"Isitsafe?" wrote in message ...

Spotted several Stagecoach buses today - around Woolwich SE18 - without
route indicators on the rear. Don't know which route !
Type of bus had boxed in row of three fans under back window.
Is it not a condition of operation that the route number be shown at the
rear ?

Outside of London most operators ceased using the rear blinds in the 1970s
or 1980s, so there can't be a regulation requiring it. That, however, was in
the days of roller blinds.

I've noticed that, since the advent of dot matrix displays, rear "blinds"
have been making a comeback, though. In fact on one of our cross-country
routes, the dedicated fleet are being refurbished and the rear indicators
now show the full route information (as on the front), together with a
smaller row of characters proclaiming "Leather seats!" (their exclamation
mark, not mine).