Neil Williams wrote to uk.transport.london on Thu, 30 Jun 2005:

On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 11:59:57 +0100, Mrs Redboots
wrote:

In many ways it is, since dwell times at stops are a great deal shorter,

Not necessarily with off-bus ticketing and front/rear doors.

Hmmm - we don't have off-bus ticketing here (other than passes/Oysters),
and the 159 still seems to take less time at stops than the other buses
do. Even at a major interchange stop like Brixton Station.

and also, a conductor can help someone on to a bus (say, someone with
poor sight, or who can walk, but with difficulty) in a way that a driver
cannot.

A driver could, if he wasn't required to protect the takings[1] and
therefore could leave the cab.

Yes, but he is, so he can't. So those unfortunate people - and, indeed,
mothers with pushchairs (I do remember conductors used to help by taking
the pushchair from me as I got on to the bus, and handing it to me as I
got off) - have to manage by themselves. As, indeed, do wheelchair
users. Someone was trying to get his wheelchair into position the other
day and was having an awful time of it, especially as he had to ask
people to move their shopping first. He got there in the end, but it
took quite a long time!

The safety argument is essentially the
same for a driver or a conductor (though admittedly they could assist
one another in a really serious case).

Granted.

[1] These could be protected by taking ticketing completely off the
bus, or by using a farebox/automatic change machine setup whereby the
driver was not capable of influencing change given.

I don't like the idea of *never* being able to buy a ticket from the
driver. Even if I had to pay a premium to do so..... although in some
countries people seem to manage very happily without.
--
"Mrs Redboots"
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/
Website updated 23 May 2005