Thousands of Hackney residents signed a petition to stop funding cuts to the borough’s buses.
The petition with nearly 5,000 signatures was handed to No 10 Downing Street on Saturday (August 20) by a delegation led by Hackney mayor Philip Glanville.
Three bus routes serving Hackney – the 78, 242 and 349 – could be cut under London-wide savings plans.
Changes to another 12 daytime routes and two night services in the borough have been proposed.
Mr Glanville said: “Cutting affordable and sustainable bus services during a cost of living crisis will leave our vulnerable residents cut off and worse off. One in four of our residents rely on buses to get around Hackney.
"We need the government to properly fund Transport for London (TfL) and save our bus services. I’m so pleased that nearly 5,000 of our residents and visitors agree.”
He was accompanied by deputy mayor Cllr Anntoinette Bramble, Cllr Mete Coban, Diane Abbott MP, Assembly member Cllr Sem Moema, Cllr Sharon Patrick and Lucie Scott from Hackney North Labour Party.
Mrs Abbott said: “Hackney is an inner-city borough with no tube stations. These Tory bus cuts will hit women and ethnic minorities hardest and during a terrible cost of living crisis. We need Boris Johnson to give TfL a proper deal to save our services.”
Government transport minister Grant Shapps previously said it was “untrue” that the proposed bus cuts were the result of reduced government funding. In a letter to London mayor Sadiq Khan he stated: “As we have told your officials for more than a year, we in fact think that cutting services should be your last resort, not your first, to achieve financial sustainability.”
Mr Shapps wrote that TfL has received £5 billion since May 2020 and that the government would continue to work towards a long-term funding plan.
The extended consultation period on the bus cuts came to an end this month, having received an “exceptionally high” number of responses.
In total, 250 buses and 16 routes across London could be removed as a result of the review.
TfL says savings need to be made with customer numbers still "significantly below" pre-pandemic levels.
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