A total of 22 new or improved coach and bus services to Heathrow have been introduced in partnership with the airport in the light of the expansion of London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) last month.
With the £12.50 daily ULEZ fee for non-compliant vehicles now applicable across all London boroughs, including the UK’s busiest airport, operators have seen an extra opportunity in workers and travellers who may want to leave the car at home. The services have been developed with financial support from Heathrow Airport.
Tim Leech, Heathrow’s Head of Surface Access Strategy and Sponsorship, says: “The ability for all colleagues to continue to commute affordably has been very important to us. Our research showed that potentially 10,000 colleagues who previously drove didn’t have a ULEZ-compliant car. So, we have invested a significant amount to provide bus and coach services from areas where we know a lot of colleagues live but didn’t have viable public transport options.”
Many of the new and improved services are from outside of London, supporting Heathrow’s Sustainable Travel Zone plan, which is designed to improve links from where the airport’s commuters live, whether inside or outside of Greater London.
Matthew Wooll, Heathrow’s Route Development Lead in the Surface Access Strategy team, says: “The Sustainable Travel Zone improvements introduced so far have targeted shift workers and passengers using flights early in the morning or late at night, and take up has been very encouraging. We’ve also made sure that colleagues have access to discounted fares, which is very important.
“We are very proud of what we’ve achieved for the ULEZ expansion in a very short space of time. Buses and coaches are easily adaptable and can be introduced very quickly in the right circumstances. We’ve had a tremendous level of support from our operating partners and the neighbouring local authorities, who have all worked extremely hard to enable these service improvements to commence on time.”
New services launched in conjunction with the airport since July include Go2Gate, a demand-responsive link to and from Dedworth from Thames Valley Buses.
