00:00We already have the Superloop and now we're getting the Bakerloop.
00:08TfL has launched consultation on Sir Sadiq Khan's latest express bus and this one will
00:14mirror the Bakerloo line extension and go between Waterloo and Lewisham.
00:19What we're doing with the Bakerloop bus service, consulting today, a six-week consultation
00:26and if people are supportive of the idea, a Bakerloop service would be an express service.
00:31So yes, there are different buses that run along the Old Kent Road that go from Waterloo
00:36through Elephant Castle all the way to Lewisham through Burgess Park and Lewisham Town Centre.
00:41This would be a fast, quick Bakerloop but also what it does, really importantly, is
00:47it's a precursor potentially to the Bakerloop line extending south.
00:51Almost if you're a developer thinking about building new homes, you can have the confidence
00:56that there's going to be infrastructure there.
00:58So this could be the precursor to more jobs, more homes and regeneration.
01:03The Bakerloo line extension would cost a fortune though, isn't this almost a way of doing it
01:08on the cheap and therefore it would actually take away the argument for the Bakerloo line
01:12extension because you say, let's just have a fast Superloop bus instead, that does it
01:16at a fraction of the cost.
01:18It's the opposite.
01:19It shows the DFT and the Treasury that we in London have put our money where our mouth
01:23is by investing in a Bakerloop.
01:25I want to thank Southwark Council who have contributed financially, and also Lewisham
01:29Council for their support.
01:32What it does is show there is a demand for extending the Bakerloop line south, which
01:36doesn't cost a fortune because actually the money is returned in terms of increased council
01:41tax for the new homes, the money is returned in relation to the new money through new businesses,
01:45through business rates and corporation tax.
01:47The money returned in terms of regeneration bears huge dividends.
01:51The Superloop network was launched back in the summer of 2023 as an alternative to drivers
01:57being forced from their cars by the US expansion.
02:00There are currently nine routes, but a 10th Superloop route will launch in April on the
02:05same day as the Silvertown tunnel opens.
02:08That will be the SL4 Superloop, which will take people from Grove Park up to Canary Wharf
02:13and back.
02:14In addition to the Bakerloop or BL1 just behind me, which should launch around autumn time,
02:19there will be two other Superloop routes.
02:21They will be the SLE Liban, which will run between Abbeywood and North Greenwich, and
02:27the SL12 between Raynham and Gants Hill.
02:30The big question though is, will these Superloop buses get stuck in traffic like other conventional
02:36London buses?
02:37TfL knows that delays are the biggest disincentive to getting Londoners back on the bus, and
02:43the average bus speed in London has fallen below 10 miles an hour.
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