To: TfL

603 school bus service

The 603 bus service plies between Muswell Hill and Swiss Cottage. It only runs in mornings and early evenings so it is clearly designed as a school bus service. And yet it starts too late to be of practical use to students who reside in Hampstead/ Swiss Cottage and attend school in Highgate/ Muswell Hill. It does however serve the needs of students who commute in the opposite direction.

In an era of environmental consciousness and with a mayor who is ostensibly promoting a green agenda, parents are forced to either drive their children to/ from school or children are forced to change buses in order to get to school, thus doubling or tripling the length of their daily school run.

I frequently pass one or two 603 buses on my way back to Hampstead from Highgate at 9-9:15 AM (buses are heading north) and there is rarely a single passenger on board.

And yet the decision makers at TfL insist that a) the 603 is always full and therefore fit for purpose (not true) and/or b) they haven’t got the budget to add an early morning/ late evening 603 bus service which would almost certainly run full in both directions.

Perversely, they do have the budget to run this bus service at times when nobody needs it or uses it!

A previous petition on this subject garnered nearly a thousand signatures from potential users who reside along the 603 bus route, and yet inexplicably it was ignored. So much for democracy, taxpayers receiving value for money, etc.

“If at first you don’t succeed, try try again!” So here goes!

Why is this important?

Taxpayers deserve a service which is fit for purpose/ confers value for money.

London, UK

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