Here are some changes coming to bus routes in London over the next 5 years

The London Transit Commission (LTC) has approved a new plan that will guide service changes and improve transit routes and frequency over the next five years to keep up with the city's rapid population growth and increasing service demands.

It would modify core routes to service new neighbourhoods, or areas that are under-serviced, increase service levels, demand-based changes to address overcrowding on buses and realign routes based on travel patterns.

"One of the recommendations we made was to simplify the classification of routes by purpose and level of service, and increase headways to make that minimum 30-minute headway, which is what you would typically expect in a city this size," said Dennis Kar, an integrated mobility specialist with third-party firm Dillon Consulting Limited, who developed the plan. 

On Wednesday LTC board members unanimously voted in support of service plans from 2025 to 2029 for both conventional and specialized transit networks — door-to-door service for people with disabilities, or those who cannot travel independently.

"This aligns with everything we're talking about. The biggest challenge here is the disconnect, so what we're looking at doing remains to be the bare minimum and that's because the funding isn't there," said board member David Little. 

"As much as I'd like to see transformative change, we just don't have the ability to do that. Our riders are expecting that to happen but there's a disconnect between what we're getting and what we want to do. There's more work to do but I'm pleased with what's in here."

A total budget of more than $28 million for LTC was approved in Mayor Josh Morgan's multi-year budget for both conventional and specialized transit in March. 

Dillon created the plan following a review of existing networks and user feedback, with a focus on how long-term transit service can be improved in accordance with the London Plan and Rapid Transit Integration Framework.

Route changes could reduce delays and improve on-time performance, said Kar. In low ridership-areas, LTC would replace fixed routes with an on-demand service and adjust existing routes to service new areas or add new routes.

A phased rollout over five years will distribute LTC's annual 18,000 service hours evenly so it minimizes disruption and improves the customer experience, said Kar. A breakdown of conventional transit route changes is at the bottom of this story.

Specialized service changes

LTC was advised to make their information about its trip booking window more clear to users as many thought they can't book within three days of a trip, Kar said. 

Currently specialized trips can be booked between one hour and three days of a planned trip. 

LTC also plans to have an integrated service delivery model, which would allow passengers to use both an accessible conventional service combined with specialized service for their trip, which can also increase the availability of same-day bookings, said Kar. 

"This may mean they get picked up at their door and they may get taken to an accessible transfer point where they can transfer onto an accessible fixed route to complete their trip," he said. "What this tends to do is shorten the amount of time you're on the specialized vehicle." 

There are however, many steps that need to be taken to offer the integrated model such as evaluating a user's eligibility to use both services, updating design guidelines and establishing safe transfer points and improvements to the conventional system, Kar added. 

LTC will continue exploring how service hours can be expanded, with more hours for on peak times on weekdays, and more accessible booking systems to accommodate population growth.

Which conventional routes will be modified?

These are among some of the route modifications and additions in each of the upcoming five years: