Today, following multiple letters over the last three months to the Mayor of London and TfL raising concerns about a lack of capacity on the 499 bus route, Julia Lopez received a response from the Deputy Mayor of London for Transport, Seb Dance.
Mrs Lopez had asked the Mayor to review the capacity of the route following a constituent reporting that their grandchild was regularly unable to board overfull buses on school journeys.
After posting about this on Facebook, 39 constituents reported similar issues on the 499 and other services, leading Mrs Lopez to call for a broader review of bus services in Havering and surveys on the 193, 174 and 496 bus routes.
In his response, Deputy Mayor Dance explained that whilst a survey was done in March 2024 and did not find an issue with a lack of capacity on the route, a new survey was currently being undertaken. Surveys would also be undertaken on the 193, 174 and 496 routes.
The letter did however stop short of providing more information relating to timeframes for when residents could expect the survey to be completed, as well as what steps would be taken following the survey.
Mrs Lopez has gone back to the Deputy Mayor pushing for more information, including clarity on next steps and timeframes for completing the surveys.
In her letter, Mrs Lopez once again reminded the Deputy Mayor of Sadiq Khan’s commitment to bolster bus services in the region following the expansion of ULEZ, as well as the disappointment that residents already feel at TfL’s decision to withdraw the 347 bus route on Friday 17 January.
