20 things we learned from TfL FoI requests in April 2024
1) The annual operating cost for the Woolwich Ferry is £8.9 million. 2) In 2021 there were 305km of bus lanes in London, up from 293km in 2011. 3) TfL spent £282,945.43 advertising this year's Fares Freeze on posters, in the press and on paid social. 4) On bus routes 366, 462, 488, 499 and U9, where one terminus is on a loop, passengers are allowed to stay aboard at no extra charge to complete their journey. 5) There are no plans to reopen the Pentonville Road entrance to King's Cross station as "the huge cost of bringing it up to standard and the additional staffing costs would not make this a viable option to consider". 6) London's most crowded bus route is the SL9, specifically around Yeading northbound between 7am and 8am on weekdays. London's most uncrowded bus routes are the 389 and 399 in Barnet. 7) Night Tube pocket Tube maps were discontinued in 2018 as part of a drive to reduce printing production costs. TfL assessed their entire suite of products and those that had the least customer value and least pick up rate were stopped. 8) The green tiles and yellow tiles at Regents and Stratford stations were not made using uranium salts, so REDACTED's autistic daughter need not worry when travelling to her hospital appointments. 9) The numbers of branded vehicles on each Superloop route are as follows: SL1 13, SL2 18, SL3 17, SL5 12, SL6 12, SL7 24, SL8 24, SL9 13, SL10 14. 10) 71,480 'Baby on Board' badges were issued in 2023. Of these 6781 were issued to someone who made a request more than once. 11) Peak demand on the Lewisham branch of the DLR is around 70% higher than on the Woolwich branch, a difference which has increased since Crossrail opened. 12) In the six weeks since the completion of the Superloop's orbital circuit, 230 contactless/Oyster cards have been used on all seven Superloop buses in the same day. Some cardholders have done this more than once. 13) 90,072 TfL staff are entitled to free travel on TfL services (28% of whom have retired). 14) The TfL station with the most accidents on escalators is London Bridge (111 accidents over the last twelve months). Paddington is the Crossrail escalator blackspot with 98. 15) TfL's most-stolen defibrillator is at Bow Road station, which was nicked on 4th April 2016, 5th September 2019 and 6th December 2019. 16) The new iBus2 On-bus system will not be implemented on TfL buses for another two years as it requires thorough testing. The main improvement for passengers will be the availability of information during disruption (e.g. diversions and curtailments). 17) At the end of last month, 1098 people were doing 'The Knowledge' training to become cabbies. 18) 214,350 Bus Saver tickets were issued in 2023 (down from a peak of 33m in 2004). Tickets come in books of six tickets and there is a minimum order of 25 books. 19) Outline plans exist to install gatelines at Cambridge Heath, London Fields, Stoke Newington, Bruce Grove and Silver Street on the Weaver Line (but these schemes are currently unfunded and not yet programmed). 20) As at 2nd March 2024, the total number of permanent staff at TfL was 25,662. All are eligible to join the TfL Pension Fund.
