London Banter - View Single Post

Tim Roll-Pickering · January 19th 12, 07:17 PM posted to uk.transport.london

d wrote:

I fail to see how it would be harder to get off a bus with 3 large exit
doors
than one with 1 small exit door (the front one is entrance only on DDs).

Because the bendy vestibles were far more packed and had people trying to
move in all directions.

They were more packed because you could get more people on them.

They were more packed because of a higher use, in part because of the free
bus aspect discussed below, and because overall there was less capacity on
the route.

Please list them. The only one I can think of is for people who like a
nice
view from the top deck. Well I'm sorry, but thats hardly a good reason.

A more realistic official capacity.

Which is still less than a bendy.

Yes but the ratio of changeover wasn't 1:1.

More seats.

True, but not that important for short journeys.

There were lots of long journeys made on them - my local route had bendies
running from Bond Street to Ilford.

A clearer passenger flow.

A more difficult passenger flow you mean. Once the gangway from driver
to rear door is blocked with standees its a bugger to get on and the bus
sits at the stop for ages blocking traffic.

Just for starters and that's even before we get to the issue of how much
road space they took up.

And how much roadspace would 2 double deckers with the same capacity as 1
bendy take up?

You would not get the two flowing together as a single unit, serving as one
very lengthy obstacle that blocks and neds to be overcome.

Sorry, I must be missing the logic of your argument.

For the final time the point is people believed that because they were
free
buses they attacted far more passengers than if they had to be paid for -

For the final time - no one bloody cares! Do you honestly think people
look
around at fellow passengers wondering if they've paid the fare?

It was quite a common comment by many that they assumed that, albeit usually
only stated once they were off the buses.

And are you
seriously suggesting that in each bus there were dozens of fare dodgers
who
would otherwise have walked?? Get real.

Well how do you explain the preference of many very short hoppers around
Stratford and the Romford Road for the bendy 25 over the doubl decker 86? Or
the more bearable loadings on the 25 now it's a double decker?

W don't know for sure how much fare dodging there was because ticket
inspections in that neck of the woods were so rare.