'London Orb' To Relieve Congestion?

Dean Nicholas
By Dean Nicholas Last edited 193 months ago
'London Orb' To Relieve Congestion?
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Though Boris Johnson's campaign team may have trouble waking up in the morning, the man himself is not lying down when it comes to outflanking Ken on public transport. His latest initiative is for a network of express buses in south London.

The nattily named "London Orb" would offer an alternative to overcrowded rail services, running express bus services between key locations and interchanges that are tough to traverse by train. BoJo apparently dreamt this scheme up whilst braving a journey from Crayford, Bexley to Charing Cross, presumably without his bike in tow, and saw for himself the daily crunch of bodies rattling along the rails into the capital.

Would it work? The idea sounds good in theory, but where some congested cities have found success with express bus services - Bogota's Transmilenio springs to mind - they've built dedicated lanes for them to travel in. We're surprised that Johnson - whose opposition to the bendy bus rests partly on the traffic ensnarlments such articulated vehicles create - is suggesting the already congested streets of south London would somehow accommodate a service that would probably be "express" in name only.

More to the point, isn't the extension to London Overground a far more workable approach to creating a cross-south London transport solution?

We're starting to think that battling Ken on public transport grounds, where the incumbent is responsible for a vast increase in bus services and securing the Crossrail project, might not be the smartest electoral strategy.

Image of bus gridlock from Nicobobinus' Flickrstream

Last Updated 26 February 2008