Exactly as the long title suggests, having routes 249 432 and 450 double run through the bus station, could it work?
It worked for the 97/357 in Walthamstow, it works for Stratford and multiple routes, can Crystal Palace have some itself?
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| Crystal Palace map Bus Station is stop D Last stop for terminating routes is stop A (122/202/363) and stop C (others not 3/227) |
So to set the ground-work, there is only really one through route that goes across Crystal Palace and that is the 450 (Lower Sydenham-West Croydon). The other two routes terminate a further five stops down the line at a bus parking lot behind Anerley Station. Yes, the 249 and 432.
Historically, Crystal Palace was home to terminating routes and very few through routes, serving as a terrible bus hub by modern standards (there was no bus station back then) since the Parade was a literal red wall. I say this as someone whose young enough to not experience the old ways.
You don't need to be young to appreciate the existence of Crystal Palace which was a museum rather than... a palace... which was glass and not crystalline... It was named that because, it sounds cool right...? Right?
Anyways.
Current routes stop layout
249: E, H, K, M (Anerley-bound)
F, P, G (Clapham-bound)
432: E, K, M (Anerley-bound)
F, G, H, L, P (Brixton-bound)
450: B, K (Sydenham-bound)
A, G, H, L (Croydon-bound)
If double run, routes stop layout
249: D, E, H, K, M (Anerley-bound)
D, F, P, G (Clapham-bound)
432: D, E, K, M (Anerley-bound)
D, F, G, H, L, P (Brixton-bound)
450: B, D, K (Sydenham-bound)
A, D, G, H, L (Croydon-bound)
Jumping right into it because why not, is how the 249/432 would look like on a map, before and after.
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| Et voila |
Off the bat it's obvious for routes 249 and 432 there is a time penalty, but it is also clear there is a significant convenience factor for doing so.
For every minute lost, a certain amount of links/paths is gained.
- 363: Upper Sydenham - Peckham - Elephant & Castle
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| Expected Time of Arrivals (ETA) Left: 432 Right: 322 + 157, simulating a double run |
249: Streatham
417: Streatham Hill
- 249/322/417: Clapham Common
- 3/322/432: Brixton
3/322: Herne Hill - Brixton
322/432: West Norwood - Tulse Hill - Brixton
- 122/202/450: Sydenham
122: Lewisham - Lee Green
202: Catford - Lee Green
- 227/358: Beckenham - Shortlands - Bromley
- 157/410/450: Croydon
157/410: Norwood Junction - Croydon - Wallington
450: Thornton Heath
For 249/432:
We can employ a similar strategy to Edgware Bus Station where there's a set-down only stop for terminating routes which is used as a set-down only stop for passing routes, and then the stops inside the bus station are pick-up only stops. One route makes a good case study in particular.
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| Stop G is getting off only, Stop D is the pick up stop |
Give or take a minute for the set-down only stop on Crystal Palace Parade, then a minute for pick-up only stop at the Bus Station, then a minute for the traffic lights entering the bus station and a minute for Westow Street traffic but Anerley traffic is minimal in time so let's not count that.
Just like that we lost a minimum of 2 minutes.
Though we gained 7 different threads of convenient destinations, and 7/2=3.5
Therefore through rudimentary quick maths, you gain 3 destinations for every minute you lose in the double run.
The story is different for the 450, there's more of a case that should stop at stop D as opposed to it's exclusive stop A (along with N3).
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| The 450 map |
- Towards West Croydon it's already coming in from the direction whereby you'd enter the bus station, therefore it's no time wasted. It's an easier win-win than 249/432.
- Towards Lower Sydenham there is less of a case since the routes it shares a direction with (122 and 202) don't use stop D, save for the 3 it shares a couple of stops with. However is still a useful connection for other routes.
One downside that is immediately accounted for is driver changeovers, since they happen further up the Parade and not near the bus station. So driver changeovers won't affect a 450 running through the bus station.
Another upside is that the bus station doesn't reside of only buses in the bus station.
Routes 3 and 227 stand outside but use the first stop which is, in the bus station. So buses can transit through the bus station, logically they would have to but the point is, it can be done.
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Redesigning the bus station?
It's served it's purpose of cleaning up the clutter of red wall on Crystal Palace Parade making way for usable traffic, by utilising the land around the small parking used for overflow (located on 122/202/363 stands). That purpose was quickly outstripped by increases to routes which meant something had to be kicked out. Initially it was to be 3 and 322 but plans changed in favour of 249 and 432 in the new (for 2003) bus stand behind Anerley Station.
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| Crystal Palace, 2020 |
Since then, the 3 and 227 reverted to standing on the Parade as overcrowding amounted to a boiling point in 2018, even though no route had frequency changes since 322 in 2015. Route changes would go even further back in time.
Currently there's a total of 14 stands, 5 facing north and 9 mostly facing south.
The ones that face north for the 122/202/363/N63, whereas the ones that face south for the other routes (157/322/358/410/417/N2/N137).
If those numbers don't add up for the latter ones then you are correct. Each day route has a maximum of two buses on stand, of which would be normal for more frequent routes. For both sides of the bus station, there would be routes where they shouldn't exceed one on stand.
So can a purpose-built bus station be made in the now-closed-off space around Crystal Palace?
Perhaps.
The suitable style of bus station would be like in Edgware, Vauxhall and Walthamstow whereby they're islands, meaning buses loop around... an island. What's certainly a mess is the likes of Brent Cross built in the 1970s with a rather car-centric mindset, just a bunch of stands stacked side-by-side and two bus stops.
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| Crystal Palace, Brent Cross style (22 stand spaces) |
It's just a car park, but if we should be favourable, all traffic would be facing right. I didn't add that in the graphics because I was faithful to Brent Cross. Viva la mayhem.
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| Crystal Palace, Stratford style (18 stand spaces) Right bank of stops are terminating-only |
Stratford is a middle case, it's not an outright mess but it's volume of through traffic and terminating traffic being high does make it susceptible to one blocking another.
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Finally, the island style bus station.
16 stand spaces
The inspiration at first was indeed Vauxhall, though things turned south immediately as I realised I need to add stand spaces (at least 20), though I can't do that without extensively modifying it's current borders (I only slightly modified the bottom for previous styles within the limits of current pavement). If the amount of land for the bus station was increased, by all means another bank of stands added is plenty easy.
Peckham was my next inspiration, that's the 7 stands facing north you see at the bottom.
It works well, used by many new bus stations globally if we're optimistic, since the old ways of literal bus parks are less efficient for passenger flow and convenience, though truly dependant on the bus station's size in relation to amenities, i.e stops/stands. Though a park like Brent Cross (if managed well) can be compact for space, the island isn't efficient in that regard, but offers maximum flow of vehicles with stops on one island which provide, you guessed it, best passenger flow.
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| Very budget artist render |
Regardless, Crystal Palace is a bottleneck yes. It's not a complete nightmare like Brent Cross.
It can be improved, and probably should have been years ago when it took barely a few years for it to be overwhelmed. Then a few decades of little change to routes forcing 3/227 out. It's never too late for a "bus station" rebuild, I only put quotation marks because it does have a passenger information desk and staff so it is indeed a bus station. Unlike Streatham.
I haven't delved into stop arrangement changes in-map but you can imagine without me saying it, that routes 249/322/417/432/450 would share a stop, 3/122/202/363/450 would share a stop, and 157/227/249/358/432 would share a stop.
I kind of enjoyed taking the time to draw my own maps as much as I did dread the prospect of doing it, since I learned the stand arrangements of the bus stations I took vision from. Alas I don't foresee going through that effort (not soon anyway) so I bid you a goodbye and stay safe until the next one!
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