Misplaced Pages

Hoppa (London Buses)

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Not to be confused with Hopper fare.

Hoppa was a brand of London Buses routes operated by minibuses. Hoppa services were used as a low cost replacement for lower frequency routes previously operated by conventional buses. The smaller vehicles could also access residential streets that were previously unserved by buses.

History

The use of minibuses for urban bus routes was a consequence of the Transport Act 1985. The legislation introduced competitive tendering of bus routes in London and minibuses on low patronage routes were a low cost alternative to conventional buses.

The brand was introduced by London Regional Transport (LRT). The routes used single door minibuses or midibuses. The smaller vehicles could serve residential streets which full sized buses could not reach. This could bring more Londoners within 400 metres of a bus service. Hail and ride sections were employed on residential streets, avoiding the need to install new bus stops. Some routes were sponsored by local councils with funding provided to get services started. The H24 and H25 routes were funded by Hounslow Council and opened by John Prescott, Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, in January 1991.

The use of minibuses was phased out following the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, which required all single floor buses to be accessible by 1 January 2016. London Regional Transport was replaced by Transport for London in 2000.

List of Hoppa routes

The Hoppa routes were introduced as follows:

Route Branding Terminals Service start Notes
193 Hornchurch Hoppa Romford to County Park Estate 2 August 1986 Replaced routes 193 and 256
268 Hampstead Hoppa Finchley Road to Golders Green tube station 31 May 1986
346 Hornchurch Hoppa Upminster to Corbets Tey 24 September 1988 Replaced route 246A
379 Enfield Hoppa Chingford railway station to Yardley Lane Estate 5 March 1989
C2 Camden Hoppa Regent Street to Parliament Hill Fields 4 April 1987
H12 Harrow Hoppa Harrow Weald to South Harrow tube station 14 November 1987 Replaced route 209
H24 Hounslow Hoppa Hatton Cross tube station to Feltham January 1991 Initially funded by Hounslow Council
H25 Hounslow Hoppa Feltham to Hanworth January 1991 Initially funded by Hounslow Council
K1 Kingston Hoppa New Malden to Surbiton 28 June 1987
K2 Kingston Hoppa Hook to Kingston Hospital 28 June 1987
K3 Kingston Hoppa Kingston to Esher 28 June 1987 Replaced route 215
K4 Kingston Hoppa Kingston to Hook 2 December 1989 Initially run as six month experiment funded by Kingston Council
K5 Kingston Hoppa Kingston to New Malden 2 December 1989 Initially run as six month experiment funded by Kingston Council
K6 Kingston Hoppa Kingston to Kingston Vale 2 December 1989 Initially run as six month experiment funded by Kingston Council
P11 Peckham Hoppa Peckham to Waterloo 19 November 1988
S2 Hackney Hoppa Stratford to Clapton 24 February 1990
W13 Woodford Hoppa Leytonstone tube station to Woodford Wells 4 March 1989
W14 Woodford Hoppa Leytonstone tube station to Claybury Hospital 4 March 1989

See also

References

  1. Batten, Malcolm (2022). Minibus Mania.
  2. Richards, Brian (2001). Future Transport in Cities.
  3. ^ Staines Informer 18 January 1991
  4. Poole, Fiona (8 June 1999). "Buses - Research paper 99/59" (PDF). House of Commons Library. p. 4. Retrieved 25 Feb 2024. All single deck buses will have to comply with the requirements by 2015 and all double deck vehicles by 2017.
  5. Batten, Malcolm (2018). East London Buses: 1970s-1980s. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 9781445680217.
  6. Route 268 timetable 31 May 1986 London Regional Transport
  7. Hoppa for Happy Hampstead LRT News issue 316 6 June 1986 page 3
  8. Hop on the new Enfield Hoppa London Regional Transport
  9. ^ Midibuses set to take over more routes LRT News issue 367 17 February 1989 page 5
  10. Marylebone Mercury 9 April 1987
  11. Harrow Observer 12 November 1987
  12. ^ Hop on a Hoppa! Kingston Informer 26 June 1987
  13. ^ More new Kingston Hoppa Midibuses, Routes K4, K5 and K6 London Regional Transport 1989
  14. New services for three operators Commercial Motor 11 August 1988
  15. Bartlett, Andrew (2022). London's Buses, 1979-1994. Pen & Sword. ISBN 9781526755469.
  16. Hackney Hoppa Route S2 London Regional Transport 1990
  17. ^ Discover more about your new Local (Hoppa) London Regional Transport March 1989
London Buses brands
Categories:
Hoppa (London Buses) Add topic