I thing cross boundary services need to be taken out of TFL’s hands at present they have to get a permit to operate in London even on a commercial basis. With the Oyster card it has made it impossible for them to compete if they cannot operate as a part of the TFL network. The result has been the withdrawal of almost all these services. In North London the old 310 Hertford to Enfield route was axed back to Waltham Cross as a result of TFL.

As you note it results in poor services for those that live close to the county boundary.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&tab=wl&q=

clearly indicates traffic flow in the Barnet Church area using arrows. Whilst it is possible to turn from Wood Street into the northern part of the High Street, I cannot see how the reverse is possible. I understand that you are concerned about road accidents, as am I. However I don’t feel that it makes sense to talk about diverting buses because one has been involved in an accident. Many more car drivers are the causers of accidents, but no one seems to talk about banning cars from any of these roads. Bus routes are chosen for good reasons, because they will be used by passengers. I feel that there is an unhelpful NIMBY attitude propagated by some car drivers in the Barnet area who fail to recognise the needs of those who need/wish to travel by a more sustainable method. I am not accusing you of sharing these views, but talk of diverting important bus routes plays into the hands of the NIMBYs. (I see Tory Brian Coleman has recently pestered Ken Livingstone about removing the entire 384 route because he imagined buses cause damage to parked cars, which I have never seen. I wonder if Brian ever uses the bus himself?) I hope the Liberal Democrats are not attempting to appeal to traditional Tory voters by pushing an anti-bus /pro-car stance as well, because that is how it may appear. I have many suggestions for improving buses in the Barnet area, here are the main ones:

-Improved access from High Barnet Station to the northbound bus stop on Barnet Hill. At present to reach this bus stop requires a long walk involving back-tracking. Access could be improved by creating a step path from the station to directly opposite the bus stop, and then a new pelican crossing to cross Barnet Hill. I can’t count the number of buses I have missed trying to reach this stop at present.

- Extensions of route 34 and night bus N20 from Barnet Church to Barnet Hospital would improve access to the hospital and surrounding roads, and would reduce congestion in the Barnet Church area caused by terminating buses. One of the northbound Barnet Church bus stops could then take the place of the present terminus.

-Augmentation of route 384 to include the Wentworth and Byng Road circle would provide access to Foulds and Christchurch schools, and hopefully reduce 4×4 congestion in this area. Buses in both directions could operate a one-way circular service in this area. Route 384 could also benefit from an increase in frequency in evenings and Sundays, and better reliability towards Quinta Drive.

-An evening/sunday service on route 383 and a night service on route 307. Later buses on route 263.

-A direct route into central London as an alternative to the tube. This could be achieved by extending route 82 from North Finchley to Barnet, with a terminus possibly at Hadley Highstone to serve the northern end of Barnet High Street and Hadley Green (now only served by the infrequent 84). 82s already come out of service through Barnet to Potters Bar garage, and this fuel could be put to good use by picking up passengers on the way.

-Acceptance of Oyster on route 614 and increase in frequency/ introduction of Sunday service.

I have contacted TFL about these suggestions, but they cannot offer specific indications about whether any of them will be introduced. Please let me know if you would be willing to campaign for any of these improvements to buses. Thanks for reading!

I am happy to hear your views. I’ve seen buses doing a right turn at Barnet church from the High St so I’m sure that it is possible. Whilst most of Stapyleton Rd is fine the area by Leather sellers is very tight and there has already been one minor accident that I am aware of at this point involving the UNO bus.

Thanks. The problem with the current route is that the bus cannot pass another vehicle where the road narrows. This has led to one minor accident already and could lead to a more serious one. The idea of being able to use Oyster on UNO is an interesting one although you could only do it for the part of the route that was within the travelcard zones.