cc: London Assembly Transport Committee Members; #LondonBusWatch; London Bus Forums

26 October 2026

Dear Caroline Russell,

RE:  Bus Driver Bill of Rights: Please Investigate TfL's Unsafe Bus Contracting Model 

Following up on (a) your 13 February 2025 presentation of our Bill of Rights Petition to the London Assembly (b) your support of Keith Prince AM's unanimously-approved 2 July 2026 Bill of Rights Motion and (c) the horrific facts being unearthed by the investigations of unsafe London bus driver working conditions by ITV News and MyLondon since March, I would like to formally request that the London Assembly Transport Committee investigate why the Mayor is refusing to compel TfL to inscribe the Bill of Rights into TfL's Framework Bus Services Agreement.

The Bill of Rights and TfL's Framework Bus Services Agreement

As you know, since 5 November 2024, independent Bus Drivers have been demanding that, as TfL Chair, the Mayor of London should instruct TfL to write the Bill of Rights into TfL's Framework Bus Services Agreement  which constitutes the non-negotiable terms contained in every bus contract.

Because the safety regulation framework for buses in the United Kingdom does not provide a robust, detailed safety code specifically for public bus operations, TfL's Framework Bus Services Agreement itself must serve as the safety regulator. Even though TfL has served as the sole contractor of public bus services in London since it was created in 2000, it has manifestly refused to fill the gap between the non-existent national bus safety framework and high public expectations that buses must be reliable.  As both the 2017 and 2024 London Assembly Transport Committee Bus Safety Investigations made crystal clear, instead of putting safety first, TfL and the Mayor of London have wittingly presided over a public bus operation that risks lives and livelihoods by agreeing contracts with Bus Operators containing financial incentives to ensure timely bus performance. Accordingly, the systemic problems associated with these defective contract performance metrics go unmeasured, so safety is effectively unregulated. This conclusion has been well evidenced by decades of Driver's reporting the systemic safety problems identified by the Bill of Rights.  

As you also know, TfL's Framework Bus Services has not been modified since 1 January 2016, and thus reflects none of the commitments TfL and the Mayor have made since that time, including, but not limited to the:

• 'World Leading Bus' Safety Programme - February 2016 
• Vision Zero Programme and Vision Zero Action Plan - July 2018
• 'World Leading' Bus Safety Standard - October 2018 
• Bold New Bus Safety Strategy - September 2023
• Vision Zero 2 Action Plan - March 2026
• Bus Safety Standard 2 - June 2026

Accordingly, since it is entirely within the Mayor's remit to unilaterally change the Framework Agreement at any time, we independent Bus Drivers see insertion of the Bill of Rights into that Agreement as an elegant and efficient way for TfL inform its contractors that (a) not only do Bus Drivers have these rights, but, (b) as part of TfL's role as a prudent and competent government contractor of public services which is obligated by law to consider worker and public safety as its first priority, TfL intends to monitor Bus Operators for their observance of these rights, ie., 

1. The Right to a safe work schedule without any forced overtime or loss of pay.

2. The Right to a decent and proper rest break in the working day.

3. The Right to drive a safe and well-maintained vehicle.

4. The Right to clean, serviced toilet and rest facilities on all bus routes.

5. The Right to report safety concerns without fear of retribution from TfL or employers.

6. The Right, when seriously ill and covered by a doctor's note, to not be harassed into coming into work until fit to do so.

7. The Right to relevant and timely safety training.

8. The Right to drive without being forced to answer radio messages and texts from Controllers whilst in motion.

9. The Right to have all company rules in writing and clearly displayed.

10. The Right to be treated with dignity and respect by our employers, TfL and the public.

11. The Right to Working Air Cooling in our cabs in the summer heat.

12. The Right to Working Heaters in our cabs in the cold of winter.

As you no doubt agree, TfL's recent announcements about Bus Cab A/C on 9 September and Toilets on  21 September " represent firm evidence that (a) not only has the Mayor accepted Rights 4, 11 and 12 from the Bill of Rights, but also (b) that TfL knew that these manifestly unsafe working conditions existed for years but refused to act to compel its Bus Operators to mitigate them.

Furthermore, these recent Mayoral announcements confirm that his consistent responses over the years to the London Assembly that "all bus driver cabs are fitted with air conditioning" (cf. Question 2023/3649 from Neil Garratt AM, October 2023) and "Drivers on all of London's bus routes have access to a toilet" (cf. Question 2024/3443 from Keith Prince AM, October 2024) were—as Neil Garratt so recently pointed out—clear evidence of the Mayor lying to the London Assembly about same unsafe Bus Driver Working Conditions that anonymous Bus Drivers first officially reported to the Transport Committee in February 2017.  

Since we now know — 

• that the Mayor is already 'rowing back' on TfL's May 2027 for all Bus Cabs to be fitted with Air Conditioning, and 
• the grim reality of Bus Driver toilet provision (cf. Question 2026/3225 from Keith Prince AM and FOI-0710-2627 from TfL), i.e,
• Only 38% of London Bus Routes (257 of 675) have dedicated 24-7 Bus Drivers Toilets at both ends, of which 7 have restricted hours of operation and access;
• 25% of London's Bus Routes (175 of 675) still lack a toilet at one end for Bus Drivers;
• Only 69% all Bus Drivers Toilets (834 of 1215) on All Routes have 24-7 Access while 31% (381 of 1215) have restricted Hours and/or Days of Operation;
• 14% of London Bus Routes (165 of 675) have Shared Toilets, all of which have restricted hours and days of operation;
• 9% of London Bus Routes (64 of 675) only have Temporary Toilets 

— I frankly find it difficult to see the Mayor's promise of A/C being fitted in all Bus Drivers' Cabs 'by May 2027' and 53 more Bus Drivers' toilets installed across the Bus Network 'over the next three years' as a win, when history shows it's much more likely to be blatant gaslighting.

And those are the three demands in the Bill of Rights to which the Mayor of London has agreed!

Turning your attention to demands where the Mayor has made no announcement, I'd like to alert you to the Mayor's recent response to Question 2026/3105 from Neil Garratt AM where he has admitted that Driver Fatigue was "a causal or contributing factor" in 11 percent (42 of 377) of the major bus crashes occurring between 2019-2025 where someone was killed or seriously injured.

If the Mayor has admitted that over 1 in 10 TfL Bus Crashes where someone was killed or seriously injured over the period 2019-2025 involved fatigue for the small number of incidents where TfL had the Bus Operator ask the question, what about—

• the 4702 Bus Collision incidents recorded by TfL over the same period, of which 1430 sent the victim to hospital and 56 in which someone was killed;
• the 183,153 Bus Collision incidents recorded by TfL; 

Given the years of the Mayor's obvious dishonesty about the reality of the unsafe Bus Driver Working Conditions we bus drivers have endured with little public interest, I formally request that the Transport Committee investigate the safety failures of TfL's Bus Contracting Model. As part of the investigation, I recommend that the Committee invite the Mayor, the Commissioner, Unite the Union and the independent Bus Drivers behind the Bill of Rights Campaign to sit on the same panel and answer questions about the Bill of Rights. 

Finally, I invite to watch this compilation of videos of TfL, Unite the Union and the Mayor of London responding to the London Assembly's Bill of Rights Motion. 

Yours sincerely,

Cc: Feryal Clark MP; The Rt Hon Heidi Alexander MP; Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill CBE; Siân Berry MP; Lord Hampton

Subject: London bus driver working conditions and ministerial awareness

Dear Mr Lightwood,

By way of introduction, London Bus Forums News is an independent transport news publication reporting on the policies, operations and developments shaping London's transport network, together with selected national stories of wider significance.

Further to the email sent by Bus Drivers' Bill of Rights campaigner Kevin Mustafa to Feryal Clark MP on 21 July, on which you were copied, I have reviewed the exchange in the House of Commons on 16 July concerning the impact of extreme heat on London bus drivers.

In response to Ms Clark, you commended the Mayor of London for convening a heat taskforce with bus operators and Unite the Union. However, your answer did not acknowledge the extensive evidence concerning London bus driver working conditions that ITV News London has reported since March, or the longstanding concerns raised by drivers and members of the London Assembly.

For ease of reference, I would be grateful if you would review the following 11 ITV News London reports:

1. 20 March: "Falling asleep at the wheel and urinating in jars: the reality for London bus drivers" 
2. 25 March: "Transport boss 'horrified' after ITV News London uncovers shocking conditions for London bus drivers" 
3. 27 March: "Mayor of London 'appalled' as ITV News London uncovers bus drivers working in shocking conditions" 
4. 17 April: "'So fatigued they are falling asleep at the wheel': Calls for TfL to improve bus driver conditions" 
5. 20 April: "Exclusive figures reveal extent of dangerously tired London bus drivers" 
6. 28 May: "Bus drivers suffer sweltering conditions at work during May heatwave" 
7. 24 June: "'Don't risk personal safety' Sadiq Khan tells bus drivers as temperatures soar on hottest June day" 
8. 2 July: "Bus drivers call for 'Bill of Rights' to make working conditions safer" 
9. 12 July: "'It feels like working in a microwave': London bus drivers on working in extreme heat"
10. 16 July: "London bus drivers have 'borne the brunt' of extreme heat in the city, as MP calls for change" 
11. 21 July: "Boss of London's bus network 'shocked' to hear drivers using bottle as a toilet" 

Taken together, these reports raise serious concerns about driver fatigue, inadequate toilet and welfare facilities, cab cleanliness, extreme temperatures, ineffective cab cooling and the treatment of drivers who raise safety concerns.

Having reviewed them, will you raise these matters with the Secretary of State for Transport, the Rt Hon Heidi Alexander MP, and the Minister of State, Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill CBE?

Ms Alexander served as Deputy Mayor for Transport and Deputy Chair of Transport for London from 2018 to 2021. Lord Hendy served as TfL's Managing Director of Surface Transport from 2001 to 2006 and as Commissioner of Transport for London from 2006 to 2015.

Will you ask each of them to confirm whether the concerns and working conditions described in these reports were known to them during their respective tenures and, if so, what action was taken at the time?

I would also welcome confirmation of what action the Department for Transport now intends to take to help ensure London bus drivers are provided with safe and dignified working conditions.

I look forward to receiving your response.

Yours sincerely,

Dylan Carroll

Managing Director

London Bus Forums

From: kevin mustafa <.                                          >
Subject: Why are you and Simon Lightwood 'commending' the Mayor of London and Unite the Union for their Well-Evidenced and Longstanding Failure to Protect London's Bus Drivers from Dangerous Working Conditions?
Date: 21 July 2026 at 10:05:42 BST
To: "feryal.clark.mp@parliament.uk" <feryal.clark.mp@parliament.uk>
Cc: "cc:" <simon.lightwood.mp@parliament.uk>, TfL - Chief Operations Officer <clairemann@tfl.gov.uk>, "laurenorford@tfl.gov.uk" <laurenorford@tfl.gov.uk>, "nickdent@tfl.gov.uk" <nickdent@tfl.gov.uk>, "AndyLord@tfl.gov.uk" <AndyLord@tfl.gov.uk>, Neil Garratt <neil.garratt@london.gov.uk>, Keith Prince AM <keith.prince@london.gov.uk>,Tom Kearney #LondonBusWatch <comadad1812@gmail.com>, Deputy Mayor of London - Transport <seb.dance@london.gov.uk>, Mayor of London <mayor@london.gov.uk>, Sharon Graham <sharon.graham@unitetheunion.org>, Susan Hall <susan.hall@london.gov.uk>, Lorraine Bus Driver <.                                          >, "emma.best@london.gov.uk" <emma.best@london.gov.uk>, Alex Wilson <alex.wilson@london.gov.uk>,.                                          >, Caroline Russell <caroline.russell@london.gov.uk>, Thomas Turrell - London Assembly <thomas.turrell@london.gov.uk>, Tom Edwards <tom.edwards@bbc.co.uk>, Dan Tomlinson MP <dan.tomlinson.mp@parliament.uk>, Henry Riley <henry.riley@global.com>, Connor Hand <connor.hand@global.com>, Deputy Mayor of London - Social Justice <Debbie.Weekes-Bernard@london.gov.uk>, Victims Commissioner - London <Andrea.Simon@london.gov.uk>, Will Norman <WillNorman@tfl.gov.uk>, James Varley <JamesVarley@tfl.gov.uk>, "Secretariat02@london.gov.uk" <Secretariat02@london.gov.uk>, Lilli Matson <LilliMatson@tfl.gov.uk>, London Bus Forums Press Office <press.office@londonbusforums.co.uk>, Stuart Reid <StuartReid@tfl.gov.uk>, TfL - Chief Operations Officer <clairemann@tfl.gov.uk>, Elly Baker <elly.baker@london.gov.uk>, Joanne McCartney <Joanne.McCartney@london.gov.uk>, Hina Bokhari <hina.bokhari@london.gov.uk>, Bassam Mahfouz <Bassam.Mahfouz@london.gov.uk>, Sem Moema <sem.moema@london.gov.uk>, Unmesh Desai <Unmesh.Desai@london.gov.uk>, Michael Roberts <Michael.Roberts@londontravelwatch.org.uk>, "GLA_CON_ross.lydall@standard.co.uk" <ross.lydall@standard.co.uk>, "kumail.jaffer@reachplc.com" <kumail.jaffer@reachplc.com>, "hi@ajaysmith.com" <hi@ajaysmith.com>, "Annabel.deas@bbc.co.uk" <Annabel.deas@bbc.co.uk>, "GLA_CON_adam.toms@reachplc.com" <adam.toms@reachplc.com>, "COLEMAN, Ben (MP)" <ben.coleman.mp@parliament.uk>, Gareth Corfield <gareth.corfield@telegraph.co.uk>, "guy.adams@dailymail.co.uk" <guy.adams@dailymail.co.uk>, "international@theguardian.com" <international@theguardian.com>, "jacob.freedland@telegraph.co.uk" <jacob.freedland@telegraph.co.uk>, "katie.lam.mp@parliament.uk" <katie.lam.mp@parliament.uk>, Luke Alsford <luke.alsford@metro.co.uk>, "mark@ybc.tv" <mark@ybc.tv>, "nicholas.hellen@sunday-times.co.uk" <nicholas.hellen@sunday-times.co.uk>, "Olly (MP)" <olly.glover.mp@parliament.uk>, "ruthcadburymp@parliament.uk" <ruthcadburymp@parliament.uk>, "steve.bird@telegraph.co.uk" <steve.bird@telegraph.co.uk>, Workplace Colleague Network <colleaguenetwork@londonbusforums.co.uk>, "mark@ybc.tv" <mark@ybc.tv>, "Catherine (MP)" <catherine.atkinson.mp@parliament.uk>, Rebecca Williams - ITV <rebecca.williams@itn.co.uk>, Luke Donnelly <Luke.donnelly@reachplc.com>, Issy Clarke <issy.clarke@global.com>

Feryal Clark, MP for Enfield NorthHouse of CommonsLondonSW1A 0AA
Dear Feryal Clark,
I noted with interest your 16 July request in the Commons to Bus Minister Simon Lightwood to 'commend The Mayor of London for working with bus operators and Unite the Union to convene a heat taskforce to protect drivers and keep London's bus network running safely.'
From my 13 July email exchange with TfL below, you'll note that—based on the public record—both the Mayor of London and Unite the Union have known about Dangerously-Hot Bus Cabs since at least 2018 and have done nothing about it.
Did you realise you and the Minister actually commended the Mayor and Unite for their well-evidenced failure to protect TfL bus drivers?
And the heat taskforce you mentioned? 
Maybe you should ask TfL's Chief Operating Officer Clare Mann if she knew that she would be on holiday when the taskforce met for the first time?
And while you're asking questions of the Bus Minister, perhaps Simon Lightwood might be interested in asking TfL the following questions:

• Does Graysons have the TfL Air Conditioning (AC) contract for buses? 
• If so, why is the AC not covered under the 5 year manufacturer warranty buses have? 
• What are the terms of Grayon's AC contract? 
• How often are Graysons servicing the units to make sure they work correctly? 
• What's the service level agreement as to how long they have in which to repair vehicles once they have been reported faulty?
• Can you provide copies of the TFL bus specifications list that covers in cab drivers ac from the first point it was introduced and all subsequent amendments to this to date? 
• New buses have a 3 year engine/gearbox warranty with the rest of the bus covered for 5 years
• So why would a 3 year old and 1 year old bus need the AC fixing and why did Graysons only fix this on 1200 buses?
• How many Buses actually have working AC?
• Will the heat taskforce have published minutes, agendas and lists of attendees? If not, why?

"The Right to Working Air Cooling in our cabs in the summer heat" forms just 1of 12 Safety-Critical Bill of Rights that London Bus Drivers have been campaigning for since November 2024 for the Mayor to inscribe in TfL's—negligent, in my view—Framework Bus Services Contract.
London Bus Drivers' Bill of Rights
 1.⁠ ⁠The Right to a safe work schedule without any forced overtime or loss of pay
 2.⁠ ⁠The Right to a decent and proper rest break in the working day
 3.⁠ ⁠The Right to drive a safe and well-maintained vehicle
 4.⁠ ⁠The Right to clean, serviced toilet and rest facilities on all bus routes
 5.⁠ ⁠The Right to report safety concerns without fear of retribution from TfL or employers
 6.⁠ ⁠The Right, when seriously ill and covered by a doctor's note, to not be harassed into coming into work until fit to do so
 7.⁠ ⁠The Right to relevant and timely safety training
 8.⁠ ⁠The Right to drive without being forced to answer radio messages and texts from Controllers whilst in motion
 9.⁠ ⁠⁠The Right to have all company rules in writing and clearly displayed
10.⁠ ⁠⁠The Right to be treated with dignity and respect by our employers, TfL and the public
11.⁠ ⁠The Right to Working Air Cooling in our cabs in the summer heat 
12.⁠ ⁠The Right to Working Heaters in our cabs in the cold of winter
I even had a chance to discuss the hot cabs issue directly with the Mayor on 28 July 2022. 

28 July - LBC - Bus Driver "Kevin" on #SpeakToSadiq with James O'Brien and Sadiq Khan

Please feel free to contact me if you ever feel motivated again to 'commend' the Mayor and Unite for failing to protect London's Bus Drivers from Dangerously-Hot Bus Cabs and other Poor Working Conditions. 
I've got plenty more evidence to share with you and your fellow MPs.
Yours sincerely,
Kevin MustafaLondon Bus Safety CampaignerFounding Member Bus Driver Bill of Rights Campaign
Mob .                               

-------------------------From: Claire Mann <ClaireMann@tfl.gov.uk>
Sent: 13 July 2026 10:42
To: kevin mustafa <kevinmustafa@msn.com>
Subject: Automatic reply: Bus Driver Safety, Fatigue and Accountability on London's Bus Network Thank you for your email.

 

I am on annual leave and will return on Thursday 30th July.

 

In my absence Nick Dent will be my deputy from 10th until 19th July (NickDent@tfl.gov.uk)

 

Richard Jones will cover from 20th until 29th July (Richard.Jones2@tube.tfl.gov.uk)

 

For all other queries please contact my PA, Lauren Orford on LaurenOrford@tfl.gov.uk 

 

Take care

 

Claire

------------------------- 

I see from Claire Mann's out of office reply she won't be attending today's safety critical meeting. In any case, here's the list I referred to in this morning's email which evidences that both the Mayor and TfL and the trade union have been well aware of the Dangerously-Hot Bus Cab issue since at least July 2018.

July 2026

8 July - Evening Standard - Heatwave exposes pressure on London's bus network sparking emergency response from TfL

2 July 

Video: London Assembly Unanimously Approves Bus Driver Bill of Rights Motion - Keith Prince (Reform)

Bus Driver Bill of Rights Motion - Keith Prince (Reform)

Assembly Press Release - Assembly calls for a Bus Drivers' Bill of Rights

ITV News 

Bus Drivers' Bill of Rights motion passed at City Hall after ITV News London report

June 2026

Question 2026/1999 - Bus Driver Bill of Rights: ⁠The Right to Working Air Cooling in our cabs in the summer heat - Keith Prince

26 June - Unite the Union - "Unite welcomes London Mayor's pledge to sweltering bus drivers"

25 June - LBC News - 'Too hot? Don't drive that bus': Sadiq backs bus drivers as he brands stifling working conditions 'unacceptable' 24 June - ITV News

 

'Don't risk personal safety' Sadiq Khan tells bus drivers as temperatures soar on hottest June day

Question 2026/2016 - Cooling London's Transport Network - Elly Baker

12 June - Question 2026/1908 - Bus Drivers Overheating (1) - Neil Garratt (Conservative)

 

12 June - Question 2026/1909 - Bus Drivers Overheating (2) - Neil Garratt (Conservative)

 

12 June - Question 2026/1910 - Bus Drivers Overheating (3) - Neil Garratt (Conservative)

 

 

28 May - ITV News - "Bus drivers suffer sweltering conditions at work during May heatwave"

 

April 2026

20 April - ITV News - "Exclusive figures reveal extent of dangerously tired London bus drivers"

 

Video

 

17 April - ITV News 'So fatigued they are falling asleep at the wheel': Calls for TfL to improve bus driver conditions

March 2026

26 March  - ITV News - 'Mayor of London 'appalled' as ITV News London uncovers bus drivers working in shocking conditions"

 

Video

 

26 March - London Assembly

Neil Garratt questions London Mayor about Poor Working Conditions for London Bus Drivers

25 March - ITV News - "Transport boss 'horrified' after ITV News London uncovers shocking conditions for London bus drivers"

 

Video

 

25 March - London Assembly- Neil Garratt questions Andy Lord about Poor Bus Driver Working Conditions

Video

March 2026

19 March - ITV News - "Falling asleep at the wheel and urinating in jars - the reality for London bus drivers"

 

Video

 

July 2025

3 July 2025 - Caroline Russell

Transcript of Agenda Item 3 - Question and Answer Session: Transport for London (Supplementary) [3]

Video

3 July 2025 - TfL Commissioner: TfL Bus Drivers have 'Responsibility' to Refuse Buses without Working AC

Question 2025/2619 - Leonie Cooper - Heat on Buses

17 July 2025 -Unite the Union- Unite takes action to support boiling bus drivers

1 July 2025 - Heatwave and London Bus Drivers - BBC News

 

February 2025

 

Question 2025/0591 - Bus Drivers' "Bill of Rights": "The Right to Working Air Cooling in TfL Bus cabs in the summer heat"- Keith Prince

 

January 2025

Question 2025/0146 - TfL Air Conditioning Policies (1) - Susan Hall

Question 2025/0147 - TfL Air Conditioning Policies (2) - Susan Hall   

Question 2025/0148 - TfL Air Conditioning Policies (3) - Susan Hall

Question 2025/0149 - TfL Air Conditioning Policies (4)- Susan Hall 

Question 2025/0150 - TfL Air Conditioning Policies (5)-Susan Hall 

Question 2025/0151 - TfL Air Conditioning Policies (6)- Susan Hall

October 2024

10 October 2024

Q&A with Mayor - Neil Garratt - Heating and Air Conditioning on Buses

Video

Question 2024/3101- Hina Bokhari - Employee Wellbeing - 

Video

Question 2024/3434 - Bus Drivers Dangerously Overheating: Success of EQM Process - Neil Garratt (Conservative)

September 2024

29 September 2024

BBC Inside Politics - Poor London Bus Driver Working Conditions

July 2024

Question 2024/2238 - Bus Drivers Dangerously Overheating - Neil Garratt

Question 2024/2893 - Bus Drivers Dangerously Overheating: EQM Process - Neil Garratt (Conservative)

Question 2024/2894 - Vision Zero: "Lessons Learned" from Arriva 141 Bus Crash, 13 June, Green Lanes, Islington—Neil Garratt

March 2024

Investigation of "Bus, tram and tube safety in London" by London Assembly Transport Committee

cf. pp. 25-26 "Extreme Bus Cabin Temperatures"

Recommendation 7 of the London Assembly Transport Committee Investigation

"TfL should address the issue of extreme temperatures in bus cabs through improved air conditioning and heating systems for the cab. It should monitor this by incorporating a digital thermometer in future cab designs, with data automatically recorded on iBus."

February 2024

Question 2024/0792 - Vision Zero: "Lessons Learned" from Arriva 141 Bus Crash, 13 June, Green Lanes, Islington- Neil Garratt

December 2023

15 December 2023

"Overheated Cabins" cf. page 9, Evidence Submission by Tom Kearney, #LondonBusWatch

Question 2023/4725 - Vision Zero: Independent Human Factors Analysis of "Longstanding Agreements" between TfL, Bus Operators and Unite the Union - Neil Garratt

October 2023

Question 2023/3649 - Vision Zero: TfL's Refusal to Mitigate Unsafe Working Environment on Buses- Neil Garratt

Question 2023/3631 - TfL's New Bus Safety Strategy - Keith Prince

July 2023

Question 2023/2824 - Vision Zero: TfL's Refusal to Mitigate Unsafe Working Environment on Buses -Neil Garratt

6 July 2023 Q&A with Mayor of London - Neil Garratt - Hot Bus Cabs

Video

Transcript

From 6 July 2023 - Hot Bus Twitter Thread

https://x.com/comadad/status/1676928661109219334?s=20

Question 2023/2109 - Independent Investigation about longstanding problems of Faulty Air Conditioning in London Bus Cabs- Keith Prince

Question 2023/2118 -Unite the Union - Too Hot Campaign-Keith Prince

June 2023

14 June 2023 - Islington Gazette - Green Lanes bus crash passenger: 'Miracle no one was hurt'

May 2023

Question 2023/1656 - Vision Zero: TfL's Refusal to Mitigate Unsafe Working Environment on Buses - Neil Garratt

February 2023

Question 2023/0927 - Vision Zero: TfL offering 'Safe Spaces' from Public Scrutiny to Bus Operators- Neil Garratt

Question 2023/0929 - Unsafe Working Environment on Buses - Neil Garratt

December 2022

Question 2022/5366 - Logistics UK 2021 Study of the State of Air-Conditioning Systems on Buses- Keith Prince

Question 2022/5400 - Unsafe Working Environment on Buses- Neil Garratt

Question 2022/5399 - Faulty Air Conditioning on Buses-  Neil Garratt

November 2022

Question 2022/4207 - Hot Weather Buses Risk Assessment- Neil Garratt

October 2022

Question 2022/3463 - Logistics UK 2021 Study of the State of Air-Conditioning Systems on Buses - Keith Prince

Question 2022/3464 - Logistics UK 2021 Study of the State of Air-Conditioning Systems on Buses - Bus Operators- Keith Prince

Question 2022/3465 - Logistics UK 2021 Study of the State of Air-Co

The Overheating Cycle: Taking a break does nothing to cool down a mechanical engine or a glass cab. The bus continues to bake in the direct sun, and the driver is forced right back into an unsafe, +40c environment the moment they step back in.

The Fear Factor: You stated that operators will not be penalised and drivers must stop the bus if they feel fatigued. Yet, as reported by the Evening Standard, drivers on the ground still feel compelled to keep driving because they fear being "called into the office" by operators who prioritise mileage over safety.

"The Right to Working Air Cooling in our cabs in the summer heat" 

 1.⁠ ⁠The Right to a safe work schedule without any forced overtime or loss of pay 2.⁠ ⁠The Right to a decent and proper rest break in the working day 3.⁠ ⁠The Right to drive a safe and well-maintained vehicle 4.⁠ ⁠The Right to clean, serviced toilet and rest facilities on all bus routes 5.⁠ ⁠The Right to report safety concerns without fear of retribution from TfL or employers 6.⁠ ⁠The Right, when seriously ill and covered by a doctor's note, to not be harassed into coming into work until fit to do so 7.⁠ ⁠The Right to relevant and timely safety training 8.⁠ ⁠The Right to drive without being forced to answer radio messages and texts from Controllers whilst in motion 9.⁠ ⁠⁠The Right to have all company rules in writing and clearly displayed10.⁠ ⁠⁠The Right to be treated with dignity and respect by our employers, TfL and the public11.⁠ ⁠The Right to Working Air Cooling in our cabs in the summer heat 12.⁠ ⁠The Right to Working Heaters in our cabs in the cold of winter

"I think it's helpful if we re-state our shared view on three key principles.  

• The first is that accountability and responsibility for bus safety must rest ultimately with TfL. It cannot be devolved to the bus operators individually.  The buck stops with us.

• The second is that our approach to bus safety must mirror the rigour and discipline of our approach to rail safety.

• The third is transparency." 

• The Admission: Andy Lord admits there are currently 5 "Priority One" routes with absolutely zero toilet provision at either end of the route, alongside 15 Priority Two and 43 Priority Three routes with severe deficiencies.
• The Contradiction: He claims TfL had "previously resolved all priority one routes" but that "access arrangements have since changed." This proves TfL's strategy is fragile and reactive.
• The Frontline Reality: His "solution" for Priority One routes is to pad the timetable for a comfort break. A longer schedule is not a toilet. Forcing a driver to hunt for a public restroom mid-route wastes time, increases stress, and fails basic workplace welfare standards.

• The Admission: Between August and October 2025, TfL inspected 290 vehicles and found 86 defects relating directly to driver cab air conditioning.
• The Reality: That is an immediate 29.6% failure rate in the small sample they took.
• The Evasion: He tries to soften this by saying a defect just means performance is "somewhat degraded" rather than broken. To a driver sitting in a glass box in summer, "degraded" cooling means cab temperatures spiking past 40C. Furthermore, shifting focus entirely to heating in October means they have no data on how many AC units seized up or failed over the winter before spring restarted.

• The Admission: TfL is flatly refusing to recognize the Bus Drivers' Bill of Rights, passing the buck by listing decades-old legislation (like the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974) and operator licenses.
• The Counter-Argument: If the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 or the Workplace Regulations 1992 were actually working on the London bus network, we would not have 28,000 people signing a petition, 5 routes without a single toilet, and a 30% failure rate on cab climate control.
• The Buck-Passing: He states that responsibility for rectifying defects "rests with the operator" and tells drivers to just complain to their employers or use CIRAS. This ignores the fact that TfL owns and controls the network. TfL sets the contracts; they cannot subcontract out their moral and legal duty of care.

From: Tom Kearney <comadad1812@gmail.com>

Subject: Your Proposed Roundtable with TfL

From: Powell Gareth <GarethPowell@Tfl.gov.uk>
Subject: RE: 4 Catalysts to Improve TfL Surface Transport Safety Culture
Date: 15 May 2018 at 10:19:12 BST
To: Tom Kearney <                       >,  "Brown Mike (Commissioner)" <MikeBrown@tfl.gov.uk>

Cc: Branks Kirsten <KirstenBranks@Tfl.gov.uk>, "McNeill David (GM&C)" <DavidMcNeill@tfl.gov.uk>, Parks Annie <AnnieParks@Tfl.gov.uk>, "Tagg Ella (ST)" <Ella.Tagg@TfL.gov.uk>, Thomson Linda <Linda.Thomson@tube.tfl.gov.uk>, Henshaw Jenna <JennaHenshaw@tfl.gov.uk>, "Van Der Nest Christian (ST)" <Christian.VanDerNest@TfL.gov.uk>

Dear Tom

 Mike has asked me to respond to you, and I am sorry for the delay in doing so.

 I enjoyed our meeting, and I'm pleased that we agree on more things than we disagree.  I hope we can work together to eradicate deaths and serious injuries on the TfL bus network. 

 Agreement on general principles

 I think it's helpful if we re-state our shared view on three key principles. 

 The first is that accountability and responsibility for bus safety must rest ultimately with TfL.  It cannot be devolved to the bus operators individually.  The buck stops with us.

 The second is that our approach to bus safety must mirror the rigour and discipline of our approach to rail safety.

 The third is transparency.

 Agreed actions

 I am happy to confirm that we will publish safety data arranged by bus operator, route and garage as you suggest.  This information will be published on our website in an accessible and easy to understand form.  I agree that it is important for transparency, but also to help the bus operators to build their own reputations for the safety of the services they provide.  My aim is that we will deliver this over the summer.  I hope you would be willing to be consulted on the design.

 We also agreed to further develop this reporting to include precursor data and bus operator staff safety.  This is a trickier area, which I think needs a slightly longer timetable to work out how this might be best delivered without counter-productive impacts. I am keen to involve you in this work.

 I am happy to tell you that we have commissioned an independent review into fatigue. It will be published later this year. 

 Our new process for assurance of bus operator safety standards will include fatigue review, and will complement our new Safety Performance Index (SPI). Individual operator results of these two measures are commercially sensitive and no operator will be able to see the scores of other operators. However, once we are satisfied that the reporting process for the SPI is fully bedded in, hopefully by the summer, we will publish the network wide score. Building on this, we would like to work with you to develop a more granular level of reporting for publishing this information.

 We agreed to name routes and companies on traffic alerts involving bus incidents, subject to the immediate circumstances on the ground. We'll deliver this by the summer.

 We will act to improve the way in which customers and road users, and potentially bus company employees, are encouraged to report safety concerns - or service concerns which might pose safety questions - through a telephone line, our website and social media channels.  This would involve not just promotion of our existing channels, but consideration of how we can make them more dynamic and user-friendly.  We will consider similar services, such as New York's 511 number.  I don't think it would be sensible to give a timetable for this programme, other than to state that the work will start this month.

 Points for further discussion

 I'm not sure we resolved the question of whether TfL or the bus operators was best placed to procure confidential reporting services, like CIRAS.  However, I think we all agreed that more work was needed to build the confidence of bus operator staff to report safety concerns.  This important issue deserves further discussion between us, and maybe an injection of new thinking.

 We began an interesting discussion on contractual incentives/disincentives that may foster a strong bus safety culture.  Again, this would be a useful topic for a future discussion.

 I hope our meeting will be the beginning of much better relationship and I hope we can carry on talking.  On the actions, David McNeill will share with you our plans as they develop.

 Yours sincerely

 Gareth Powell

Managing Director - Surface Transport

  From: Tom Kearney                                    
Sent: 29 March 2018 16:44
To: Brown Mike (Commissioner)
Cc: Branks Kirsten; Powell Gareth; McNeill David (GM&C); Parks Annie; Tagg Ella (ST); Linda.Thomson@tube.tfl.go.uk
Subject: FW: 4 Catalysts to Improve TfL Surface Transport Safety Culture

 

Mr. Mike Brown, MVO, Commissioner

Transport for London

Windsor House

42-50 Victoria Street

London SE1 2AA

 Dear Commissioner Brown,

 Thank you, Gareth and David for your time today. I am heartened by the substance and candor of our discussion and am looking forward to a response to my common-sense proposals.

 

For reference, here is a link to the June 2014 Straits Times article "Operating public buses: Lessons from London" from which I derived my Bus Cost data (which, you'll see from the article, comes directly from Bus Company executives James Trayner and Sean O'Shea.)

 

I'm in regular touch with the article's author and am pushing him to write an update comparing some of the safety issues that might be common to both Bus Systems. I'll let you know how that goes. 

 

With kind regards and gratitude,

 

Tom Kearney

#LondonBusWatch

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Blog: www.saferoxfordstreet.blogspot.co.uk

 

2016 Winner, Transport - Sheila McKechnie Foundation SMK Campaigners Award

 From: Tom Kearney                                                       
Date: Wednesday, 28 March 2018 at 20:50
To: Mike Brown <MikeBrown@tfl.gov.uk>
Cc: Branks Kirsten <KirstenBranks@Tfl.gov.uk>, Gareth Powell <GarethPowell@tfl.gov.uk>, "McNeill David (GM&C)" <DavidMcNeill@tfl.gov.uk>, Parks Annie <AnnieParks@Tfl.gov.uk>, <Ella.Tagg@TfL.gov.uk>, <Linda.Thomson@tube.tfl.gov.uk>
Subject: 4 Catalysts to Improve TfL Surface Transport Safety Culture

 Mr. Mike Brown, MVO, Commissioner

Transport for London

Windsor House

42-50 Victoria Street

London SE1 2AA

 Dear Commissioner Brown,

 In preparation for our meeting tomorrow, I am writing this briefing note to you to read beforehand so that the limited time we both have made available for our meeting can be used most efficiently. 

 As I think you already know, I would like this meeting to focus on 4 "Catalysts" to Improve TfL Surface Transport Safety Culture.

 I believe these Catalysts are:

 

1. Improving Transparency & Data Reporting

 2. Improving Safety Reporting & Monitoring

 3. Improving Understanding of how Bus Driver Working Conditions affect Safety Performance

 4. Improving Safety Incident Investigations

 

Accordingly, I'd like to see if we might be able to agree on the following concrete steps tomorrow:

 1. Actions to Improve Transparency and Data Reporting

• On each bus route website page, TfL will publish the contact details for senior responsible officers and latest safety performance numbers for that Bus Operator on that route.

• TfL to publish consolidated bus collision and injury data by Bus Garage every quarter.

• TfL to publish consolidated bus collision and injury data by Bus Operator every quarter: this data would identify the Bus Operator by its national brand name, not its local franchise name.

• TfL to publish consolidated data on how many KSI collision incidents are occurring per bus in each operators' fleet.

• @TfLBusAlerts and @TfLTrafficAlerts to tweet Bus Operator name, route number and location (borough) of any bus involved in a collision in real-time (that is, if a TfL contractor is involved then all TfL twitter feeds alert the public what route, what borough & if it involves a human being).

• On its Bus Safety Data Website, TfL to publish how much it is paying each contractor every quarter - as above, this data would identify the Bus Operator by its national brand name, not its local franchise name.

• TfL to provide the complete contact details (telephone, email and social media) of all TfL and contractor (Bus, Tram and other road-based sub-contractors), Managing Directors and key operations managers on a well-publicised and easily-accessible TfL web page.

2. Actions to Improve Safety Reporting and Monitoring

• All TfL Bus Operators would subscribe directly to a bona fide independent and confidential transport safety reporting service (instead of TfL subscribing on its Bus Operators' behalf, as is currently done with CIRAS). Bus Operators' direct subscription to a bona fide transport confidential reporting service (like—but not restricted to—CIRAS) would be made an immediate contract requirement as per Section 5 of the existing Framework Bus Contract which stipulates inter alia "in providing the Services the Operator shall take all steps necessary to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all persons."

• TfL to create a single telephone number (New York has "511") which members of the public can call to report any dangerous behaviour or incident involving a TfL Surface Operations Contractor. Callers to this number would receive a traceable case number and a call back or return email to confirm when and what mitigating action was taken by the TfL Contractor. Every quarter, this incident information (reporter anonymised but showing route, operator, location, date, type of incident) would be published on the TfL Website.

• To encourage real-time witness reporting of any Surface Transport Safety Incident involving a TfL Contractor, @TfLBusAlerts will tweet the contact details of the Metropolitan Police Service (https://beta.met.police.uk/report/report-a-road-traffic-incident/) to any report received from the public on Twitter.

3. Actions to Improve Understanding of how Bus Driver Working Conditions affect Safety Performance

• I would like you and Gareth Powell to consider participating in a confidential information session with TfL Bus Drivers facilitated by former Head of CIRAS Paul Russell (perhaps conducted under the auspices of the SSHR Panel). I personally think it is crucial that you both are informed on this issue directly by TfL Bus Drivers who are not compromised by having too close an association with either their employers or Unite the Union.

4. Catalysts to Improve Surface Transport Safety Incident Investigations

• TfL to create an independent body to investigate serious incidents on the bus network similar to the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) in the railway industry. IA 17 780 shows TfL already has such expertise. 

• As the RAIB Investigation and IA 17 780 so plainly revealed, TfL already knows these above-mentioned "Catalysts" are crucial for a safe Tram Operation: I'd like to see precisely the same kind of Internal Audit exercise performed at each Contracted Bus Operation. I believe such a TfL-led "Bus Safety Audit" which systemically reviewed the nuts & bolts of each Bus Contractors' Operational Safety Reporting and Monitoring System and would provide TfL with a sound basis to prescribe the kind of specific actions sought from TfL Surface Transport and its Bus Contractors as IA 17 780 so lucidly did for Trams. 

In conclusion, have always felt it was well within TfL Surface Transport's power and capability to do good for safety, but that it manifestly lacked leadership at the top (In fact, that's why I've campaigned "relentlessly" since 2010.) 

 You've given me some hope that the situation has now changed.

 If so, then let's get to work on changing TfL Surface Transport's Safety Culture for the better and —please—put me out of a "job" I certainly don't need and certainly never wanted. 

 Yours sincerely,

 Tom Kearney

#LondonBusWatch

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Blog: www.saferoxfordstreet.blogspot.co.uk

 

2016 Winner, Transport - Sheila McKechnie Foundation SMK Campaigners Award

 

Dear Lorna/AndyFor years, bus drivers, safety campaigners and members of the public have raised serious concerns about the working conditions faced by London bus drivers. Yet every time these issues are raised with TfL or through the media, the response appears to be the same: that TfL "takes the safety and welfare of bus drivers seriously" and that there are "a range of measures" in place.The question that needs answering is: what exactly are those measures, and why are drivers still reporting the same issues year after year?If the current measures are effective, why are drivers continuing to raise concerns about:

• Excessive heat in driving cabs during periods of hot weather.
• Inadequate heating and poor conditions during winter.
• Lack of proper access to toilet facilities during duties.
• Fatigue caused by long duties, demanding schedules and insufficient recovery time.
• Pressure caused by operational demands, performance expectations and controller intervention.

These concerns have been raised repeatedly over many years. If the same problems continue to occur annually, then simply repeating that TfL takes safety seriously is not enough. Words and statements do not improve working conditions — actions and measurable improvements do.Emails bouncing back and forth, and simply telling us that we are wrong, isn't yielding the results that we all need. Therefore, I am proposing a Roundtable meeting between TfL leadership, myself, and the other activists and safety campaigners who have been fighting for the betterment of bus drivers for years. I am more than happy to take time out to meet so we can have a proper discussion. Collectively, we could actually set out a real plan.In preparation for that discussion, I would like your response to the London Assembly motion passed unanimously on 2 July, calling for a Bus Driver Bill of Rights to be incorporated into the framework agreement. What is TfL's position on this?To be absolutely clear: this Bill of Rights is not a myth, it is not made up, and it is not going away. Launched on November 5th, 2024, and subsequently submitted to City Hall, the petition for this Bill of Rights has been signed by 24,000 bus drivers and over 4,000 members of the public. This represents an undeniable mandate from the frontline workforce. These 28,000 voices are a statement of fact that the current system is failing. Putting clear rights and minimum standards into tender contracts would provide the exact accountability needed to ensure that operators are contractually required to protect drivers' safety, welfare, and working conditions. A Bill of Rights provides a clear, enforceable framework covering safe working conditions, adequate facilities, reasonable recovery time, and protection from unsafe pressures.TfL must recognise its responsibility. Operators may be awarded contracts to run services, but TfL owns and controls the London bus network. These routes are TfL's responsibility. If contracted operators are failing to provide safe conditions, TfL cannot simply pass responsibility elsewhere.So I ask you directly ahead of our meeting:

1. What specific measures are currently in place?
2. Why have these measures not prevented the repeated concerns being raised by drivers?
3. What measurable improvements can TfL demonstrate?
4. Will TfL support the introduction of a Bus Driver Bill of Rights within future tender agreements?

After years of raising these concerns, drivers deserve more than reassurance. They deserve transparency, accountability and meaningful change.I would like to arrange this Roundtable meeting to include yourself, and Transport Commissioner Andy Lord. Given the scale of workforce dissatisfaction and the 28,000 signatures representing the frontline, it is vital that TfL's top leadership is present.Please let me know your collective availability over the next 4 weeks so we can sit down together and address these facts constructively. I am available between the 3rd - 14th August .Yours sincerely,Kevin MustafaLondon Bus Safety CampaignerFounding Member Bus Driver Bill of Rights Campaign
Mob                                 

No Vehicle Mitigation: A cooling-off break does nothing to lower the temperature of the vehicle itself.
The Overheating Cycle: The bus remains stationary in the direct sun, continuing to bake.
Immediate Danger: Once the break is over, the driver is forced back into an identical, unsafe, and dangerously overheated environment.

TO: London Bus Forums

FROM: Tom Kearney, #LondonBusWatch

RE: TfL's Annual Dangerously-Hot Bus Cab Crisis (2018-2026)—A Briefing Note 

DATE: 8 July 2026

RE: TfL's Dangerously-Hot Bus Cab Crisis (June 2018-July 2026)

I read London Bus Forums's thoughtful editorial—"Sadiq Khan backs London bus drivers as TfL questioned over cab cooling checks"—with a great deal of interest.  While about a year ago this month last year, the TfL Commissioner Andy Lord admitted that London's bus contracts prioritised on-time performance over safety, the Mayor's 25 June statement on LBC—

"We've also said to the bus operators that they shouldn't use the excuse of bus performance indicators to put pressure on their bus drivers. They've been suspended." 

—marks the first time the Mayor's publicly admitted that TfL Bus Contracts financially incentivise Bus Operators to force Bus Drivers to operate Buses in working conditions that are dangerous for their and the public's safety. 

In other words, it appears the Mayor was telling us that the "buck" stops with TfL.

Or did he? 

On 2 July, TfL announced the roll-out of its newest ("next generation") Bus Safety Standard, which—just like the old Bus Safety Standard announced in October 2018—contained zero requirements for ensuring Air Conditioning functioned in London Bus Drivers' cabs.   Since the Mayor has already told us that "Air conditioning is equipped for the driver's cab of all London buses. Since 2006, the bus vehicle specification required the air conditioning to reduce a temperature of 35 degrees Celsius to 25 degrees Celsius...", one can only hope against hope that the technical specifications detailed in the Bus Safety Standard live up to TfL's public relations hype better than its Bus Vehicle Specifications do for Air Conditioning. 

According to the Singapore's Ministry of Transport, the last public bus without Air Conditioning in that city was retired over 13 years ago. Meanwhile, in 2026 TfL does not even have a plan for ensuring London Buses have working Air Conditioning in Drivers' cabs. 

Wouldn't you have thought the Mayor and Transport Commissioner would have made good use of their recent Taxpayer-funded trip to Singapore  to—at a minimum—discover how that 'World City' International Bus Benchmarking Group Peer achieved having 100 percent of its public Bus Fleet installed with working Air Conditioning over a decade ago? 

As you know, 'Right' Number 11 in the London Bus Drivers Bill of Rights is—

"The Right to Working Air Cooling in our cabs in the summer heat" 

—and forms just 1 of 12 Safety-Critical Human Rights Bus Drivers have been campaigning for since November 2024 for the Mayor to inscribe in TfL's—negligent, in my view—Framework Bus Services Contract.

London Bus Drivers' Bill of Rights

 1.⁠ ⁠The Right to a safe work schedule without any forced overtime or loss of pay

 2.⁠ ⁠The Right to a decent and proper rest break in the working day

 3.⁠ ⁠The Right to drive a safe and well-maintained vehicle

 4.⁠ ⁠The Right to clean, serviced toilet and rest facilities on all bus routes

 5.⁠ ⁠The Right to report safety concerns without fear of retribution from TfL or employers

 6.⁠ ⁠The Right, when seriously ill and covered by a doctor's note, to not be harassed into coming into work until fit to do so

 7.⁠ ⁠The Right to relevant and timely safety training

 8.⁠ ⁠The Right to drive without being forced to answer radio messages and texts from Controllers whilst in motion

 9.⁠ ⁠⁠The Right to have all company rules in writing and clearly displayed

10.⁠ ⁠⁠The Right to be treated with dignity and respect by our employers, TfL and the public

11.⁠ ⁠The Right to Working Air Cooling in our cabs in the summer heat 

12.⁠ ⁠The Right to Working Heaters in our cabs in the cold of winter

Despite the Mayor and TfL Commissioners having parroted on about Vision Zero, Climate Change and Pollution since May 2016, it's obvious that neither have—or has had—a plan to (a prioritise safety and safe working conditions for Bus Drivers (b) get rid of diesel buses or (c) manage London's public bus operation with extreme care during heatwaves. Year after year, London suffers more predictably intense and frequent heat waves, and London's Bus Drivers are subjected to the Mayor's and TfL's collective failure to act to take well-evidenced measures to protect London Bus Drivers' —and Londoners—lives and livelihoods from "institutionally unsafe" Bus Operations. 

From the Timeline below, you'll see that both the cause and the effect of TfL's Annual Dangerously-Hot Bus Crisis have been known to the Mayor and TfL Commissioner for years, yet TfL has not changed its Framework Bus Services Contract since before Sadiq Khan was elected in May 2016. Furthermore, despite repeated requests from London Assembly Members since early 2025 to consider inscribing the Bill of Rights into that document, the Mayor has contemptuously rejected the idea without providing any credible granular evidence to support his position. As you study the years of Mayor's Questions and news reports about London's predictable and solvable Annual Hot Bus Cab Crisis, I hope you'll find that the words Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in his sermon Love in Action— "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."— provide an apposite description of both the Mayor of London's and Transport Commissioner's behaviour toward Bus Drivers and the general public. 

TIMELINE of TfL's DANGEROUSLY-HOT BUS CABS CRISIS (June 2018-July 2026)

July 2026

2 July 2026

Video: London Assembly Unanimously Approves Bus Driver Bill of Rights Motion - Keith Prince (Reform)

Bus Driver Bill of Rights Motion - Keith Prince (Reform)

Assembly Press Release - Assembly calls for a Bus Drivers' Bill of Rights

ITV News 

Bus Drivers' Bill of Rights motion passed at City Hall after ITV News London report

June 2026

Question 2026/1999- Bus Driver Bill of Rights: ⁠The Right to Working Air Cooling in our cabs in the summer heat - Keith Prince (Reform)

26 June - Unite the Union - "Unite welcomes London Mayor's pledge to sweltering bus drivers"

25 June - LBC News - 'Too hot? Don't drive that bus': Sadiq backs bus drivers as he brands stifling working conditions 'unacceptable'

24 June - ITV News

'Don't risk personal safety' Sadiq Khan tells bus drivers as temperatures soar on hottest June day

Question 2026/1908 - Bus Drivers Overheating (1) - Neil Garratt (Conservative)

Question 2026/1909 - Bus Drivers Overheating (2) - Neil Garratt (Conservative)

Question 2026/1910 - Bus Drivers Overheating (3) - Neil Garratt (Conservative)

Question 2026/2016 - Cooling London's Transport Network - Elly Baker (Labour)

May 2026

28 May - ITV News - "Bus drivers suffer sweltering conditions at work during May heatwave"

April 2026

20 April - ITV News - "Exclusive figures reveal extent of dangerously tired London bus drivers"

17 April - ITV News 'So fatigued they are falling asleep at the wheel': Calls for TfL to improve bus driver conditions"

March 2026

26 March  - ITV News - 'Mayor of London 'appalled' as ITV News London uncovers bus drivers working in shocking conditions"

26 March - London Assembly

Neil Garratt (Conservative) questions London Mayor about Poor Working Conditions for London Bus Drivers

25 March - ITV News - "Transport boss 'horrified' after ITV News London uncovers shocking conditions for London bus drivers"

25 March - London Assembly- Neil Garratt (Conservative) questions Andy Lord about Poor Bus Driver Working Conditions

19 March - ITV News - "Falling asleep at the wheel and urinating in jars - the reality for London bus drivers"

July 2025

3 July 2025 - Caroline Russell (Greens)

Transcript of Agenda Item 3 - Question and Answer Session: Transport for London (Supplementary) [3]

3 July 2025 - TfL Commissioner: TfL Bus Drivers have 'Responsibility' to Refuse Buses without Working AC

Question 2025/2619 - Heat on Buses - Leonie Cooper (Labour)

17 July 2025 -Unite the Union- Unite takes action to support boiling bus drivers

1 July 2025 - BBC London News - Heatwave and London Bus Drivers

February 2025

Question 2025/0591-Bus Drivers' "Bill of Rights": "The Right to Working Air Cooling in TfL Bus cabs in the summer heat"- Keith Prince (Conservative)

January 2025

Question 2025/0146 - TfL Air Conditioning Policies (1)  - Susan Hall (Conservative)

Question 2025/0147- TfL Air Conditioning Policies (2) - Susan Hall (Conservative)  

Question 2025/0148 -TfL Air Conditioning Policies (3)  - Susan Hall (Conservative)

Question 2025/0149 -TfL Air Conditioning Policies (4) - Susan Hall (Conservative)

Question 2025/0150-TfL Air Conditioning Policies (5) - Susan Hall (Conservative)

Question 2025/0151-TfL Air Conditioning Policies (6) - Susan Hall (Conservative)

October 2024

10 October 2024

Q&A with Mayor - Neil Garratt (Conservative) "Heating and Air Conditioning on Buses" (Video) - Transcript

Question 2024/3434 - Bus Drivers Dangerously Overheating: Success of EQM Process - Neil Garratt (Conservative)

Question 2024/3101-- "Employee Wellbeing" - Hina Bokhari (Liberal Democrat) (Video)

September 2024

29 September 2024

BBC Inside Politics - Poor London Bus Driver Working Conditions - Neil Garratt (Conservative)

July 2024

Question 2024/2238 - Bus Drivers Dangerously Overheating - Neil Garratt (Conservative)

Question 2024/2894 - Vision Zero: "Lessons Learned" from Arriva 141 Bus Crash, 13 June, Green Lanes, Islington—Neil Garratt (Conservative)

Question 2024/2893 - Bus Drivers Dangerously Overheating: EQM Process - Neil Garratt (Conservative)

March 2024

Investigation of "Bus, tram and tube safety in London" by London Assembly Transport Committee

cf. pp. 25-26 "Extreme Bus Cabin Temperatures"

Recommendation 7 of the London Assembly Transport Committee Investigation

"TfL should address the issue of extreme temperatures in bus cabs through improved air conditioning and heating systems for the cab. It should monitor this by incorporating a digital thermometer in future cab designs, with data automatically recorded on iBus."

February 2024

Question 2024/0792 - Vision Zero: "Lessons Learned" from Arriva 141 Bus Crash, 13 June, Green Lanes, Islington- Neil Garratt (Conservative)

December 2023

15 December 2023

"Overheated Cabins" cf. page 9, Evidence Submission by Tom Kearney, #LondonBusWatch

Question 2023/4725 - Vision Zero: Independent Human Factors Analysis of "Longstanding Agreements" between TfL, Bus Operators and Unite the Union - Neil Garratt (Conservative)

October 2023

Question 2023/3649 - Vision Zero: TfL's Refusal to Mitigate Unsafe Working Environment on Buses- Neil Garratt (Conservative)

Question 2023/3631 - TfL's New Bus Safety Strategy - Keith Prince (Conservative)

July 2023

Question 2023/2824 - Vision Zero: TfL's Refusal to Mitigate Unsafe Working Environment on Buses - Neil Garratt (Conservative)

6 July 2023 Q&A with Mayor of London -  Hot Bus Cabs — Neil Garratt (Conservative)

Video

Transcript 

6 July 2023 - Hot Bus Twitter Thread                                           

Question 2023/2109 - Independent Investigation about longstanding problems of Faulty Air Conditioning in London Bus Cabs- Keith Prince (Conservative)

Question 2023/2118 -Unite the Union - Too Hot Campaign-Keith Prince (Conservative)

June 2023

14 June 2023 - Islington Gazette - Green Lanes bus crash passenger: 'Miracle no one was hurt'

May 2023

Question 2023/1656 - Vision Zero: TfL's Refusal to Mitigate Unsafe Working Environment on Buses - Neil Garratt (Conservative)

February 2023

Question 2023/0927 - Vision Zero: TfL offering 'Safe Spaces' from Public Scrutiny to Bus Operators- Neil Garratt (Conservative)

Question 2023/0929 - Unsafe Working Environment on Buses - Neil Garratt (Conservative)

December 2022

Question 2022/5366 - Logistics UK 2021 Study of the State of Air-Conditioning Systems on Buses- Keith Prince (Conservative)

Question 2022/5400 - Unsafe Working Environment on Buses- Neil Garratt (Conservative)

Question 2022/5399 - Faulty Air Conditioning on Buses-  Neil Garratt (Conservative)

November 2022

Question 2022/4207 - Hot Weather Buses Risk Assessment- Neil Garratt (Conservative)

October 2022

Question 2022/3463 - Logistics UK 2021 Study of the State of Air-Conditioning Systems on Buses - Keith Prince (Conservative)

Question 2022/3464 - Logistics UK 2021 Study of the State of Air-Conditioning Systems on Buses - Bus Operators-  Keith Prince (Conservative)

Question 2022/3465 - Logistics UK 2021 Study of the State of Air-Conditioning Systems on Buses - Bus Operators - Failure to Mitigate-Keith Prince (Conservative)

Question 2022/3475 - TfL-UCL Joint Study to 'understand thermal comfort on buses - Keith Prince (Conservative)

September 2022 

Question 2022/2930 - Excessively hot bus driver conditions - Siân Berry (Green)

Question 2022/2931 - Audit of bus cooling systems- Siân Berry (Green)

Question 2022/2993 - Lack of Air Conditioning on TfL Buses- Keith Prince (Conservative)

Question 2022/2992 - TfL's Independent Assurance of the Condition of the Bus Fleet through 'Engineering Quality Monitoring'-Keith Prince (Conservative)

Question 2022/2812 - Bus Driver Working Conditions - Caroline Pidgeon (Liberal Democrat)

July 2022

Unite the Union - 18 July - UK heatwave: Unite calls on government to 'get a move on' with clear law on working in hot temperatures

28 July - LBC - Bus Driver "Kevin" on #SpeakToSadiq with James O'Brien and Sadiq Khan 

September 2021

Question 2021/3713 - Lack of Air Conditioning on Buses (1) -Keith Prince (Conservative)

Question 2021/3714 - Lack of Air Conditioning on Buses (2) -Keith Prince (Conservative)

July 2021

23 July 2021 - Unite the Union - "Unite demands independent bus audit as London drivers warn of heat distress"

22 July 2021 - Express - 'You're not talking to us!' London bus driver rages at Sadiq Khan for turning off cold air

22 July 2021 - LBC - Bus Driver "Jason" on #SpeakToSadiq with James O'Brien and Sadiq Khan

19 July 2021 - My London - 'I boarded a London bus with no open windows in 28C and it was the worst 25 minutes of my life'

November 2020

23 November 2020 - Evening Standard - New fresh air system protects bus drivers against Covid-19

20 November 2020

Unite the Union - New London bus air conditioning system a major victory in driver Covid safety campaign

September 2020

Question 2020/3247 - Working Air Conditioning for Bus Drivers - Murad Qureshi (Labour)

Question 2020/2615 - Bus driver welfare during heatwaves-Caroline Russell (Green)

September 2018

Question 2018/2455 - Air conditioning on London buses (3) - Caroline Russell (Green)

July 2018 

Question 2018/1764 - Air conditioning on London buses (1) - Caroline Russell (Green)

Question 2018/1765 - Air conditioning on London buses (2) - Caroline Russell (Green)

28 June 2018 - Evening Standard - Scorching London buses 'as hot as pizza ovens' see commuters travel in 35C heat

27 July 2018 - LBC - Bus Driver "Yazu" on #SpeakToSadiq with James O'Brien and Sadiq Khan

26 July 2018 - BBC London News - Bus Drivers in Heat Wave

19 July 2018 - Evening Standard - TfL London bus driver claims temperatures in his cab reached 48C during heatwave

#LondonBusWatch is a volunteer-run blogsite established in 2012 and is unaffiliated with any political party or Labour union.  If you would like to know more than the spin being offered by TfL in its Press Releases, please get in touch.

Tom Kearney

#LondonBusWatch

E: comadad1812@gmail.com

Twitter: @comadad

Bluesky: @comadad.bsky.social

Blog:  www.saferoxfordstreet.blogspot.co.uk

Bus Services [No. 2] Bill Evidence Submission [July 2025]:  https://bills.parliament.uk/publications/61937/documents/6837

London Assembly Transport Committee Investigtation [April 2024]: https://www.london.gov.uk/about-us/londonassembly/meetings/documents/s110115/Appendix%201%20-%20Letter%20from%20Tom%20Kearney%20received%2015%20December%202023.pdf

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BetterBuses - and https://www.youtube.com/@tomkearney955

2018 Winner, Community Hero Award — The Johns Hopkins University Alumni Association

2016 Winner, Transport - Sheila McKechnie Foundation SMK Campaigners Award

From: Kevin Mustafa (busbillofrights@hotmail.com)

• What measures are being taken to protect drivers during periods of extreme heat.
• What maximum cab temperatures are considered acceptable.
• What monitoring of cab temperatures is currently undertaken.
• What investment programme exists to provide effective cooling systems across London's bus fleet.
• What timescales are in place for implementation.

Date: 26 May 2026 at 09:56:39 BST 

To: Mayor of London <mayor@london.gov.uk> 

From: Kevin Mustafa, Bus Driver Bill of Rights Campaign  

CC: TfL Commissioner <AndyLord@tfl.gov.uk>, Deputy Mayor for Transport <seb.dance@london.gov.uk>, TfL Board Members <Secretariat02@london.gov.uk>,  Elly Baker AM <elly.baker@london.gov.uk>, Lorna Murphy - TfL Bus <lornamurphy@tfl.gov.uk>, Keith Prince AM <keith.prince@london.gov.uk>, Neil Garratt AM <neil.garratt@london.gov.uk>, Tom Kearney <comadad1812@gmail.com>, Rebecca Williams - ITV, Michael Liebreich, Connor Hand, Workplace Colleague Network <colleaguenetwork@londonbusforums.co.uk>, Emma Best AM <emma.best@london.gov.uk>, Sara Brady - ITN, Caroline Russell AM <caroline.russell@london.gov.uk>, Dan Tomlinson MP <dan.tomlinson.mp@parliament.uk>, Tom Edwards-BBC, Lorraine Robertson - Bus Driver Activist, Henry Riley, London Travelwatch, Warren Kenny - GMB, Nick Owen - TFL <nick.owen1@tfl.gov.uk>, Lee Odams - RMT, Susan Hall AM <susan.hall@london.gov.uk>, Alex Wilson AM <alex.wilson@london.gov.uk>, Sharon Graham - Unite, Eddie Dempsey - RMT   

RE: Ongoing Failure to Address Dangerous Heat Conditions on London Buses  

Good Morning,
I am writing yet again regarding the ongoing and unacceptable issue of excessive heat and lack of effective air conditioning on London buses.
This is not a new complaint. I, along with many other drivers and passengers, have repeatedly raised this issue since at least 2017 through emails, public discussions, radio appearances, and direct engagement. I have personally raised this matter with you on LBC and have contacted both your office and Transport for London numerous times over several years.
Despite this, little appears to have changed in practice.
Every summer, drivers and passengers are subjected to unbearable temperatures inside buses. Drivers are expected to work long shifts in conditions that would not be tolerated in most other workplaces. Passengers, including elderly people, children, pregnant women, and those with medical conditions, are also being placed at unnecessary risk during periods of high temperatures.
What is especially frustrating is the continued public messaging suggesting the issue is being "addressed" while frontline experience shows otherwise. Announcements about "new buses," "future upgrades," or "investment plans" do not help the driver sitting in extreme heat today, nor the passenger trapped on an overheated vehicle now.
This issue has been ongoing for years. By this stage, the repeated assurances without meaningful widespread improvement are becoming impossible to distinguish from avoidance and deflection.
There are several points that require clear answers:

1. How many buses operating across London currently have fully functioning and effective air conditioning systems for both drivers and passengers?
   
2. How many complaints regarding overheating and failed air conditioning systems have TfL received since 2020?

3. What enforceable standards are currently imposed on operators regarding maximum cabin temperatures?
   
4. What immediate measures — not long-term aspirations — are being implemented before this summer to protect drivers and passengers?
   
5. Why has this issue been allowed to continue unresolved year after year despite constant warnings from frontline staff?
   

London bus drivers are repeatedly told safety is a priority, yet many continue working in conditions that are exhausting, distracting, and potentially dangerous. Heat fatigue directly impacts concentration, alertness, wellbeing, and ultimately public safety.
This is not simply a comfort issue anymore. It is a workplace welfare issue, a passenger safety issue, and increasingly a public health issue.
I would appreciate a direct response addressing the questions above rather than another generic statement about future investment or climate commitments.
For reference I added below the correspondence I received from Tom Cunnington after I spoke to you on LBC radio in July 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L1T_JzYwVg
We are reporting the issue year on year
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCheBW3fVAI
Yours sincerely,
Kevin MustafaLondon Bus Safety CampaignerFounding Member - Bus Driver Bill of Rights Campaign

 

---

From: Cunnington Tom (ST) <Tom.Cunnington@tfl.gov.uk>
Sent: Thursday, August 4, 2022 5:24:26 PM
To: Kevin Mustafa
Cc: Bus Ops FOIs & Inquiries <BusOpsFOIsInquir@tfl.gov.uk>
Subject: RE: Air-Conditioning London Buses

 

Dear Kevin,

 

Thank you for your email of 23 July 2022 and for taking the time to pass on your concerns regarding the operation of air conditioning on London buses and our subsequent phone call.

 

As we discussed I would like to reassure you that bus driver welfare is a priority for Transport for London (TfL), as set out in our recent Bus Action Plan: https://content.tfl.gov.uk/bus-action-plan.pdf.

 

Climate change mitigation is a key area of concern for TfL. We have been working with bus operators to improve the maintenance of the air conditioning system on buses.  In addition, when severe hot weather is forecasted, TfL writes to all bus operators instructing them to perform air-conditioning checks on all their buses and to flag any concerns to us.

 

Following complaints from a bus driver to the Mayor on LBC radio, TfL conducted audits on approximately 10% of the bus fleet - over 850 buses. These inspections checked for air conditioning output and a conditional assessment of the pump/drive belts was performed. These inspections indicated that most of the buses passed the checks, the buses where faults were found were reported to the relevant operators for rectification.

 

Isolation of the drivers' cab Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system from the saloon has also been introduced following  advice from University College London (UCL) on Covid-19 transmission. As those systems that recirculated air from the vehicle saloon have been modified to fresh air only in some cases the system performance suffered as a result. This was done to give bus drivers a significantly safer work environment during the height of the pandemic.

 

TfL has also conducted an extensive study, in partnership with UCL, to understand the thermal comfort on buses in a controlled climatic test chamber with a number of passengers on board. From the analysis of the study, several measures have been added to TfL's Bus Vehicle Specification for new buses including automatic interior temperature control based on ambient/outside temperatures. In addition, TfL have been working with suppliers of drivers' air conditioning systems and an improved HVAC specification has been incorporated to the latest Bus Vehicle Specification which will significantly improve thermal comfort for drivers.

 

Bus drivers on all routes in London have access to at least one toilet. TfL has made significant progress since 2018 with 64 new toilets provided for bus drivers. Further work continues, within the available funding, to focus on making sure driver welfare facilities are in good condition, are fit for purpose and have the capacity required to meet the demand of all users.

 

TfL has agreed with the bus drivers' union, Unite, and bus operators to use a criterion of no more than 150 minutes round trip time to determine where a toilet at either end of a route is sufficient. This enables TfL to prioritise its limited funds on providing facilities at locations that have the greatest benefit to drivers. Where opportunities arise, such as a third-party development, we will always seek to further improve the number of facilities available.

 

It is a legal requirement for places of work to provide a supply of drinking water (Regulation 22 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992).  Therefore, if you are aware of any bus operator facilities that are not meeting that obligation, I would encourage you to raise it directly with the operating company in the first instance, through Unite or to the Confidential Incident and Reporting Analysis Service (CIRAS).

 

I hope this helps to address the concerns you raised.

 

Regards

 

Tom

 

 

Tom CunningtonHead of Bus Business DevelopmentTransport for London

 

 

 

From: Kevin Mustafa
Sent: 23 July 2022 12:57
To: Cheeseman Louise <LouiseCheeseman@tfl.gov.uk>, Tom Cunnington - TfL<tomcunnington@tfl.co.uk>, Lilli Matson - Chief Safety Officer, Mayor of London <mayor@london.gov.uk> 

Cc: Tom Kearney <comadad1812@gmail.com>; Keith Prince <Keith.Prince@london.gov.uk>; Neil Garratt <Neil.Garratt@london.gov.uk>; Nick Rogers AM, Seb Dance - Deputy Mayor, Peter Kavanagh <Peter.Kavanagh@unitetheunion.org>; Sharon Graham <sharon.graham@unitetheunion.org>; Sian Berry - AM <sian.berry@london.gov.uk>; 

RE: Air-Conditioning London Buses

 

Good Afternoon,

 

London bus drivers have for many years reported that air-conditioning on TFL buses is failing and does not work.Operators fail to maintain these systems and or have them switched off/ belts removed. AC increases fuel usage.are drivers' being overlooked due to fuel costs?

 

Sadiq Khans been contacted by 2 Bus drivers whilst answering questions on LBC radio. once in July 2018 and again last year in July 2021.Both drivers have reported this issue yet still one year later nothing's changed the AC still does not work . I have personally tweeted the Mayor on numerous occasions raising AC.

 

Unite the Union reported on their website in November 2020 that Grayson's Thermal had had been instructed to attend bus garages and carryout upgrades to London's buses to ensure fresh air was drawn from the external of the bus into the cabs . This was advised after the investigation in to Covid-19 carried out by the University College London. 1200 buses required upgrading. They were completed in November 2020.

 

If this task was put in to place to protect London bus driver from Covid-19, can you explain to me why when drivers needed to turn on the AC in the heat of summer 2021 it did not work? Can you also explain to me why just a week ago when temperatures within London bus cabs reached 44C/ 111.2F AC still does not work? 

 

Covid-19 cases are currently increasing. The alleged upgrades to protect drivers in their cabs is obviously not working can you explain why and will you be requesting Grayson's Thermal refund TFL every penny of pubic money you paid them?

 

Do you agree that TFL and the Mayors failure to ensure all AC upgrades advised by the UCL allegedly completed were not checked and still do not work? This In my Opinion breached advice and breached drivers Health and Safety!! I am of course Trained to a very High level in health and safety. I am fully aware those at TFL who make safety critical decisions are not!

The above of course without external fresh air put drivers at risk of Omicron and in January 2021 there was a mass infection across Metroline Travel garages 170 drivers off at once in January at my Potters Bar garage myself included. Metroline lost more drivers to Covid-19 than any other operator.

 

In my opinion Transport for London have breached bus drivers' safety throughout Covid-19 by not policing face coverings on London buses and what is absolutely clear after Advice from the UCL the upgrades to bus AC were in my opinion a tick box exercise because for at least 8 years AC on London buses hasn't worked. 

 

Unite the Union put a post-up on their website in July 2021 requesting the Mayor carryout an audit on AC at operators across London.Can you confirm if this actually took place? What were your findings? AC is still not working!!!

 

London's Bus drivers are Sick, Tired and Fatigued. 25% of bus routes don't have toilet facilities at both ends of their routes to cool down or obtain water. 

Driving in a bus cab that is 44C/ 111.2F or in the mid 30s is absolutely unacceptable and it is about time TFL sanctioned Bus operators for not maintaining London's buses appropriately.  It is time that Visits were made to garages and buses inspected. Cold buses in the winter and sweat boxes in the summer.

 

Drivers across London are demanding that the Mayor and TFL get this matter resolved once and for all. We will not back down until you do

 

Please can you provide me feedback.

 

Many Thanks

 

Mr Kevin MustafaLondon Bus activist

 

 

 

  

 

 

By email and blogpost

Sir Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London and TfL Chair
City Hall
Kamal Chunchie Way
London E16 1ZE 

cc: Transport Commissioner; Deputy Mayor for Transport; Deputy Mayor for Social Justice and Communities, London Victims' Commissioner; TfL Walking and Cycling Commissioner; TfL Board Secretariat; TfL SSHR Panel Secretariat; TfL Chief Safety Officer; TfL Director of Bus; TfL Head of Insights and Direction; TfL Chief Operations Officer; London Assembly Transport Committee Members; CEO, London TravelWatch; Dan Tomlinson MP; Ben Coleman MP; Katie Lam MP; Olly Glover MP; Ruth Cadbury MP; Catherine Atkinson MP;  Workplace Colleague Network - London Bus Forums; Sharon Graham - Unite the Union; Journalists; Bus Drivers; Campaigners

10 April 2026

Dear Sir Sadiq,

RE: Poor Working Conditions for London Bus Drivers: 

at what—exactly—are you 'appalled' Sir Sadiq?

Since we've been exchanging correspondence and/or speaking directly since at least March 2021, inter alia—

  5 March 2026 - Bus Driver Safety, Fatigue and Accountability on London's Bus Network

19 February 2026 - Why do the Mayor and TfL refuse to protect London's Bus Drivers from 'Institutionally Unsafe' Working Conditions?

20 May 2025 - Improving London's Bus Services will be Impossible if Bus Drivers' Voices aren't Heard...and Heeded.

28 April 2025 - That TfL's Franchised Bus Operation is "Institutionally Unsafe" is a fact, Mr. Dance!

10 December 2024 - London Bus Drivers' Bill of Rights: Act Now Mr. Mayor! An Open Letter from Kevin Mustafa

29 October 2024 - TfL's 'Safety Scandal' will be your Legacy!

19 August 2021 - Speaking out against London Buses' Culture of Fear

12 March 2021 - More Questions about TfL's Covid-19 Risk Reduction Actions for London Bus Drivers

—I think your 26 March response to Neil Garratt AM's reasonable question about ITV's 19 March Report about Bus Driver Working Conditions— "Falling asleep at the wheel and urinating in jars - the reality for London bus drivers" —cannot be considered anything but, frankly, gaslighting.   

Were you 'appalled' on 13 February 2025 when Metro reported "London bus drivers forced into gross acts during long and tiring shifts"?

Were you 'appalled' on 21 September 2024 the MyLondon reported "Whistleblower London bus drivers 'exhausted' and 'use faulty vehicles' in 'dangerous' conditions"?

Were you 'appalled' on 28 July 2022 when I reported lack of toilets for Bus Drivers to you in person on LBC's #SpeaktoSadiq?

Were you 'appalled' on 7 February 2017 when anonymous London Bus Drivers reported their concerns about lack of toilets, fatigue and poor working conditions to the London Assembly Transport Committee? 

Based on all the information that's freely available for public scrutiny, I reckon that it's impossible for you to be 'appalled' by the inhumane working conditions suffered by London Bus Drivers that the public record has long made clear we've endured for decades and, in fact, first inspired them to demand a Bill of Rights back in 2017, yet your Commissioner for Transport told Keith Prince AM that he's "not familiar with" the Bill of Rights on 25 March. 

In my view, Andy Lord's claimed ignorance of the Bill of Rights combined with your refusal to respond to Keith Prince AM's November 2025 Question 2025/3718 only further reveals that you and your TfL appointees have done nothing but gaslight Londoners about your Mayoralty's commitment to improving Bus Safety and Bus Driver Working Conditions since you first took office in May 2016. 

TfL's published data and your responses to hundreds of Mayor's Questions since 2016 clearly evidence that TfL ensuring Bus Drivers are provided with safe working conditions that allow them to drive with duty of care has never been TfL's priority.

Since you have served as London's Mayor and TfL Chair:

• There have been, on average, over 26,000 recorded TfL bus crashes per year—that's an average of at least 72 potentially-lethal bus crashes per day—with 2024 witnessing the highest number of recorded crashes—TfL reported nearly 29,000 bus collisions, about 79 per day—since 2014—when TfL reported over 25,000 bus collisions, about 68 per day.

• At least 7335 people have been injured in a collision involving a TfL Bus, of which 2450 victims have been 'taken to hospital' and 78 to the morgue.  In your responses to many Mayor's Questions, you have repeatedly confirmed that TfL has no idea if these victims who have been compelled to be taken to hospital from injuries sustained "in or by a bus" have recovered fully or suffer from life-changing injuries or have passed away.  Accordingly, the veracity of any serious injury figure state by you or published by TfL involving its contracted bus fleet is, quite frankly, dubious; 

• At least 103 people have been killed in preventable Bus Safety Incidents in London—78 from collisions, 18 from onboard falls and 7 from other safety-related incidents (e.g, deaths from ill-defined but safety-related 'activity', 'near misses', personal injuries'). The actual number is higher, but, as you know, TfL excludes about 1 in 4 deaths of people "in or by a bus" from its official public reporting. 

• About 10 percent of all vehicle-related pedestrian fatalities in London have resulted from a collision involving a TfL Bus — in 2024, that horrifically large percentage increased to 15%.  Adjusting for the high number of miles carried out by the service, TfL Buses constitute less than 2% of the vehicles present on London's roads at any time.

• Vulnerable Road Users bear the brunt of these Increased Risks: The risk is disproportionately borne by those outside the vehicle. In 2024 and 2025, over 75% of those killed in London bus collisions were pedestrians or cyclists.

• An average of 7 Bus Drivers per month were reported by TfL as having been injured in Assault/Vandalism incidents on London's buses, of which over one driver per month was taken to hospital. 

That these chilling trends have occurred after—

• TfL announced a World Leading Bus Safety Programme in February 2016

• You announced Vision Zero in July 2018 

• TfL announced a 'World Leading' Bus Safety Standard in October 2018

• TfL announced a 'Bold New' Bus Safety Strategy' in September 2023

— suggests to me that your latest gaslighting about London's Bus Safety Performance and Bus Driver Working Conditions will convince your supporters in London's media to divert the public's attention away from the reality of what, in my view, is the real cost in human lives and livelihoods from by your allowing TfL to act as a negligent contractor. 

In closing, let me reiterate the Bill of Rights which London's Bus Drivers are demanding that TfL incorporate into its Framework Bus Services Contract:

 1.⁠ ⁠The Right to a safe work schedule without any forced overtime or loss of pay
 2.⁠ ⁠The Right to a decent and proper rest break in the working day
 3.⁠ ⁠The Right to drive a safe and well-maintained vehicle
 4.⁠ ⁠The Right to clean, serviced toilet and rest facilities on all bus routes
 5.⁠ ⁠The Right to report safety concerns without fear of retribution from TfL or employers
 6.⁠ ⁠The Right, when seriously ill and covered by a doctor's note, to not be harassed into coming into work until fit to do so
 7.⁠ ⁠The Right to relevant and timely safety training
 8.⁠ ⁠The Right to drive without being forced to answer radio messages and texts from Controllers whilst in motion
 9.⁠ ⁠⁠The Right to have all company rules in writing and clearly displayed
10.⁠ ⁠⁠The Right to be treated with dignity and respect by our employers, TfL an the public
11.⁠ ⁠The Right to Working Air Cooling in our cabs in the summer heat 
12.⁠ ⁠The Right to Working Heaters in our cabs in the cold of winter

On 1 May, as we did on 5 November 2024 and 5 November 2025, London Bus Drivers will rally in support of the Bill of Rights at TfL Headquarters.  You'll be welcome to address the rally to explain in person why we're protesting for rights and humane working conditions that you claim we already enjoy but the public record clearly shows have been degraded for at least 'the past 25 years'.

I look forward to seeing you in front of Palestra House on International Workers' Day. 

Yours sincerely,

Kevin Mustafa

London Bus Safety Campaigner

Founding Member - Bus Driver Bill of Rights Campaign

The date of the Mayor's decision was eerily coincidental with my own Oxford Street 'experience': exactly 16 years before, I was released from a ten-week stay in hospital after I was critically injured by a TfL Bus on Oxford Street on 18 December 2009.  

Although the Mayor's pedestrianisation scheme—running East to West from Orchard Street to Great Portland Street—is bisected by open traffic roads flowing North and/or South at five junctions along Oxford Street, the four smallest of six areas designated to be traffic-free are as long—or longer—than FIFA football pitches, with the two longest areas over twice as long. When it is completed, the approximately 1100m covered by the Mayor's approved plan will be truly 'world-leading': London will have one of the largest pedestrianised city-centre areas in the world.  

It is curious to me that all the recent mainstream media reports about Oxford Street have given disproportionate space to a long-running official narrative that pedestrianisation will inconvenience many, especially TfL Bus Users, e.g.—

• The case for banning vehicles from Oxford Street in London is weak Economist (15 Jan)
• Plan to pedestrianise London's Oxford Street given official go-ahead Guardian (26 Feb)
• Oxford Street pedestrianisation gets go-ahead from Sadiq Khan with traffic ban this summer Evening Standard (26 Feb)
• Sadiq Khan approves plan to pedestrianise part of Oxford Street MyLondon (26 Feb)

Meanwhile, there has been little—or, more often—no mention of the well-evidenced lethal and life-changing outcomes that allowing traffic (i.e, Buses and Taxis) on London's 'premier shopping destination' has imposed on Londoners and visitors for decades.

• at least four people have been killed and over 125 injured from collisions on Oxford Street: that's over 1 KSI per month; 
• KSI collision incidents on Oxford Street are now twenty percent higher than when Sadiq Khan announced his Vision Zero Programme in July 2018;
• three quarters of Oxford Street's fatal crashes—and about a third that have resulted in serious injury—have involved TfL buses; 
• only last month, a Route 456 bus based at New Cross Garage operated by Go Ahead under contract to TfL inflicted "life changing injuries" on a male pedestrian on Oxford Street.

As an Oxford Street 'survivor', it will be a great comfort to know that when people travel to Oxford Street to shop, work, visit friends or just enjoy some time in the greatest city on earth, the risk of them 'dying helplessly on a city street, their brains and bodies crushed by rushing tonnes of steel'—a risk that has been for years—will be zero.    

Since the Mayor's stated Vision Zero goal is "no one killed in or by a bus by 2030" in London, the fact that there is the real possibility that such an 'ambitious' goal will be achieved on 1100 metres of a pedestrianised Oxford Street by 2027 should be celebrated.  Moreover, since the Mayor appears to have manifestly triumphed over what appears to be a well-entrenched 'Bus Lobby' at TfL that has publicly opposed pedestrianisation for decades, perhaps there's a story worth investigating? 

Regardless, even with 1100 metres of Oxford Street under his belt by the end of next year, the Mayor's still got 20,453,200 metres and less than 4 years remaining to achieve his Vision Zero goal for "no one to be killed in on a bus by 2030" on the rest of London's roads.   And based on my analysis of more than ten years of TfL's Bus Safety Data—available since 2017, thanks to my campaign supported by Victoria Borwick AM—the Mayor's faces a tough road ahead of him.

Since 2016—

• in terms of collision KSIs, London Buses have become about 90% more dangerous per mile and 60% more dangerous per hour operation, while all other modes of motor traffic—including HGVs—saw analogous risk profiles improve or stabilise;
• Pedestrian deaths "on or by a bus" rose from an average of about 8 per year (2016) to more than 10 per year in the year ending April 2025;
• A pedestrian in London has become twice as safe from being killed or injured around an HGV for every mile-hour of operation, but today they are nearly 60% more at risk around a TfL Bus for every mile-hour of each bus's operation; 
• A cyclist in London has become nearly three times safer around an HGV from being killed or seriously injured for every mile the vehicle is driven, but they are now about 45% more at risk around a TfL Bus and 33% more likely to be killed for every hour a TfL Bus is active on London's roads;
• Buses account for only 0.6% of vehicle miles in London but are now involved in roughly 12-15% of all road fatalities. This "over-representation" has nearly doubled since 2016.
• The evidenced increase in Bus Safety Incident Risk is almost entirely borne by those outside the vehicle. In 2024/25, 85% of those killed by London buses were pedestrians or cyclists. 
• For every hour TfL Buses are active on the road, a pedestrian in London is now more likely to be killed by a Red Bus with "Mayor of London" emblazoned on it than an HGV. The opposite was the case in 2016.

Accordingly, this suggests that the Mayor's legacy will depend on a lot more than keeping his 2016 commitment to pedestrianise Oxford Street.  It also suggests that (a) Westminster residents forced to live with TfL buses diverted through their streets and (b) cyclists forced to share the road with Buses are certainly within their rights to demand that TfL be transparent about the risks imposed on them, the risk assessments TfL conducted and the specific TfL will implement to mitigate. There is really no excuse for the Mayor's laudable Vision Zero achievement on Oxford Street to be erased by increasing numbers of people killed and injured by Buses that have been shifted elsewhere.

cc: Transport Commissioner; Deputy Mayor for Transport; Deputy Mayor for Social Justice and Communities, London Victims' Commissioner; TfL Walking and Cycling Commissioner; TfL Board Secretariat; TfL SSHR Panel Secretariat; TfL Chief Safety Officer; TfL Director of Bus; TfL Head of Insights and Direction; TfL Chief Operations Officer; London Assembly Transport Committee Members; CEO, London TravelWatch; Dan Tomlinson MP; Ben Coleman MP; Katie Lam MP; Olly Glover MP; Ruth Cadbury MP; Catherine Atkinson MP;  Workplace Colleague Network - London Bus Forums; Sharon Graham - Unite the Union; Journalists; Bus Drivers; Campaigners

Dear Ms Murphy,

• Minimum guaranteed rest periods between duties
• Limits on excessively long or irregular duty schedules
• Guaranteed access to proper toilet and welfare facilities at route termini
• Fatigue risk assessments applied consistently across all operators
• Clear reporting and monitoring mechanisms for fatigue-related concerns
• Independent oversight to ensure compliance with driver welfare standards

• What specific actions have been taken since the publication of the earlier fatigue research to address the risks identified?
• Why TfL continues to describe the issue as requiring further evidence when extensive research has already been carried out over a number of years.
• Whether TfL would consider incorporating a formal driver welfare framework, such as a Bus Driver Bill of Rights, within future bus operating contracts.

Dear Kevin,

Thank you for your email. Please see a response below from Lorna Murphy.

Dear Kevin,

Thank you for your email.

As I have set out to you in previous correspondence, London bus drivers are at the heart of our network and their safety and welfare is of the highest importance. TfL is committed to improving bus driver welfare within the areas under its control and influence. This includes investing in additional toilets across the network and continually improving our Bus Vehicle Specification to ensure all buses across the fleet support bus driver welfare and safety. While the specifics of scheduling are agreed between operators and local trade unions according to the agreements within each company, TfL continues to build the evidence base around fatigue and the impact of scheduling on this, including through our ongoing trial of Fatigue Detection Technology. TfL has also commissioned expert guidance on the use of fatigue risk assessment tools (FRATs) and has shared this with operating companies.

Regarding violence against transport workers, this is unacceptable in all forms. TfL's 2026 Business Plan has reiterated our vision to eradicate work-related violence and aggression, in line with our Vision Zero commitments to eliminate harm for all those that work or travel on our network. This includes bus drivers and other colleagues working for contracted services just as much as TfL's directly employed colleagues. Our strategy focuses on preventing incidents before they occur and supporting anyone who needs it. You can read more about TfL's work to address workplace violence and aggression here.

Regarding the London Assembly motion concerning Mark Hehir, the Mayor and TfL will be responding directly to the Assembly's motion.

Yours sincerely,

Lorna Murphy

To: Lorna Murphy, Director of Buses, TfL

From: Kevin Mustafa

RE: Why do the Mayor and TfL refuse to protect London's Bus Drivers from Institutionally Unsafe Working Conditions?

Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2026 1:20 PM

cc: Transport Commissioner; Deputy Mayor for Transport; Deputy Mayor for Social Justice and Communities, London Victims' Commissioner; TfL Walking and Cycling Commissioner; TfL Board Secretariat; TfL SSHR Panel Secretariat; TfL Chief Safety Officer; TfL Director of Bus; TfL Head of Insights and Direction; TfL Chief Operations Officer; London Assembly Transport Committee Members; CEO, London TravelWatch; Dan Tomlinson MP; Ben Coleman MP; Katie Lam MP; Olly Glover MP; Ruth Cadbury MP; Catherine Atkinson MP;  Workplace Colleague Network - London Bus Forums; Sharon Graham - Unite the Union; Journalists; Bus Drivers; Campaigners

Dear Ms Murphy,

Thank you for your perfunctory response. Kindly note that I have recirculated it to everyone who was copied on my original email, as I have also  done with my response today.

As you probably know from my earlier letters to City Hall and TfL (cf. Speaking out against London Buses' Culture of Fear, 19 August 2021), my decision to quit the buses and campaign for the Bus Drivers' Bill of Rights was inspired by the fact that, six years ago today, Bus Drivers were being abandoned by their Bus Operator employers, Unite the Union, TfL and the Mayor when they started getting sick and dying from Covid-19.  Your response confirms that, despite at least 76 Bus Drivers dying from Covid-19, nothing has changed. 

·       TfL has yet to conduct "a short-term review of shift lengths, patterns and rotas of London bus drivers" recommended by the UCL Institute of Health Equity in March 2021 and agreed by TfL to complete "by summer 2021";

·       One in Four London Bus Routes still lack Toilet Facilities at one end for Bus Drivers;

·       Compared to 2024, in 2025 the number of Bus Drivers taken to hospital from Assault/Vandalism incidents increased by 17%. 

Since (a) the Mayor has sole responsibility for Policing in London and (b) the unanimous London Assembly Motion called for the Mayor and TfL—

 "to issue a public apology to Mr Hehir and to apply pressure to Metroline to reinstate Mr Hehir or provide appropriate compensation for his dismissal"

—I think you'll find your complacent restatement of TfL's long-standing policy of ignoring Bus Driver welfare is deeply out-of-sync with both the Mayor's legal obligations and the public mood. 

According to TfL's own data, over the period 1 January 2014-31 December 2025, an average of 7 Bus Drivers per month were reported by TfL as having been injured in Assault/Vandalism incidents on London's buses, of which over one driver per month was taken to hospital. 

Since I know that many Bus Drivers don't report injuries they receive on duty, I believe TfL's numbers are underestimates. 

Over the same 11-year period, an average of 15 people per month were reported injured from an Assault/Vandalism incident on buses and about 4 per month were taken to hospital.  

I'd wager TfL's numbers of passenger injuries from Assault/Vandalism incidents are also underestimates. 

TfL's data also reveal that Bus Drivers accounted for 41% of all reported injuries from Assault/Vandalism incidents and 46% of all those taken to hospital.

As you no doubt know, over the period for which TfL has made bus safety data available for public scrutiny, Bus Drivers—on average—have only constituted an infinitesimal (0.0011%!) of the total number of annual Bus Passengers.  Hence, I think you'll agree with me that the fact that Bus Drivers are 80,000 times more likely than a passenger to be injured and 40,000 times more likely than a passenger to be taken to the hospital in an Assault/Vandalism incident on London's buses demands that TfL do more than just abdicate responsibility for Bus Drivers' safety and security. 

TfL's numbers reveal an obvious fact: Bus Drivers are not just casual victims of Assault/Vandalism incidents on London's buses, they are the primary victims of this increasing violence.

Given this well-evidenced risk, when a Bus Driver chooses to intervene to defend a Bus Passenger against Assault/Vandalism and is subsequently dismissed for gross misconduct—and the Mayor, TfL and Unite the Union do nothing—the outcome of this complacency undermines the safety of London's Bus Network for which the Mayor and TfL are legally accountable. 

And TfL's decision to side with Metroline against Mark Hehir—i.e., against someone who TfL's own data shows had the highest risk of serious injury and the most to lose from intervening in an Assault/Vandalism incident—simply re-broadcasts a clear message, that I've been familiar with— 

(a) since Bus Drivers started to sicken and die around me from Covid-19 6 years ago this month, and;

(b) each time the Mayor fails to respond to Bus Drivers' reasonable demand to incorporate the Bus Drivers Bill of Rights into TfL's Framework Bus Services Agreement:

—TfL takes no responsibility for the security and safety of London's Bus Drivers. 

Since we already know that TfL's  "incident reporting system does not specifically collect data relating to disciplinary outcomes" regarding Bus Drivers, your statement that it "would not be appropriate for TfL to intervene" rings hollow: the public record shows that TfL completely washes its hands of how Bus Drivers are disciplined by their employers.

The London Assembly Motion also calls on the Mayor and TfL—

"to set out clear guidance for transport workers protecting passengers."

I do hope the London Assembly Members copied here will take note of the clear guidance your response conveyed: 

TfL will support any Bus Operator which fires a Bus Driver who chooses to risk injury to protect Bus Passengers against Assault/Vandalism incidents on London's buses.

Why do the Mayor and TfL refuse to protect London's Bus Drivers?

Yours sincerely,

Kevin Mustafa

London Bus Safety Campaigner

Founding Member - Bus Driver Bill of Rights Campaign

-----------------ATTACHMENT------------------

From: Bus Ops FOIs & Inquiries <BusOpsFOIsInquir@tfl.gov.uk>

Sent: Friday, February 13, 2026 1:13:07 PM

To: Kevin Mustafa

Subject: RE: Subject Intervention Requested: Dismissal of Bus Driver Mark Hehir

Dear Kevin,

Please see below a response to your email from Lorna Murphy.

Dear Kevin,

Thank you for your email. As you are aware, bus services in London are delivered by private operators, such as Metroline, under contract to TfL. Operational matters, including staffing and employment decisions within individual companies, sit with those operators. As this issue relates to Metroline's internal employment processes, it would not be appropriate for TfL to intervene. You may wish to raise your concerns directly with Metroline so they can address them through their established procedures.

Yours sincerely,

Lorna Murphy 

By email and blogpost

Any transparency shown by TfL about the frequent deaths and serious injuries generated by its contracted bus fleet is the direct result of a policy forced upon London's Local Transport Authority (LTA) by Mayor Boris Johnson in 2014. TfL's reluctant transparency came about only after it been regularly receiving (a) bad press generated by my 'relentless' volunteer research and campaigning and (b) public scrutiny from London Assembly members, namely Victoria Borwick, and Richard Tracey (Conservative), Caroline Pidgeon (Liberal Democrat), Jenny Jones and Darren Johnson (Green).  

Analysis of the Bus Safety Performance Data (called—interchangeably—"IRIS" or "SHE" Data) that TfL has published every quarter since 2014 evidences—

• there have been, on average, over 26,000 recorded TfL bus crashes per year—that's an average of at least 72 potentially-lethal bus crashes per day—with 2024 witnessing the highest number of recorded crashes (nearly 29,000 or 79 per day) since 2014 (nearly 25,000 or 68 per day).
• at least 10,818 people have been injured in a collision involving a TfL Bus, of which 3557 victims have been 'taken to hospital'.  In his responses to many Mayor's Questions, the Mayor has repeatedly confirmed that TfL has no idea if these victims who have been compelled to be taken to hospital from injuries sustained "in or by a bus" have recovered fully or suffer from life-changing injuries or have passed away.  Accordingly, the veracity of any serious injury figure published by TfL involving its contracted bus fleet is, quite frankly, dubious; 
• at least 137 people have been killed in preventable Bus Safety Incidents in London—113 from collisions, 16 from onboard falls and 9 from other safety-related incidents (e.g, deaths from ill-defined but safety-related 'activity', 'near misses', personal injuries').
• about 10 percent of all vehicle-related pedestrian fatalities in London have resulted from a collision involving a TfL Bus — in 2024, that horrifically large percentage increased to 15%.

(a) now only accounts for about 1 percent of all vehicles on London's roads at any time (down from about 3 percent in 2014), and;

(b) these vehicles' presence on London's roads and ridership have steadily declined since 2014;  

"for no one to be killed in or by a London bus by 2030"

Since TfL's official annual bus fatality totals and the 2010-14 baseline are frequently cited by the Mayor and TfL in official reports and press releases—and, as a direct consequence—in Government and media reports—you might appreciate my firmly held conviction that each time the Mayor or TfL quote numbers and baselines that purport to reflect everyone "killed in or by a bus" in London, those numbers should be based on fact.  

3. Keith Prince AM's scrutiny of TfL's 2010-2024 Bus Fatality Data 

In October 2025 (and confirmed by the Mayor in his response to Question 2025/3723), Keith Prince requested TfL to provide him with the raw 2010-14 bus fatal incident data that it used to populate the information published in, inter alia, TfL's "Fatalities in Greater London 2024" Report. Despite the fact that Keith Prince later requested the Mayor to compel TfL to publish this raw data on the London Assembly website for public scrutiny, the Mayor failed to honour Keith Prince's request.  However, I am grateful Keith Prince shared both TfL's 21 November 2024 cover email and its attached data directly with me. 

Based on my analysis of the information TfL provided to Keith Prince directly for scrutiny, below please find my findings that I hope will encourage further actions by Brake Charity.

4. TfL's 2010-14 Baseline cannot be accurate

Below please find the 21 November 2025 correspondence from TfL to Keith Prince AM. 

From: Members Correspondence <MembersCorrespondence@tfl.gov.uk> 

Sent: Friday, November 21, 2025 4:21:11 PM

To: Keith Prince <Keith.Prince@london.gov.uk>

Subject: Follow up from bus safety discussion

Dear Keith,

Thank you for meeting with us last month to discuss our bus safety data. We hope that you found this helpful and productive.

As requested, we have compiled a spreadsheet showing the bus fatalities that are included in table 3 of the data annex (Bus-involved fatalities), we have included the date, borough, collision location and causality mode of travel. Please note, this only includes police-reported (STATS19 fatalities) and doesn't include non-STATS19 fatalities such as medical incidents and fatalities resulting from collisions on private land.

Unfortunately, the raw data which we have used in the spreadsheet is only available from 2017 onwards.  This is because bus casualty data is part of a 'Bus or Coach' category as per the Department for Transport STATS19 modal categories. In 2017 TfL agreed with the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to split out bus and coaches to enable better monitoring of incidents relating to our buses, this means that from 2017 a flag was included for London buses in the police form which could be used to identify bus-involved fatalities. Prior to 2017, bus involved figures are estimates based on modelled data, so raw data records are not available to share.

Some of the other requested information, such as the bus route and operator, is not recorded in STATS19 and as such could not be included in the attached. 

Please let us know if you have any further questions. 

Kind regards,

[NAME WITHHELD]

Government Relations

11th Floor, Palestra, SE1 8NJ

Despite the Mayor repeatedly stating (cf. Question 2025/4415 from December 2025) that TfL uses a 2010-14 Baseline to, inter alia—

• measure TfL's 'progress' against Vision Zero Bus Safety targets and
• determine levels of annual performance bonuses paid to TfL executives

—this email confirms that TfL has no reliable raw bus fatality data that underwrites this key Vision Zero and Bus Safety Performance baseline. Furthermore, the fact that TfL admits that it's using STATS19 Data to represent the number of people "killed in or by a bus" each year proves that TfL knows it is citing a mere subset of a larger group of fatalities.  If you review the Bus Safety Data Guidance that TfL issued hastily and without explanation in early November 2024, STATS19 criteria allows TfL to exclude victims—

 "killed in or by a bus" from "collisions on private land, noncollisions (e.g. death due to medical episodes or slips, trips and falls on a bus), incidents outside the Greater London boundary and death occurring after 30 days."  

While those exclusions might produce inaccurate bus fatality datasets acceptable to the DfT (cf. RAS0601, which shows 521 fatal road collision incidents involving a "Bus or Coach" from 2015-2024), TfL's use of knowingly smaller STATS19 datasets to reflect the total number of people "killed in or by bus" for each year to "measure progress towards the Mayor's Transport Strategy bus involved fatality target for 2030", is frankly, simply intentionally misleading. As you know, both the Mayor's Transport Strategy and the 2030 target are unique-to-London and there is no statutory, legal or moral requirement for TfL to publish less-robust STATS19-defined figures for these reports that relate exclusively to TfL's 'progress towards the Mayor's Transport Strategy bus involved fatality target for 2030.'

5. TfL is intentionally excluding documented incidents of people "killed in or by a bus" in its official reports that claim to show the total number of people "killed in or by a bus".

My reconciliation of the raw 2017-2024 data TfL emailed to Keith Prince on 21 November 2025 with the IRIS Data TfL has published on its website quarterly since 2014 reveals that, since 2017, TfL has failed to report 21 documented incidents of "people killed in or by a bus". This means that, for the past 7 years (at least), TfL has failed to acknowledge the deaths of at least 1 in 4 of the total number of people that have actually been "killed in or by a bus". 

In 2017, TfL states that 8 "people were killed in or by a bus", but TfL excluded the following 4 fatal incidents:

• the 11 March 2017 death of an elderly male pedestrian who was killed in a collision involving a Route E6 Bus operated by Metroline (Greenford Depot) under contract to TfL in Hillingdon Borough;
• the 28 April 2017 death of an adult male passenger who was killed after an assault on a Route 189 bus operated by Metroline (Cricklewood Depot) under contract to TfL in Westminster Borough;
• the 29 June 2017 death of an elderly male pedestrian who was killed in a collision involving a Route 216 bus operated by RATP (Fulwell Dept) under contract to TfL in Surrey County;
• the 16 December 2017 death of an adult male passenger who was killed after falling on a Route R11 bus operated by Go Ahead (Orpington Depot) under contract to TfL in Bromley Borough.

• the 1 April 2018 death of a third party driver of unknown sex and age who was killed in a collision involving a Route 61 bus operated by Stagecoach (Bromley Depot) under contract to TfL in Bromley Borough;
• the 23 July 2018 death of an elderly female passenger who was killed in an "activity incident" on a Route W8 bus operated by Metroline (Potters Bar) under contract to TfL in Enfield Borough;
• the 17 September 2018 death of a passenger of unknown sex and age in an "activity incident" on a Route 318 bus operated by Arriva (Enfield Depot) under contract to TfL in Haringey Borough;
• the 6 November 2018 death of an adult male passenger after falling on a Route 32 bus operated by Metroline (Edgware Depot) in Brent Borough. 

• the 12 February 2020 death of an adult male pedestrian in a collision involving a speeding Route 191 bus operated by Go Ahead (Northumberland Park Depot) under contract to TfL 'near' Edmonton Bus Station in Enfield Borough;
• the 14 March 2020 death of an adult male pedestrian in a collision involving a Route 96 bus operated by Stagecoach (Plumstead Depot) in Dartford; 
• the 16 March 2020 death of an elderly male passenger after falling on a Route 106 bus operated by Arriva (Ash Grove Depot) in Haringey;
• the 4 June 2020 death of a third party driver/occupant in a collision with a Route 209 bus operated by Transport UK (Twickenham Depot) in Richmond Upon Thames Borough. 
• the 22 October 2020 death of an elderly female passenger who was killed after falling on a Route 35 bus operated by Go Ahead (Camberwell Depot) in Southwark.

• the 10 August 2021 death of an adult female pedestrian named Melissa Burr who was killed in a collision with a Route 507 bus operated by Go Ahead (Waterloo Depot) at Victoria Bus Station in Westminster Borough. The Evening Standard reported that the Mayor had issued a 'sincere apology' to Melissa Burr's family because TfL "wrongly suggested [she] may have been at fault for her death", an apology the Mayor confirmed in his response to Question 2024/3450. In my view, with all the information about the systemic causes of Victoria Station deaths now in the public domain, TfL's decision to exclude Melissa's Burr's death from the 2021 dataset demands further scrutiny.

• the 18 December 2022 death of an adult male pedestrian named Stephen Mitchell who died after he was critically injured in a collision with a Route 363 bus operated by Go Ahead (Peckham Depot) in Southwark on 26 November 2022.  Similar to Melissa Burr's death, the fact that there is so much in the public domain about the ghastly circumstances surrounding Mr. Mitchell's death, and the fact that the Bus Driver was found guilty  calls into question TfL's decision to exclude his death from the 2022 datasets and demands further scrutiny. 

In 2023, TfL states that 6 "people were killed in or by a bus", but TfL excluded the following 2 fatal incidents: 

• the 12 March 2023 death of an adult male passenger after a collision involving a Route 79 bus operated by RATP (Edgware) in Harrow;
• the 15 December 2023 death of an elderly female pedestrian named Grace Mecaley who was killed in a collision involving a Route 212 bus operated by Go Ahead (Northumberland Depot) under contract to TfL at Walthamstow Bus Station in Waltham Forest Borough. Since TfL had a Notice of Contravention served to it by the Health and Safety Executive as a direct result of this incident—a document, by the way, that both the Mayor and TfL have both yet to provide for public scrutiny—similar to the exclusion of Melissa Burr and Stephen Mitchell from TfL's official fatality data for 2020 and 2022, TfL's justification for excluding Grace Mecaley's death from 2023's official fatality data demands a cogent explanation. 

In 2024, TfL states that 13 "people were killed in or by a bus", but TfL excluded the following 4 incidents:

• the 27 January 2024 death of an elderly female passenger after an "activity incident event" while on a Route 55 bus operated by Stagecoach (Leyton Depot) in Westminster;
• the 11 February 2024 death an adult male pedestrian after a collision involving a Route 158 bus operated by Arriva (Edmonton Depot) in Enfield;
• the 20 June 2024 death of a Bus Occupant of unknown sex and unknown age—an incident that is published in TfL's "Road Fatalities in Greater London since 2019" spreadsheet, but does not appear anywhere else on the TfL site;
• the 30 December 2024 death of an elderly male passenger who died after falling on a Route 5 bus operated by Go Ahead (River Road Depot) in Newham on 15 March 2024. 

Since we already know that (a) at least 1 in 4 bus victims have been ignored in TfL's 2017-2024 official dataset and (b) TfL refuses to provide the raw data to support the data it cites for "people killed in or by a bus" for the period 2010-2016, I reckon that 21 unacknowledged bus deaths is already a serious underestimate of the total number of victims that TfL has chosen to ignore over the period 2010-2024.  In fact, if you've had the opportunity to read my unacknowledged 2 December 2025 Letter to Mayor Sadiq Kahn (#VisionZero: Why is TfL allowed to ghost people who've been killed or seriously injured "on or by a bus" in its annual official Road Casualty reporting?), you'll immediately recognise the names of 2 vanished bus victims from 2010-16. 

• Saba Mirza (31), who was critically injured on a Zebra Crossing in a collision involving a Route 46 bus operated by Metroline under contract to TfL on 25 November 2016, but, I understand from her family, died while still in hospital in early January 2021. How many more vanished victims like Saba Mirza are there? 
• Ezarhul Islam (73), who fell and suffered critical injuries after, judging from the Coroner's 16 June 2016 Regulation 28 Report, a Go Ahead 191 Bus moved suddenly without warning on 23 October 2015, but died while still in hospital in December 2015. In its IRIS Data, TfL recorded the cause of his death as "Medical" and didn't include the incident in its "killed in or by a bus" total for 2015.  Since 1 January 2014, TfL has recorded 69 Bus-related Fatalities with "Medical" identified as the causal factor for death. How many of these "Medical" deaths actually represent vanished bus victims like Mr. Islam?  Based on last month's response to Question 2026/0028, the public will never know because the Mayor has refused to instruct TfL to investigate. 

6. How Brake Charity can Help TfL's and the UK's Vanished Bus Victims

From my quick reconciliation of the raw 2017-2024 Bus Fatality data Keith Prince received from TfL on 21 November 2025 with (a) the documented incidents of people "killed in or by a bus" found in TfL's published  Bus Safety ("SHE/IRIS") Data and Road Safety (STATS19 ) Data  and (b) some AI-assisted Web searching, it would appear that, since 2010, there are at least 23 people whose deaths "in or by a bus" were in vain because—

• Key Vision Zero Safety Target Baselines were created;
• Executive Bonuses were determined and paid;
• Official narratives about "Progress" on Vision Zero appeared in Press Releases that were dutifully reported by the local and national press;
• Evidence was submitted by TfL to at least three London Assembly Bus Safety Investigations and also, to the Department for Transport;

—and these specific documented preventable deaths "in or by a bus" were not acknowledged by TfL to have taken place at all. 

While TfL press spokespeople callously dismiss these ignored vanquished lives as "a small number of other fatalities" and TfL Board Documents negligently classify all bus deaths as "small numbers of low probability events", as the CEO of the leading national charity providing support to Road Victims, can I assume that you will not dismiss TfL having ignored at least 23 victims "killed in or by a bus" since 2010 in its benchmark road safety publications as merely the data geek pedantry of a highly-motivated Bus Crash Survivor but rather treat it as the breach of public trust by the Mayor and TfL that I think it clearly represents?  I might add, for governance of the Mayor's Vision Zero Programme and also for these victims' families, I think the Mayor's and TfL's acknowledgement of these 23 victims "killed in or by a bus" is precisely the point of Vision Zero. 

Accordingly, for a public bus fleet that is entirely within TfL's control, but—

• still ranks poorly for safety performance among its 'world city' peers, and;
• is probably the least safe of any major European city.

• Campaign for the Mayor and TfL to understand that the first step toward supporting those 'impacted' by the frequent deaths and injuries generated by London's contracted public bus operation will be for both to acknowledge that these fatal incidents have occurred at all and have them appear in TfL's Annual Road Casualty publications, Monthly Board papers and the baselines TfL uses to measure 'progress' against for Vision Zero 'bus-involved fatalities and determine annual bonus payments for its executives.  It is not acceptable that the Mayor and TfL have been allowed to claim credit for 'progress'—and TfL's executives have been receiving larger bonus payments—for meeting Vision Zero targets that are not based on the actual number—or published Vision Zero Target—of people "killed in or a by a bus".
• Meet with the Bus Drivers who are leading the Bus Driver Bill of Rights Campaign. I ask, because I know that TfL's secretive Vision Zero Reference Group of which Brake Charity is a member, has representatives from political lobbying groups from the Bus, Taxi and Car industries, but lacks any members who can speak with authority about the well-evidenced "institutionally unsafe" conditions that TfL Bus Contracts inflict on London's Bus Drivers.  And given your recent public comments about the Government's new Road Safety Strategy, I urge to you also to 'be brave' and instruct your charity to begin to understand and campaign to change the systemic safety problems that have plagued TfL's contracted surface transport operation for decades that undermine the ability of a Bus Driver to operate with duty of care for passengers and other road users.
• Read the Evidence Submissions from London and UK Bus Drivers to the Bus Services [No. 2] Bill.  If you are not familiar with Bus Drivers' key systemic safety concerns, these well-evidenced submissions are a good place to start.  I'll make it easy for you—

• https://bills.parliament.uk/publications/61844/documents/6811
• https://bills.parliament.uk/publications/61680/documents/6750
• https://bills.parliament.uk/publications/61691/documents/6758
• https://bills.parliament.uk/publications/61678/documents/6749
• https://bills.parliament.uk/publications/61683/documents/6752
• https://bills.parliament.uk/publications/61937/documents/6837

• Watch the videos produced by Bus Drivers posted on the new @BetterBuses YouTube Channel. For more information about his new grassroots driver-led initiative, please read my unacknowledged 16 January 2026 Open Letter to Elly Baker (Labour), Chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee. 
• Campaign for the DfT to revise its STATS19 bus fatality data definitions to conform to London's Vision Zero "killed in or by a bus" metric, a more robust metric that actually reflects the "Safe Systems" approach upon which the Government claims its recently-published Road Safety Strategy is based.  Based on what we've recently discovered in London, we know that DfT's data showing 521 fatalities from a "Bus or a Coach" for the period 2015-2024 has to be a smaller number than the actual number of road safety-related fatalities that have been generated from the country's bus and coach operations over that period.  Because Lord Hampton raised the issue of the defects of STATS19 reporting for Bus Fatalities in the House of Lords on 13 February 2025, Lord Hendy's response on that date—"in respect of accidents away from public roads, which I will go away and have a close look at. I am not familiar with that nuance, but it is clearly important" —confirms that the Minister knows about STATS19's definitional defects and suggests that the Government's primary road safety dataset for Bus and Coach Fatalities is neither robust nor accurate. I hope Brake Charity can convince Lord Peter Hendy to do more than just "look at" the manifestly obvious and easily solvable problems surrounding STATS19 definitions that have resulted in many of the UK's bus victims to be excluded from the statistics upon which laws and policies are determined.

(a) evidence how—in contrast to other safer transport sectors—TfL does not place a high priority on Human Factors in how public services are contracted, managed and controlled in London, and;(b) offer evidenced-based suggestions as to how TfL's known ignorance of Human Factors that negatively impact Bus Driver Working Conditions can be mitigated. 

Episode 1: Human Factors and the Future of Bus Safety — "If a system allows you to make an error it is a bad system.  If a system induces you to make an error, it is a really bad system."
Episode 2: Londons' iBus Radio System: Fit for purpose? — Bill of Rights No. 8. ⁠"The Right to drive without being forced to answer radio messages and texts from Controllers whilst in motion"
Episode 3: Worse & Better Communication - "You can either blame—or learn—it's very hard to do both"

(a) TfL's failure to consider Human Factors in how Bus Door Controls are designed that makes Driver error inevitable, and (b) how to fix these known problems.

"killed on on by a Bus", inter alia, by "collisions on private land, noncollisions (e.g. death due to medical episodes or slips, trips and falls on a bus), incidents outside the Greater London boundary and death occurring after 30 days". 

Ezarhul Islam (73), who fell after a Go Ahead 191 Bus moved suddenly without warning in October 2015, but died while still in hospital in December 2015. Because Mr. Islam died 30 days after  his death—which resulted in the Coroner issuing a "Prevention of Future Deaths" Order in June 2016—TfL recorded his death as a "Medical" in origin and didn't include the incident in any official Road Casualty reporting, including Figure 17.  Since 1 January 2014, TfL has recorded 69 Fatalities with "Medical" serving as the cause. How many of these "Medical" deaths represent Bus Injury Victims like Mr. Islam, who died 30 days after the incident?  
Saba Mirza (31), who was critically injured on a Zebra Crossing by a Metroline Route 46 in November 2016 but, I understand, died while still in hospital in January 2021 (i.e., after 30 days). By the way, the collision incident that eventually killed Saba Mirza is not recorded in any of TfL's published Bus Safety Performance records, including "TfL Bus Drivers critically injuring pedestrians on Zebra Crossings". 
A Male Pedestrian (41) hit by a speeding Go Ahead Route 191 Bus at Edmonton Green Bus Station in February 2020. 
Melissa Burr (32) hit by a Go Ahead Route 507 Bus at Victoria Bus Station in August 2021. 
Stephen Mitchell (60), killed while trying to board a Go Ahead Route 363 Bus in Peckham in November 2022. Until London Assembly Member Keith Prince reported the fact that the Bus Driver was convicted for "causing death by driving without due care and attention" in 2025, on its website TfL previously recorded the incident as a non-fatal "Collision" Incident where the victim required "No Treatment".  Since 1 January 2014, TfL has recorded 3053 Bus Collision Incidents where the victim required "No Treatment".  How many of these incidents resulted in the death of the victim where the Bus Driver was convicted? 
Grace Mecaley (74) hit by Go Ahead Route 212 Bus at Walthamstow Bus Station in December 2023. 

'TfL does not receive ongoing updates on the status and health outcomes of people who were previously involved in bus incidents and has no information about the health status of members of the public up to eight years after an incident' 

"On 11 September 2019, a former TfL Board Director and Safety Panel Chair told the London Assembly Transport Committee and your Deputy Mayor for Transport: "We owe it to the victims of that accident [Sandilands] and we owe it to victims of accidents on the buses and on other parts of the network to get to the bottom of exactly how this organisation is run. How does it deal with this sort of situation? What happened? Why did it happen? How did they do that audit? What lessons can we learn about how to do audits? How can we make sure that we are delivering the radical transparency that is the only way to deliver Vision Zero? I am not trying to be difficult or unpleasant or cause problems, but I can tell you now that if you do not deal with that culture and if you do not have robust audit processes, you will get nowhere near to Vision Zero. Nowhere near to Vision Zero." Since (a) bus collisions remain at the same level (about 80 per day) as when you announced your Vision Zero Programme in July 2018 and (b) casualties from buses are now higher than when you took office, will you commit to a policy of "radical transparency" on bus safety?"

In your response, you stated —

"Transport for London (TfL) has no higher priority than the safety of its customers, staff, and those affected by its operations, and continues to strive to reach the ambitious Vision Zero targets."

I need not remind you that, 

• since you've been Mayor, your Vision Zero Target for Buses that "no one to be killed on or by a bus by 2030" has been going the other way.

• on 3 July 2025, your own Transport Commissioner admitted to the London Assembly that—

 "until this year...the Bus Companies would still be penalised if they curtailed or did not meet their performance requirements because of the hot weather or because they were taking action to support Driver Welfare"

• you will get nowhere near Vision Zero unless you compel TfL to deliver 'radical transparency' on Londons' failing Bus Safety Performance and unsafe Bus Driver Working Conditions.  

1) Issuing a Formal Apology to each of the families of Saba Mirza, Stephen Mitchell, Melissa Lamb and Grace Mecaley—all killed "on or by a bus" under your watch as Mayor and TfL Chair—with a full explanation as to why—since their loved ones' deaths "do not meet STATS19 criteria"—TfL did not include their incidents as part of (a) "the underpinning data source for all road safety policy and from which Transport for London (TfL) built its evidence base for the Bus Safety Standard (BSS)" (b)  "TfL's road safety targets and baseline" (c) in the determination of executives' bonuses for achieving safety targets in, respectively, 2016, 2021, 2022 and 2023, (d) Figure 17. 

2) Publishing a Consolidated Annual Figure for people "killed on or by a bus" in London. 

Your explanation as why you refuse to order TfL to perform the simple task of publishing a consolidated annual figure that shows all the people "killed on or by a bus" is, frankly, contemptuous of the families of the over 100 victims who—while you have served as Mayor and TfL chair—have been killed "on or by a bus", as well as of the at least 9698 victims who've been sent to hospital from preventable Bus-related injuries over the same period.  A truly just Vision Zero Policy would not impose on the families of victims—or on victims themselves—the obligation to interrogate TfL's dubious datasets in order to discern the actual number of how many people have been killed "on or by a bus" in London. Both you and TfL are wittingly adding insult to injury: have you no shame?

3) Instructing TfL to conduct a Independent Data Integrity Audit of all TfL's published Bus Safety Datasets

Since at least 2022, Keith Prince has been asking you instruct TfL to conduct an Independent Audit of the Integrity of TfL's published Bus Safety Performance Data. 

March 2025 - Vision Zero: Bus Safety Data Integrity Audit

November 2024- Vision Zero: Independent Data Integrity Audit of TfL Bus Safety Data

March 2022 - Independent Audit of TfL's Quarterly Bus Safety Data

"TfL will probably say 'we don't recognise this because nobody's brought this to our attention'.
"But if it has been brought to their attention and they're not doing anything about it, that's a very different thing."

Under your watch as Mayor and TfL Chair, you've presided over a Surface Transport Operation that has produced— 

• at least 100 deaths from preventable Bus Safety Incidents;
• 76 deaths of Bus Drivers from Covid-19; and, 
• 7 deaths from the 2016 Croydon Tram Crash at Sandilands.

"While Sadiq Khan has been mayor and TfL [Transport for London] chair, about every six weeks someone has been killed in a London bus safety incident. Three in four of these deaths are the result of a bus collision. In 2024 someone was killed in a preventable bus safety incident every three weeks. Except for a short period during the Covid-19 pandemic, recorded crashes have been stuck at an eerily predictable 80 bus crashes per day for the past five years."

• analyses of years of TfL's published casualty data reveal that TfL Buses—which (a) constitute about 1 percent of the vehicles on the road at any time, and (b) are solely contracted by TfL—were involved in 15 percent of all pedestrian fatalities from Road Vehicles in London in 2024, an increase from the ghastly 10 percent annual average from 2014-2023. 
• when benchmarked to its 'World City' peers by Imperial College, year-after-year London consistently appears at the bottom tercile for Bus Collisions. 

• every day over 3 people have been hospitalised from a preventable bus safety incident, 1 of which is due to a collision.
• deaths "on or by a bus" have risen from 12 in 2016 to 16 in 2024, despite at least an 8% fall in the number of bus miles driven. 
• at least 100 people have lost their lives from preventable safety incidents "on or by" TfL buses.  
• and—at least— 76 Bus Drivers lost their lives to Covid-19 and 7 passengers were killed in the Croydon Tram Crash, both safety catastrophes that, despite the many serious questions about TfL's poor oversight of these crises that remain outstanding, you are obviously desperate to close the books on

• inscribing the Bus Driver's Bill of Rights into TfL's Framework Bus Services Contract; and, 
• appointing an 'Independent Judge-Led Enquiry" to investigate TfL's Safety Culture 

Three "Rights" listed in the London Bus Drivers Bill of Rights —

• The Right to a safe work schedule without any forced overtime or loss of pay 
• The Right to a decent and proper rest break in the working day 
• ⁠⁠The Right to be treated with dignity and respect by our employers, TfL and the public 

— underscore the extent to which the system in which TfL negotiates, agrees and enforces its Bus Performance Contracts is broken. But there's something deeply broken about a Public Surface Transport System the compels its own workers to be complacent about Fatigue even before they start the job.

Among TfL's Bus Contractors a Fatigue-inducing Practice of forcing new Bus Drivers to sign away their right to a legal 48-hour working week has been quietly normalised. Drivers are compelled to give up this right—not after settling in and understanding the full implications of the job—but on Day One, during their Induction. 

And the form they're made to sign leaves no room for debate.

"As an Employee of [INSERT TfL BUS OPERATOR NAME HERE] , I agree of my own free will and individual choice to opt out of the average maximum working week of 48 hours contained within the Working Time Regulations 1998. If you wish to withdraw from this agreement, please speak to the Trainer on your Induction."

This document doesn't only reflect bureaucratic complacency: it is coercion wearing a smile.

The Illusion of "Free Will" to choose Working Hours.

The document's phrasing is deliberate: "I agree of my own free will and individual choice." This is legal theatre. A performance designed to bypass the spirit of worker protections by putting the burden of refusal on the most vulnerable: new Bus Driver hires.

This form: which asks New Bus Driver Hires to opt out of the legal 48-hour weekly working limit is given to the prospective employee before he or she even officially starts, usually a few days or a week ahead of his or her induction day. On Induction Day, the Operators assiduously check if all pre-employment forms—including this one—are completed and signed. If anything is missing, your application may be paused or even stopped altogether. For some documents, Bus Operators might offer assistance. But with this one, the approach is more blunt: "Sign it, and if you want to opt back in later, sort it out after you've started."

"I understand that this agreement will continue unless I decide to terminate it by giving four weeks notice in writing addressed to my Operations Manager." 

In plain English: if you don't want to agree now, you're either out of the running — or locked in for four weeks of whatever hours the company demands—with no guarantees of ever receiving a manageable schedule.  

This is not informed consent. This is institutional pressure hiding behind a paper shield.

No Perks. No Overtime Pay. No Choice.

Bus driving is already one of the most demanding jobs in London.  Drivers manage thousands of passengers a day, navigate unpredictable traffic, deal with verbal abuse and threats, and are still expected to maintain perfect punctuality despite impossible schedules. It's no wonder the industry is facing a recruitment and retention crisis.

And yet, instead of addressing these systemic issues — poor pay, long hours, safety risks, understaffing — TfL's solution has been to permit its Bus Contractors to lean harder on the people who show up every day. This opt-out form is a symptom of a deeper systemic disease:  tt reveals how TfL contracts its Bus Contractors to treat time, energy, and health as infinite resources that they can consume without human costs so that Bus Users are satisfied and Bus Companies are profitable. The opt-out form shows how easily "choice" becomes manipulation when the power dynamics are skewed entirely in favour of the unaccountable.  And this form proves that exploitation doesn't start after a London Bus Driver gets behind the wheel:  it starts the moment he or she is handed a pen.

The Fight for Change Begins with Awareness.

If the Mayor and TfL are serious about fixing London's well-evidenced record of failing Bus Safety Performance, they must start with Transparency.  The Mayor and TfL must prevent Bus Contractors from pretending that this opt-out form is a fair agreement.  They must stop Bus Operators from assigning "free will" to Bus Drivers decision to sign it when they know it's anything but.   And the Mayor, TfL and the Bus Operators must stop expecting workers to sacrifice their wellbeing in Silence.  London's 'world leading' Public Bus Network only runs because of its Drivers.  Without them, the city doesn't move.  The least these Drivers deserve is respect: and that starts with giving them a real choice about their working hours, not a rubber stamp that condemns them to a working life hobbled by Fatigue.

When 'Protection' Becomes Permission.

• That all Working Time Agreements present a real choice:  with a clear 'yes or no' checkbox.
• That opting in or out does not affect Bus Workers' Job Offers or Career Progression.
• That Bus Drivers can challenge unrealistic rotas without the fear of being disciplined or isolated by their managers.

When Unite the Union—the very institution that's meant to stand up for London's Bus Workers—has complacently accepted the Employer's line for decades, then something is deeply broken...and unjust.

The message is clear: if you want the job, you'll play by the rules that are already well stacked against you. And if those rules exhaust you, or endanger your well-being or others in your bus or on the road? That's your fault: you've already signed away your leverage.

What makes the current situation worse is the silence from those who should be shouting the loudest.  A Union that turns a blind eye, or worse, plays along, isn't protecting anyone. It's simply helping to keep TfL's contracted 'Killing Machine' running day-in, day-out.

This isn't about paperwork: it's about power. And until the Mayor and TfL start asking the right questions—and demanding real accountability from Bus Operators and Unite the Union—Bus Drivers will keep being pressured to drive fatigued and powerless to change things.

And increasing numbers of lives and livelihoods will be lost as a result of a Franchised Public Bus Operation—under the complete control of the Mayor of London—that refuses to make Driver Welfare and Public Safety a Priority.

Dear Caroline Russell,

RE: The Mayor's 7 May 2025 Response to the London Assembly's 13 February 2025 London Bus Driver 'Bill of Rights' Petition 

Kindly note that I am forced to write to you anonymously because the poor TfL Bus Safety Performance and Bus Driver Working Conditions issues I highlight publicly here today might get me fired from my job as a TfL Bus Driver.  In any case, this bit of public reporting of my concerns about the Mayor's and TfL's poor safety oversight of London's Contracted Bus Operation will certainly get me disciplined, and my family and I cannot risk that. 

I note the Mayor responded to your 13 February 2025 Submission of our Bill of Rights Petition (letter attached) on 7 May 2025.

Since you put yourself at the front of our 29 January 2025 Bill of Rights March from Victoria Station to Parliament, you know what 'Rights' we are demanding, i.e.,—

 1.⁠ ⁠The Right to a safe work schedule without any forced overtime or loss of pay

 2.⁠ ⁠The Right to a decent and proper rest break in the working day

 3.⁠ ⁠The Right to drive a safe and well-maintained vehicle

 4.⁠ ⁠The Right to clean, serviced toilet and rest facilities on all bus routes

 5.⁠ ⁠The Right to report safety concerns without fear of retribution from TfL or employers

 6.⁠ ⁠The Right, when seriously ill and covered by a doctor's note, to not be harassed into coming into work until fit to do so

 7.⁠ ⁠The Right to relevant and timely safety training

 8.⁠ ⁠The Right to drive without being forced to answer radio messages and texts from Controllers whilst in motion

 9.⁠ ⁠⁠The Right to have all company rules in writing and clearly displayed

10.⁠ ⁠⁠The Right to be treated with dignity and respect by our employers, TfL and the public

11.⁠ ⁠The Right to Working Air Cooling in our cabs in the summer heat 

12.⁠ ⁠The Right to Working Heaters in our cabs in the cold of winter

Because our lived experience proves that (a) we do not have these Rights and (b) we have no remedies to invoke when we are denied them by our employers, we are asking that they be inscribed into TfL's Framework Bus Contract so that the Rights are unambiguously established and will apply universally to all London Bus Drivers in a single, publicly-accessible document that the (1 January 2016) TfL Framework Bus Contract represents.

If you had the opportunity to scrutinise Deputy Mayor Seb Dance's 11 May 2025 Response to Bus Driver Activist Kevin Mustafa's 10 December 2024 Letter or any one of the Mayor's Responses to Questions 2025/0580 to 2025/0592 provided to Keith Prince AM from 28 February -12 March 2025, you'll see that the Mayor's 7 May 2025 Response to you is just the same regurgitation of the fact-free gaslighting that he, his Deputy and TfL have been dishing out since the Mayor's 21 January 2025 Response to Question 2025/0089 from Thomas Turrell AM.

Kindly note that even a cursory scrutiny of the Mayor's official reason for rejecting the Bill of Rights, i.e—

"Many aspects of the proposed 'Bus Drivers' Bill of Rights' are already covered by existing agreements, actions or legislation."

—will reveal City Hall's repeated refusals lack any granular evidence to support them.

Why? 

Because even a little scrutiny of what appears to be a hastily-assembled collection of factoids that purport to evidence the existence of the Bill of Rights, negates City Hall's and TfL's ill-conceived assertion that these Rights exist at all. 

Based on our lived experience as London Bus Drivers and thousands of facts on the public record thanks to dozens of Freedom of Information Requests, at least two London Assembly Transport Committee Investigations (2017 and 2024) and hundreds of Mayor's Questions since 2011, we are confident that "arm-waving" statements from City Hall and TfL like—

"Relevant legislation includes, but is not limited to, the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974), the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations (1992), Working Time Regulations (1998), Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (1999), and the Equality Act (2010)."

and

"Further regulation is provided by the need for all bus operating companies to hold a valid Public Service Vehicle Operator Licence and to adhere to requirements set by the Traffic Commissioner and administered by the Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA)." 

and so on... 

— are intended solely to confuse the London Assembly and the public.

Will the London Assembly assiduously scrutinise all these statements from the Mayor, his Deputy and TfL? 

"already covered by existing 'agreements'"

• What agreements? 
• Between what parties? 
• Where are these agreements recorded and available for public scrutiny?
• Which "Right" or "Rights" contained in the Bill of Rights do these agreements to which the Mayor refers establish? 
• To which specific clause in which specific "agreements" can a London Bus Driver refer when he or she is denied the "Right" or "Rights" founded upon said agreement(s)?
• Do all these alleged agreements to which the Mayor refers apply uniformly across all of London's Bus Contractors and treat all London Bus Drivers equally? 

• What—exactly—is an "action"?  
• Where are said "actions" recorded, between whom are they agreed, and to whom do they apply? 
• Are these "actions" published and available for public scrutiny? 
• Which "Right" or "Rights" contained in the Bill of Rights do these "actions" to which the Mayor alludes establish? 
• To which specific clause in which specific "actions" can a London Bus Driver refer when he or she is denied the "Right" or "Rights" founded upon said "action(s)"?
• Do these "actions" apply uniformly across all of London's Bus Contractors and treat all London Bus Drivers equally?

If the Mayor continues to refuse to provide documentary evidence to support his claim about all the alleged "actions" he claims establish the existence and application of the Bill of Rights for all London Bus Drivers, isn't the Mayor merely gaslighting the London Assembly?

"already covered by existing...'legislation'"

• The Mayor cites various legislative acts but does not reference specific clauses, why? 
• Which "Right" or "Rights" contained in the Bill of Rights does this said legislation establish? 
• To which specific clause in which specific legislation can a London Bus Driver refer when he or she is denied the "Right" or "Rights" founded upon said legislative act(s)?
• If Bus Drivers are being denied Rights guaranteed by Legislative Acts, aren't TfL Bus Contractors breaking the law? 
• If the Mayor of London, as TfL Chair, is permitting TfL Bus Contractors to break the law, isn't he just an accomplice? 

If the Mayor continues to refuse to provide documentary evidence to support his claim about all the "legislation" that establishes the existence and application of the Bill of Rights for all London Bus Drivers, isn't the Mayor gaslighting you? More importantly—if what the Mayor has stated is true and can be backed up by evidence—is he knowingly permitting TfL Bus Contractors to break the law? 

As you know well, the Bill of Rights we're demanding derive directly from the lived experiences of London Bus Drivers. The Mayor claims we already enjoy them, but he refuses to cite:

(a) the Specific Clauses of the any Existing Agreements, Actions or Legislation that Guarantee London Bus Drivers those Rights 

and, more importantly—

(b) the Specific Remedies available to Bus Drivers when we are denied them.

As a publicly-elected official whose sole purpose is to scrutinise the Mayor of London and the institutions over which the Mayor has authority, we believe it is incumbent upon you and the London Assembly to reject the Mayor's contemptuous response and subject it to some meaningful scrutiny. 

The penultimate paragraph of the Mayor's letter to you—

"TfL encourages any London bus driver who feels his or her rights are being infringed to raise their concerns with their employer, their union, or TfL directly. This can also be done via an anonymous reporting system, The Confidential Incident Reporting & Analysis Service, which is available to all drivers."

—should provide you with some encouragement that being on 'the right side of history' on Bus Safety occasionally bears fruit. 

On 17 September 2014, your Green Party Predecessor Darren Johnson asked Mayor Boris Johnson a simple question about Bus Safety—

Unlike Tube Drivers, the drivers of buses in London do not have access to a Confidential Incident Reporting & Analysis System (CIRAS), where employees can confidentially register individual concerns about work colleagues, working  practices, and other activity which presents a safety hazard, or fails to apply good systems of risk management with the assurance that these safety concerns will be investigated by an independent body.   Will you immediately order TfL to make subscription to CIRAS a condition of continuing to be an approved supplier for TfL London bus contracts and other related services?

And the argument put forward by Mayor Boris Johnson to reject Darren Johnson AM's reasonable request  —

There are already robust systems for reporting and investigating safety issues and incidents across the bus network. Assurance is provided by audits of operator reporting and investigating procedures, as well as regular reviews of reported data. All London bus operators have their own established procedures in place.

— seems remarkably (and contemptuously) similar to Mayor Sadiq Khan's to you on 7 May.

As I suspect you already know, after further campaigning from Darren Johnson joined by Assembly Members from the Liberal Democrat (Caroline Pidgeon AM) and Conservative Parties (Richard Tracey AM, Victoria Borwick AM), Mayor Boris Johnson was shamed into extending Confidential Safety Incident Reporting to TfL Bus Drivers in January 2015  and—after TfL delayed (obstructed?) implementing the Mayor's order for a year—CIRAS was officially extended to Bus Drivers by TfL at its cost in January 2016.

Given the dozens of Mayor's Questions about the Bill of Rights Conservative Assembly Members Keith Prince AM, Neil Garratt AM and Thomas Turell AM have put forward since we started the Bill of Rights Campaign at TfL Headquarters on 5 November 2024, and additional questions from Liberal Democrat AM Hina Bokhari, from my simple Bus Driver's perspective it would appear that you've got at least a quorum of Assembly Members that would support you putting a Bill of Rights Motion in front of the Assembly for a debate and a vote.

To be honest, we are disappointed by the fact that, since 29 January 2025, you haven't been inspired to (a) ask any Mayor's Questions about the Bill of Rights or (b) present a Bill of Rights Motion to allow all Assembly Members from all Parties to reveal their public positions about our reasonable demands.   Now, more than ever, we need you to work with other London Assembly Members to pressure the Mayor to stop gaslighting the London Assembly about the Bus Drivers Bill of Rights.  Your predecessor Darren Johnson's success in obtaining Confidential Safety Incident Reporting for London Bus Drivers against Mayoral and TfL's public gaslighting is a good example of the kind of "about-face" that's possible when both facts and common sense are on your side. 

Given the fact that 2024 saw a doubling of 2023's number of people killed 'in or by a bus' , the Mayor's Vision Zero 'ambition' for that chilling number to be 'zero by 2030' appears to be nothing more than a virtue-signalling fantasy.  Much like the Confidential Safety Incident Reporting for London Bus Drivers that the Mayor of London and TfL once vociferously opposed but now are publicly cheerleading, we believe that the the Bill of Rights we're demanding is just common sense that the Mayor and TfL will come around to embrace when the public narrative they've been pushing is revealed, as it was with Confidential Incident Safety Reporting for London Bus Drivers, to be manifestly incorrect. 

You marched at the head of our procession to Parliament on 29 January 2025. 

You met us in front of City Hall on 13 February 2025 to receive our Bill of Rights Petition. 

We look forward to you to continue supporting us in our efforts to convince the Mayor about the lethality and negligence of his and TfL's public rejection of the London Bus Driver Bill of Rights.

Lives and Livelihoods are stake here:  we continue to expect that you'll remain on the 'right side of history' on the London Bus Drivers Bill of Rights. The facts, common sense, and London Bus Drivers are on that side too.

Yours sincerely,

—An Anonymous London Bus Driver

a) Well-evidenced and long-known Poor Working Conditions of London's Bus Drivers;b) Poor Operational Safety Performance of London Buses  

• An average of 3 people a day have been hospitalised from a preventable Bus Safety Incident, at least one of which involves a Bus Collision;
• About every 5-6 weeks, someone has been killed in a preventable Bus Safety Incident, mostly from Bus collisions. In 2024, there was such a death every 3 weeks.
• For the past decade, 1 in 10 Deaths from Road Traffic Incidents in London has involved a TfL Bus.  Based on TfL's published data it also appears that, Based on 2024's preliminary figures, we believe that chilling ratio shrank to 1 in 7.  Do you agree with me that is an appalling level of lethality for public service vehicles that represent less than 1 percent of the total number of vehicles driving on London's streets at any given time?
• Since this Mayor was elected, over 100 people have been killed in preventable Bus Safety Incidents, 70% from collisions. 

 1.⁠ ⁠The Right to a safe work schedule without any forced overtime or loss of pay 2.⁠ ⁠The Right to a decent and proper rest break in the working day 3.⁠ ⁠The Right to drive a safe and well-maintained vehicle 4.⁠ ⁠The Right to clean, serviced toilet and rest facilities on all bus routes 5.⁠ ⁠The Right to report safety concerns without fear of retribution from TfL or employers 6.⁠ ⁠The Right, when seriously ill and covered by a doctor's note, to not be harassed into   coming into work until fit to do so 7.⁠ ⁠The Right to relevant and timely safety training 8.⁠ ⁠The Right to drive without being forced to answer radio messages and texts from       Controllers whilst in motion 9.⁠ ⁠⁠The Right to have all company rules in writing and clearly displayed10.⁠ ⁠⁠The Right to be treated with dignity and respect by our employers, TfL and the public11.⁠ ⁠The Right to Working Air Cooling in our cabs in the summer heat 12.⁠ ⁠The Right to Working Heaters in our cabs in the cold of winter

"We are calling on you and the Mayor to meet with a delegation of Bus Drivers and Campaign Representatives in a Public Forum—like the London Assembly or House of Commons Transport Committees—to agree (a) a timeline where TfL will to write the Bus Drivers' Bill of Rights into its Framework Bus Contract and (b) how TfL plans to enforce and monitor these Rights being respected and adhered to by its Franchised Bus Operators  This meeting will need to be televised and recorded for public scrutiny.  We are not asking for what already exists. We are demanding what has never been delivered by TfL, its Franchised Bus Contractors or Unite the Union: a Safe, Respectful, Transparent and Accountable Working Environment for those who keep London moving on the UK's largest and longest-running Franchised Public Bus Network."

• Access to Toilets at the end of every Bus Route;
• Bus Cabs below 40c in the summer and above Freezing in the winter; and
• Working Schedules and Rotas that don't Ensure Driver Fatigue

• Publicly Acknowledge the crucial role of London Bus Drivers in London TravelWatch's and London Bus Alliance's future publications and/or public discussions about improvements to London's Bus Services;
• Assure the Public that they—like the LCC—recognise the direct link between Bus Driver Working Conditions and Bus Safety Performance;
• Campaign Publicly for the Mayor to write the London Bus Drivers' Bill of Rights into TfL's Framework Bus Services Contract.

London Bus Drivers' Bill of Rights
 1.⁠ ⁠The Right to a safe work schedule without any forced overtime or loss of pay 2.⁠ ⁠The Right to a decent and proper rest break in the working day 3.⁠ ⁠The Right to drive a safe and well-maintained vehicle 4.⁠ ⁠The Right to clean, serviced toilet and rest facilities on all bus routes 5.⁠ ⁠The Right to report safety concerns without fear of retribution from TfL or employers 6.⁠ ⁠The Right, when seriously ill and covered by a doctor's note, to not be harassed into coming into work until fit to do so 7.⁠ ⁠The Right to relevant and timely safety training 8.⁠ ⁠The Right to drive without being forced to answer radio messages and texts from Controllers whilst in motion 9.⁠ ⁠⁠The Right to have all company rules in writing and clearly displayed10.⁠ ⁠⁠The Right to be treated with dignity and respect by our employers, TfL and the public11.⁠ ⁠The Right to Working Air Cooling in our cabs in the summer heat 12.⁠ ⁠The Right to Working Heaters in our cabs in the cold of winter

Amendment 1. Confidential Safety Reporting — that any Bus Operator running a Public Bus Service enabled by the Bill be subscribed to a Confidential Safety Reporting Scheme like CIRAS or its equivalents. Thanks to a campaign I initiated in 2014, TfL agreed to fund CIRAS to extend its contracted Bus Drivers access to CIRAS in early 2016.
 Amendment 2. Bus Safety Incident Reporting — that any Public Transport Authority (PTA) taking control of its Public Bus Services through franchising or direct ownership will be obligated to publish its Bus Safety Performance Data every quarter. Thanks to my successful campaigning backed by Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Green Party London Assembly Members, TfL has been reluctantly publishing its Bus Safety Performance Data since 2014. 
 Amendment 3. Bus Driver Hours — that the Working Hours of Bus Drivers should conform to those of UK Lorry Drivers.  Amendment 4. Safety Qualifications of Public Transport Authority Officials — that any Public Transport Authority Official made responsible for Franchising Public Bus Services under the Act will possess basic IOSH and/or NEBOSH certifications.  

• Since 2014, about 1 in 10 deaths on the roads of London have involved TfL buses, a fleet that constitutes—corrected for mileage buses cover—about 1 percent of the vehicles on London's roads at any time. 

• International benchmarking undertaken by Imperial College consistently finds London in the lowest third of comparators for bus safety every year, suggesting that London has been— for years—the worst Bus Safety Performer in Europe. 

• In 2023 and based on STATS19 (undercount) data, TfL says that there were 258 people killed and seriously injured by buses in London—that is 258 families put through unimaginable trauma. Trust me, I know personally what that entails.  In 2017, TfL says that there were 259 people killed and seriously injured by buses in London.  After 6 years of a Vision Zero Programme much-touted by Lord Hendy's boss, the Senior Minister of Transport Heidi Alexander when she served as London Mayor Sadiq Khan's Deputy Mayor for Transport from 2018-2021, TfL's own published data shows, despite a reduction in total Bus Mileage, Buses and Bus Drivers, casualties from Preventable Bus Safety Incidents are now higher today than when Mayor Khan took office in 2016. 

• Buses and Coaches have killed, on average, about 20 pedestrians per year;

• Buses & Coaches have accounted for 3.4% of Total Pedestrian Fatalities in the United Kingdom but only account for 0.34% of the total number of vehicles in the UK and only 0.57% of the total vehicle miles in the UK;

• Accordingly, based on analysis of DfT's published data—Bus & Coach Lethality is 10 times higher than what these vehicles numbers on the road would predict and more than 5 times higher when these vehicles presence is corrected for their mileage;

London Bus Workers' Bill of Rights

1.⁠ ⁠The Right to a safe work schedule without any forced overtime or loss of pay2.⁠ ⁠The Right to a decent and proper rest break in the working day3.⁠ ⁠The Right to drive a safe and well-maintained vehicle4.⁠ ⁠The Right to clean, serviced toilet and rest facilities on all bus routes5.⁠ ⁠The Right to report safety concerns without fear of retribution from TfL or employers6.⁠ ⁠The Right, when seriously ill and covered by a doctor's note, to not be harassed into coming into work until fit to do so7.⁠ ⁠The Right to relevant and timely safety training8.⁠ ⁠The Right to drive without being forced to answer radio messages and texts from Controllers whilst in motion9.⁠ ⁠⁠The Right to have all company rules in writing and clearly displayed10.⁠ ⁠⁠The Right to be treated with dignity and respect by our employers, TfL and the public11.⁠ ⁠The Right to Working Air Cooling in our cabs in the summer heat 12.⁠ ⁠The Right to Working Heaters in our cabs in the cold of winter

(i) Confidential Safety Reporting; (ii) Timely and Accurate Safety Data Publishing by PTAs; (iii) Limiting bus driver hours; and, (iv) Ensuring Public Officials those designing, awarding and enforcing bus franchise contracts had safety qualifications 

'Traffic collision experts concluded that the Bus Driver began turning while his view was obscured by another bus' 

and "a pillar inside the bus also created a blind spot but the driver could have moved his head and upper body to look around it".

• a "turning bus"

• "obscured vision"

• a "pillar inside the bus" that "create a blind spot" that required the driver "to move his head and upper body to look around it" to see a pedestrian crossing the road in a designated pedestrian crossing.

• the unrelenting pressure from iBus Controllers on the Bus Driver to be timely and fast

• the Driver might haven't had access to a toilet for hours;

• the well-evidenced possibility that this 76 year-old driver might have been suffering from fatigue; 

"Implementing a Vision Zero programme" "The Secretary of State must work with bus service providers, trade unions, professional bodies, and appropriate training institutions to implement a Vision Zero programme within the bus sector, modelled on best practice in the industry, with the aim of eliminating serious injuries in the course of bus operations."

• Confidential Safety Reporting

• Bus Safety Incident Reporting

• Limiting Bus Driver Working Hours

• Safety Qualifications of PTA Officials

• Creation of Independent Bus Crash Investigation Branch

From: Kevin Mustafa 

Subject: Urgent Concerns Regarding Bus Safety and Driver Fatigue

Date: 23 March 2025 at 10:31:17 GMT

To: Lorna Murphy - TfL Director of Buses <lornamurphy@tfl.gov.uk>, Andy Lord - TfL Commissioner <AndyLord@tfl.gov.uk>

Cc: Tom Kearney, Neil Garratt <Neil.Garratt@london.gov.uk>, Keith Prince <Keith.Prince@london.gov.uk>, Caroline Russell <caroline.russell@london.gov.uk>, peter skinner <skinnerzboy@yahoo.co.uk>, Lorraine Bus Driver <lorraine.robertsoniz@hotmail.com>, "bishopmi@me.com" <bishopmi@me.com>, James Rossi <jamesrossi268@outlook.com>, Michael Liebreich <michael@liebreichassociates.com>, "billofrights@hotmail.com" <billofrights@hotmail.com>

Dear Lorna , Andy

Are you a Londoner? Do you ever come to London on business or for leisure, or as a tourist? Then this post is for you.

You might find the sight of a red London bus reassuring. You should find it terrifying. In an annual benchmarking study carried out by Imperial College, London scores consistently in the lowest tercile for safety, probably the least safe bus system of any major European city.

I was on the board of TfL and chaired the Safety Panel, and I know why: the system under which TfL contracts out bus services to private companies is "institutionally unsafe". Payment is tied entirely to the number of passenger route miles and to keeping up with the bus in front.

As congestion has increased and inflation has eaten bus company margins, pressure on bus drivers to speed has increased. Drivers work in conditions none of us would accept: lack of toilets, overheated cabs in summer; frozen cabs in winter; pressure to drive extra shifts up to 13-days in a row; insufficient time between shifts; and so on.

The Mayor and TfL have tried to deflect attention from all this, and from its impact on safety, but the data does not lie. As you can see from the attached chart, in 2024 there were 16 preventable deaths involving TfL buses - the highest number since 2009, Boris Johnson's first year as Mayor, despite bus journeys in London declining 17% over that period.

In 2017, as part of Vision Zero, Sadiq Khan announced that no one would be killed on or by a London bus by 2030. He has only been on track during the pandemic years, when London's buses ran reduced services. On current trend he will fail by a country mile.

Why does this matter today, and what can you do?

First, London bus drivers are campaigning for TfL and the bus companies to adopt, promote and enshrine in contracts a 12-point Bus Drivers Bill of Rights. There should be nothing controversial about it - all are basic rights that any decent person would want drivers to have. I feel so strongly about this, I have marched with the drivers, alongside Unite the Union. Everyone should sign their petition here.

Secondly, as it stands, the "Better Buses Bill" that the government is pushing through Parliament right now, would extend the "institutionally unsafe" London bus franchise model across the country. If you worry about London's appalling bus driver working conditions and pressure to speed leading to the same safety outcomes nationwide, please write to your MP, demanding that safety be put at the heart of the Bus Services [No. 2] Bill. 

• Demand regular, timely, independently audited safety data across all bus services in the UK. 
• Demand a guarantee of decent working conditions for drivers: toilets, access to a confidential whistleblower service, and the rest of the Bus Driver Bill of Rights.
• Demand an independent investigator for bus crashes in the UK, as we have RAIB for rail crashes and the AAIB for aircraft crashes.

You can find your MP here.

—Michael Liebreich

Originally Posted by the author on LinkedIn (19 Feb 2025).  Published here with the author's permission. 

Michael Liebreich served on the Board of Transport for London (2012-18) and as the Chair of the Board's Safety, Sustainability and Human Resources Panel (2016-18).  

1. London accounts for about one half of UK Bus Journeys and one quarter of the UK's Bus Fleet.

Source:  DfT 

2. TfL Buses are ten times more lethal than their presence on London's roads would predict; since 2014, 1 in 10 RTC Fatals and 1 in 10 Pedestrian Deaths in London have involved a TfL bus.

Sources:  Mayor of London; TfL; London Assembly 

3. TfL's sole metric of bus contract performance is a time-based "Excess Waiting Time"/Headway calculation that independent benchmarking shows London—

• in the highest tercile of its 'world city' peers for Bus Punctuality and Profitability per Bus;
• in lowest tercile of its 'world city' peers for safety (collisions per km); 
• London has the least safe public bus system of any major European city.

Sources:  Mayor of London; TfL; London Assembly; Imperial College

4. TfL has never conducted any analysis or safety risk assessment of its (a) Bus Franchise Model, (b) Bus Contract Financial Incentives or the (c) iBus System it uses to measure contract performance

Sources: Mayor of London, TfL; London Assembly 

5. Bus Driver Fatigue is a well-evidenced systemic problem, with the latest independent study showing 1 in 3 bus drivers reporting a near-miss due to fatigue and 1 in 6 Bus Drivers having fallen asleep at the wheel while driving a bus;

Sources: Mayor of London; TfL; London Assembly; Loughborough University 

6. Bus Collisions (2016-2023) - London averages of over 26,000 collisions annually (2023: over 28,000 - so, getting worse) from which — 

• about 1200 people are hospitalised per year
• 1 person is killed about every month (2024). 
• 80 to 100 people are sent to hospital per month from Preventable Bus Safety Incidents (80% Collisions, 20% Onboard Trips & Falls), 20 of these victims with serious and/or life-changing injuries;
• People killed and seriously injured from Bus Safety Incidents (80% Collisions, 20% Onboard Trips & Falls) are now higher than 2016 despite a) the total number of bus miles has fallen b) the total number of bus users has fallen (c) the total number of buses in London's contracted bus fleet has fallen (d) the total number of Bus Drivers has fallen (e) since 2016, the Mayor of London has announced 3 'world leading' Bus Safety Programmes and a Vision Zero Programme.

Sources: Mayor of London; TfL; London Assembly

7. 25% of London Bus Routes don't have a toilet at 1 end for Bus Drivers.

Sources: Mayor of London; TfL; London Assembly

8. TfL has agreed with Bus Operators and Unite the Union that Bus Drivers don't need a toilet on any route round trip that lasts up to 150 minutes - this was agreed without a single bit of data (i.e, Human Factors Study, HSE Risk Assessment).

Sources: Mayor of London; TfL; London Assembly

9. TfL has evidence of (at least) 12 million (est.) Annual Bus Speeding incidents on file that it does not share with the Police; From January 2017 to January 2024, nearly half (44%) the Bus Collision Deaths occurred in 20mph (or less) zones.

Sources: Mayor of London; TfL; London Assembly

10. Since January 2016, more than 1 pedestrian per month has been injured by a TfL Bus hitting them in a zebra or pelican crossing.

Sources: Mayor of London; TfL; London Assembly

11. Since 1 April 2015, an average of 6 people per month (2022-23: 8 per month- getting worse) have been injured after being struck by a Bus Wing Mirror. 

Sources: Mayor of London; TfL; London Assembly

12. TfL received the highest Health & Safety Fine ever in July 2023 for HSE Failures on the Croydon Tram, a contracted surface transport operation that was founded, managed and monitored by TfL's Bus Executives.

Sources: Department of Justice; Mayor of London; TfL; London Assembly; Press Reports

13. While Sadiq Khan has been Mayor, 16 Pedestrians have been killed or seriously injured while in Traffic "Refuges";

Sources: Mayor of London; TfL; London Assembly

14. TfL does not report Law-Breaking by Bus Drivers to the Metropolitan Police for, inter alia—

• Running Red Lights
• Speeding

Sources: Mayor of London; TfL; London Assembly

15. TfL Bus Drivers had the highest rate of death (per 100 thousand) from Covid-19 for any UK Profession (that includes Doctors, Nurses and Healthcare workers)—

• Over Two-Thirds of the TfL Bus Drivers who died from Covid-19 did so after the first Lockdown;
• TfL data shows Bus Drivers were still dying from Covid-19 through 2022, after which it stopped collecting this information; 
• TfL has never requested any of its Bus Operators to provide a Covid-19 Garage Risk Assessment.

Sources: Mayor of London; TfL; London Assembly; University College London

Notes to Sources:

1. Analysis of published DfT Data— 

In March 2023, 30,154 buses were operated by local bus services in England, with 8,788 of them in London

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-bus-statistics-year-ending-march-2023/annual-bus-statistics-year-ending-march-2023

 

2.  Analysis Data Extracted from TfL's "Casualties in London" Reports; DfT Annual Bus Statistics; TfL "Travel in London" Reports; London Assembly Investigations; Mayor's Questions

"Buses contracted to Transport for London (TfL) constitute approximately 2% of total motorized road traffic in Greater London. This includes all buses, not just TfL-contracted ones, but TfL buses dominate the category."

 

https://content.tfl.gov.uk/technical-note-07-what-are-the-trends-and-patterns-of-bus-and-coach-traffic.pdf?t&utm_source=perplexity

 

"The percentage of TfL buses in total traffic has seen fluctuations over the years. In 2019/20, buses constituted about 1.2% of motorized road traffic in Greater London. This percentage dropped significantly during the pandemic in 2020/21 to 0.4%, reflecting reduced public transport usage. By 2022/23, the percentage had rebounded to around 1.5%. This indicates a recovery trend but still not reaching pre-pandemic levels."

 

https://content.tfl.gov.uk/travel-in-london-2023-trends-in-public-transport-demand-and-operational-performance-acc.pdf?t&utm_source=perplexity

London Assembly: https://www.london.gov.uk/about-us/londonassembly/meetings/documents/s110115/Appendix%201%20-%20Letter%20from%20Tom%20Kearney%20received%2015%20December%202023.pdf

3. Mayor's Questions, TfL's published Bus Performance Data, Internal Bus Operator Communications

https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-london-assembly-does/questions-mayor/find-an-answer/refusal-benchmark-londons-safety-performance-world-city-peers

5 Year Data (2015-2019)

 

https://www.london.gov.uk/questions/sites/default/files/3828%20Refusal%20to%20Benchmark%20Londons%20safety%20performance%20attachment.pdf

4. https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-london-assembly-does/questions-mayor/find-an-answer/vision-zero-tfls-bus-tendering-system-and-ksis-bus-safety-incidents

5.  http://content.tfl.gov.uk/bus-driver-fatigue-report.pdf 

6.  https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/bus-safety-data

7.  https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-london-assembly-does/questions-mayor/find-an-answer/lack-toilet-dignity-london-bus-drivers-name-borough-where-toilet-not-provided-end-bus-route

8. https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-london-assembly-does/questions-mayor/find-an-answer/negligence-and-toilet-priority-classification-agreed-between-tfl-unite-union-and-its-bus-contractors

9. https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-london-assembly-does/questions-mayor/find-an-answer/speed-compliance-tool-information-contained-recent-go-ahead-london-training-video; 

https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-london-assembly-does/questions-mayor/find-an-answer/bus-collision-deaths-20mph-or-lower-zones-2016-q1-2024;

https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-london-assembly-does/questions-mayor/find-an-answer/vision-zero-speed-compliance-tool-data-and-ksi-incidents

10. https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-london-assembly-does/questions-mayor/find-an-answer/nimi-reports-and-tfl-bus-drivers-critically-injuring-pedestrians-zebra-crossings-1-january-2016-11

11. https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-london-assembly-does/questions-mayor/find-an-answer/vision-zero-pedestrians-struck-bus-mirrors-1-january-2018-30-september-2023

12. https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/R-v-TfL-270723.pdf

13. https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-london-assembly-does/questions-mayor/find-an-answer/vision-zero-bus-collision-ksis-crossing-islands

14. https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-london-assembly-does/questions-mayor/find-an-answer/signal-passed-danger-spad-3; 

https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-london-assembly-does/questions-mayor/find-an-answer/vision-zero-speed-compliance-tool-data-and-ksi-incidents

15. https://content.tfl.gov.uk/initial-assessment-of-london-bus-driver-mortality-from-covid-19.pdf;

https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-london-assembly-does/questions-mayor/find-an-answer/number-bus-workers-who-died-covid-19-march-2020-november-2023;

https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-london-assembly-does/questions-mayor/find-an-answer/update-employers-bus-workers-who-died-covid-19-march-2020-june-2023