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Firms want Oxford Street buses cut by a third
Katharine Barney10.03.09
Business leaders today issued a fresh call for a big cut in the number of buses in Oxford Street.
Mayor Boris Johnson has pledged to reduce services by 10 per cent but others say this will still leave the area congested and they need to be slashed by a third.
Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas, chairwoman of the New West End Company which represents businesses around Oxford Street, Bond Street and Regent Street, told the London Assembly: "London's West End should be enjoyed not endured. We want to create an environment where the pedestrian is the priority and call for a 33 per cent reduction in bus services.
"We are not seeking complete pedestrianisation as this is not feasible. The objective should not be to divert routes to neighbouring streets, rather it should be to reduce the overall number of routes serving Oxford Street and Regent Street."
Reader views (3)
Unless the West End is entirely knocked down and re-built people will need to get into and out of Oxford Street and Regent Street in their tens of thousands. Cross-over streets preclude pedestrianisation and the local highway authority has done its best to widen the pavements.
And there is also the matter of over-loading the four Underground stations along Oxford Street, linked to almost as many routes as the buses.
So hands up all those prepared to walk a mile and a half with their shopping if the buses are reduced... while wondering why we ever got rid of trams and cleaner-fuelled buses (trolley- buses) in the first place.
- Peter Seekings-Foster, Mildenhall, Suffolk.
The time has come for a tram system to be built linking Oxford Street and Regent Street. It could use Marble Arch, Centre Point and Piccadilly Circus as turn rounds. If built by laying a concrete bed on the road surface It could be done quickly and cheaply. Buses would be able to turn round at the same places as the trams making interchange convenient. The trams would be segregated from the public footpath so there should be few safety concerns. Edinburgh is in all sorts of problems with their Princes Street tram works so we should learn from them.
- Jack Spratt, Richmond, England
So how are people supposed to get to Oxford Street? You can't drive, and with all the water troughs filled with flowers you can't take your horse ....
- Paul, London
