin Express." This would then allow many other routes to be be either cut back or diverted.
As to those who talk of open platformed routemasters well they should try carrying heavy shopping up and down stairs for a couple of stops.
Back in the 1960's the Red Arrows cocept started using single deck merlin buses, flat fare driver only operation. The Artics are the modern day merlins and if allowed to they can work their magic in making crowds at bus stops dissappear!
However the daft decision to replace them on the Red Arrows with 12 foot rigid buses shows how Boris unlike Ken who used public transport has no idea of how buses work. If he is convinced the above buses are right then try them on both routes in place of a couple of artics and see what happens. By rights the stanard should challenge him to do this.
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex, 11/12/2008 13:16
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What on-street parking ? Clearly you jest sir...
- Clive Allen, Brighton, UK, 10/12/2008 09:17
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IS there anybody mr wolmar actulley likes -
- Mark Smith, birmingham, 10/12/2008 02:36
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The situation is dire. Buses need to be re-cast so that they can terminate at Marble Arch or TCR, or where necessary run via Wigmore/Mortimer/Goodge Street or Park Lane and Piccadilly.
Following that we do need some sort of transportation along Oxford Street. Ken Livingstone proposed a tram, but that would mean years of construction disruption and a new imposition on desperately pedestrian shopper space. A simple solution is a shoppers' road train like that provided in Shanghai; but that may not provide enough capacity for Oxford Street.
I think the optimal approach would be a lightweight small-profile monorail system similar to that found in Sydney. This would be much quicker and easier to construct than a tram, and would leave most of the road space for shoppers. Plus as a bonus stations can be linked to mini-malls adjacent in first floor premises, providing additional retail space. It would also be feasible for the monorail to run directly into the first floor of major stores.
It would give Oxford Street a very 21st century look - and this would attract new shoppers. Although for visual reasons it would not be suitable for extension along Regent Street, it could potentially loop through Soho to Charing Cross Road.
Google or Flickr 'Sydney Monorail' to see how it might look.
- Paul, London, 10/12/2008 02:28
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Get rid of people handing out free leaflets and papers, all they are doing is getting in everyone's way and polluting the environment.
Also prevent the tacky souveneir shops from displaying their trash outside the shop door (or hanging outside the windows) and things will be a bit more pleasant.
- Dylan, London, 09/12/2008 23:42
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The best way to sort out the mess of Oxford Street is to reduce the importance of the street- get people to visit out-of-town shopping centres instead. High Streets like Oxford Street weren't designed for such volumes of people, so the only feasible option is to scale them down so people go elsewhere.
- Richard, London, UK, 09/12/2008 22:48
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How about closing it to traffic during the day, say 10 am to 4pm then opening up the road to buses and taxis for the shoppers to get home in the evening. Could it work?
- Mr S.Port, London, 09/12/2008 22:24
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While the City of London benefited from the wartime damage by building a near ring road using London Wall the Upper and Lower Thames Streets. The City of Westminster suffered much less damage and therefore has the old historic narrow road network built for horse drawn transport.
As for Boris controlling taxis well given that they handed out "Vote Boris leaflets" and the fact that he has already paid back once with cancelling taxi checks even though TX4's are like chariots of fire he is unlikly to restrict them. (Well Boris is king of the weavels!)
In the short term there needs to be stricter enforcement of the traffic ban and ALL side streets which are not cross-roads need to be closed and paved over which should lead to less traffic lights.
Empty buses are because Oxford Circus is used as a terminal for routes these routes shold be extended and even combined to produce less bus routes in London. (Nb Routes 170 and 239 were recently combined and now Claphap Junction has less terminating buses, with Roehampton linked to Victoria.)
Anyone who looks at an historic bus map will see how London once had fewer longer routes and thats is what is required.
As for Crossrail there needs to be subways with Travellators like those at Waterloo lining Oxford Circus Station to both TCR and Bond Street thus reducing surface pedestrains and giving crossrail better interchange to more lines.
Making Oxford Street bus only eastbound would be a good start.
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex, 09/12/2008 19:43
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Mr Wolmer , you are a fool ! Taxis do not cause congestion ! Do a time and motion study to see how many giant , empty and dirty buses block the roads >
- Anthony, Basildon Essex, 09/12/2008 19:20
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I lasted three minutes during Oxford Streets pedestrianisation. The crush of people was terrible. I had to abandon any hope of shopping and go home.
- Thalia, london UK, 09/12/2008 18:54
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Its a pity bungling Boris has cancelled plans for a Oxford Street tram system, that would have solved many of the problems the area faces today.
- Nicholas Newman, Oxfordprospect.co.uk, 09/12/2008 18:53
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"YES".
- Mike Coventry, Hertfordshire GB, 09/12/2008 16:24
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Taxi drivers avoid Oxford street like the plague....it's full of empty, smelly buses that queue nose to tail like a giant red centipede, driven by belligerent bus drivers!!! I'm not sure that the streets that run parallell could cope with the knock-on effect of the displaced vehicles which the great minds like Christian Wolmer always forget about!Reduce on-street parking in the area and reduce the bus routs combined with more park and ride facilities and proper affordable off street parking both here and throughout London!!!
- Mark, london uk, 09/12/2008 15:57
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This makes no sense for weekdays! Oxford Street was conceived centuries ago as cross axis. The entire surface transport system would have to rely on a box from Picadilly to Bayswater road up Park Lane and Euston Road down to St Giles for points east. London would be gridlocked. If this plane is to d stimulate the econmly think again. Traffic congestion tends to put off shoppers who have easier access to all the big store names in large suburban malls.
- Jon, London, 09/12/2008 15:46
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How about a monorail above Oxford Street? Move Marble Arch to Speakers' Corner and put a new monorail/bus station in the current site.
- C Harrison, London, 09/12/2008 15:41
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Quite right Mr Wolmar. The only secret to shopping centre success is the quality of public space they provide. Even this is relative; Westfield wins simply because you can cross its internal thoroughfare without van and taxi drivers swearing at you as soon as the green man starts flashing. The air-conditioned atmosphere in shopping centres and arguably their design and layout is less stimulating and pleasant than the High Street, if only there were no motor vehicles present.
The same applies to inner city high streets such as Camberwell and Islington. Motor vehicles must be forced to slow down to 20mph maximum when passing through these shopping communities, and it must be an automatic 3 pointer for occupying cyclist boxes or intimidating pedestrians in the process of legally crossing the road. Cameras everywhere will be needed for strict enforcement, but locals will vote for quality of live over so-called civil liberties, most days.
Woolworths is gone due to this intimidating atmosphere, as well as due to the Government's sponsorship of car commuter shopping to hypermarkets. It is not too late to rescue other parts of the high street by protecting their quality of space, slowing down traffic, and giving businesses a say in the style of street furniture proposed by TfL, the Boroughs and utility companies.
- Reg, London, 09/12/2008 14:06
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The pavements on Oxford St are wide enough to accommodate another lane of traffic each way, so why can't pedestrians cope with that? The pinch points are near Bond St, where some brain surgeon has erected a load of boards in front of a closed shop, and Oxford Circus, which has inadequate crossings.
You also do not mention what will happen to traffic that wants to travel North-South and vice-versa across Oxford St. Diverting from Marble arch to Tottenham Court Road would be difficult for a car or taxi, and nearly impossible for a bus.
- Nobby Clark, Perth, Scotland, 09/12/2008 11:48
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