- Document date
- 05-11-2024
- Location
- TfL Palestra House
One of over Ten Thousand TfL Bus Crash Survivors since 18 December 2009 (Photo: Tom Edwards)
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One of over Ten Thousand TfL Bus Crash Survivors since 18 December 2009 (Photo: Tom Edwards) |
Remember Remember the 5th of November.
Thanks to you London Bus Drivers, I know I sure will.
Back on 18 September 2013, I attended a meeting here in Palestra House initiated by Victoria Borwick AM and hosted by the then-MD for Surface Transport, Leon Daniels, now a Director of TfL Bus Contractor RATP.
At that meeting, Daniels proudly announced that the reason why TfL's management of London's Public Bus Services was so successful was because its Bus Contracts work on a single overriding principle that "Time is Money", which guaranteed faster and more reliable bus journey times for London's Bus Users.
Thanks to Victoria Borwick's successful lobbying of Mayor Boris Johnson, we now have over ten years of published TfL Bus Safety Performance Data that clearly indicates how those "Time is Money" Contracts are doing—
Thanks to you London Bus Drivers, I know I sure will.
Back on 18 September 2013, I attended a meeting here in Palestra House initiated by Victoria Borwick AM and hosted by the then-MD for Surface Transport, Leon Daniels, now a Director of TfL Bus Contractor RATP.
At that meeting, Daniels proudly announced that the reason why TfL's management of London's Public Bus Services was so successful was because its Bus Contracts work on a single overriding principle that "Time is Money", which guaranteed faster and more reliable bus journey times for London's Bus Users.
Thanks to Victoria Borwick's successful lobbying of Mayor Boris Johnson, we now have over ten years of published TfL Bus Safety Performance Data that clearly indicates how those "Time is Money" Contracts are doing—
- An average of three people a day are hospitalised from a preventable Bus Safety Incident, at least one of which is a collision;
- About every five to six weeks, someone is killed in a preventable Bus Safety Incident, mostly from collisions;
- For the past decade, one of every ten Deaths from Road Traffic Collisions in London has involved a TfL Bus.
- For the past decade, one of every ten Deaths of Pedestrians from Road Traffic Collisions in London has involved a TfL Bus.
- Since this Mayor was elected, at least eighty-seven people have been killed in preventable Bus Safety Incidents, mostly collisions.
- This year, over 1 person per month has been killed in a preventable Bus Safety Incident, mostly collisions.
But London's Bus Users are happy that London Buses are frequent and reliable and—quite often— too fast.
The people in the building behind us don't often advertise the lethal trends contained in TfL's published data, but—at long last— London's press is starting to take an interest.
In addition to the Mayor's "Vision Zero" Programme, TfL also crows about the at least four 'world leading' Bus Safety initiatives it's announced since 2016. But since TfL's own published data reveals that the number of people killed and seriously injured from preventable bus safety incidents is now higher than when this Mayor took office in May 2016, it's clear to anyone who bothers to pay attention that none of TfL's 'world leading' Bus Safety programmes are working.
Why?
Because the "Time is Money" Financial Incentives in TfL's "Quality Incentive [Bus] Contracts" haven't changed since they were first rolled out by TfL in the summer of 2001.
And because Headway and Mileage still serve as the only performance metrics in TfL's "Time is Money" Bus Contracts, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out if TfL is financially incentivising its Bus Contractors to prioritise Headway and Mileage—while their Buses share roads with increasing numbers of cars, lorries, cyclists, pedestrians and scooters—that London Bus Drivers' ability to drive with duty of care is, frankly, impossible.
And TfL blame the Victims and Bus Drivers for the tens of thousands of preventable Bus Safety Incidents that are the inevitable result of "Time is Money" Bus Contract Incentives.
Inevitable?
Yes! Inevitable.
You see? Bus Operators have long told us that sixty percent of the cost of running a bus is the cost of the Driver.
In the "Time is Money" Bus Contract environment that has prevailed in London since 2001, any money earned by the Bus Operator, and any time saved to make the Bus System more efficient, is "time" that is being robbed from the Bus Driver to do his or her job safely and with duty of care.
The people in the building behind us don't often advertise the lethal trends contained in TfL's published data, but—at long last— London's press is starting to take an interest.
In addition to the Mayor's "Vision Zero" Programme, TfL also crows about the at least four 'world leading' Bus Safety initiatives it's announced since 2016. But since TfL's own published data reveals that the number of people killed and seriously injured from preventable bus safety incidents is now higher than when this Mayor took office in May 2016, it's clear to anyone who bothers to pay attention that none of TfL's 'world leading' Bus Safety programmes are working.
Why?
Because the "Time is Money" Financial Incentives in TfL's "Quality Incentive [Bus] Contracts" haven't changed since they were first rolled out by TfL in the summer of 2001.
And because Headway and Mileage still serve as the only performance metrics in TfL's "Time is Money" Bus Contracts, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out if TfL is financially incentivising its Bus Contractors to prioritise Headway and Mileage—while their Buses share roads with increasing numbers of cars, lorries, cyclists, pedestrians and scooters—that London Bus Drivers' ability to drive with duty of care is, frankly, impossible.
And TfL blame the Victims and Bus Drivers for the tens of thousands of preventable Bus Safety Incidents that are the inevitable result of "Time is Money" Bus Contract Incentives.
Inevitable?
Yes! Inevitable.
You see? Bus Operators have long told us that sixty percent of the cost of running a bus is the cost of the Driver.
In the "Time is Money" Bus Contract environment that has prevailed in London since 2001, any money earned by the Bus Operator, and any time saved to make the Bus System more efficient, is "time" that is being robbed from the Bus Driver to do his or her job safely and with duty of care.
- Not enough time to use the loo.
- Not enough time for recovery on stand time.
- Not enough time to conduct first use checks.
- Not enough time to ensure that all passengers are seated safely before departing.
- Not enough time spent at a Bus Stop to pick up a passenger in a wheelchair.
- Not enough time spent at home with family, de-stressing, resting or sleeping.
The Framework Contract TfL uses today is dated 1 January 2016.
That means TfL's Bus contracts are silent about—
That means TfL's Bus contracts are silent about—
- all the TfL's 'world leading' Bus Safety Initiatives the Mayor of London's announced since 1 February 2016.
But these Bus Contracts are very loud about "Time is Money".
London's Poor Working Conditions and London's ghastly record of Bus Safety Performance will never change until this Mayor puts an end to TfL's "Time is Money" Contracts. Just like the previous Mayor of London promised to do 'over the next three months' on 1 February 2016.
In fact, the twelve simple "Rights" shown in the London Bus Driver Bill of Rights—
London's Poor Working Conditions and London's ghastly record of Bus Safety Performance will never change until this Mayor puts an end to TfL's "Time is Money" Contracts. Just like the previous Mayor of London promised to do 'over the next three months' on 1 February 2016.
In fact, the twelve simple "Rights" shown in the London Bus Driver Bill of Rights—
—provide perfect evidence of the fact that TfL Bus Contracts have been taking the time away from London's Professional Bus Drivers that's required to perform their jobs safely and with duty of care, and converting that time (i.e., "money") saved into profits for Bus Operators.
The Bill of Rights being demanded by London Bus Drivers are just Human Rights that TfL's "Time is Money" Bus Contracts have taken away from them just so London's Buses are convenient for Bus Users.
And now London Bus Drivers have decided that the "time" for being abused by these "Time is Money" Bus Contracts must end NOW.
It’s about time.
It's always been about time.
Thank you for your time today.
The Bill of Rights being demanded by London Bus Drivers are just Human Rights that TfL's "Time is Money" Bus Contracts have taken away from them just so London's Buses are convenient for Bus Users.
And now London Bus Drivers have decided that the "time" for being abused by these "Time is Money" Bus Contracts must end NOW.
It’s about time.
It's always been about time.
Thank you for your time today.
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TfL: Time's Up on Dangerous Bus Contact Incentives! |
Source: https://saferoxfordstreet.blogspot.com/2024/11/its-about-time-words-spoken-at-5th.html
Auto-imported from Tom Kearney’s blog.