On 5 Feb, 12:15, Mizter T wrote:

On 5 Feb, 12:02, David Cantrell wrote:

On Tue, Feb 03, 2009 at 03:38:45PM -0000, Andrew Heenan wrote:
* * * * * * * * * * * * much slower buses (imagine the 38/73 congestion
at Angel every morning as drivers have to look at every ticket).

I assume that they wouldn't. *Just like they don't have to look at every
single paper ticket now. *They certainly never look at mine, because it
stays in my pocket. *They never look at those that people buy at the
roadside ticket machines either, unless the passenger is an ignorant
tourist who insists on getting on at the front doors and showing the
driver the ticket.

Enforcement would be, just like today, done by bands of roving
inspectors.

I think you may be assuming wrong - you qthe beginning of Andrew's
paragraph read: "And, like the bendies, the advantages of Oyster would
only be visible after it was banned [...]". The future


Argh, that's the nth time that I've managed to submit a post before
I'd finished composing it lately - butter finger-o-rama. Apologies -
let me start again...

I think you may be assuming wrong - you quoted the end of Andrew's
paragraph, teh beginning of which read: "And, like the bendies, the
advantages of Oyster would only be visible after it was banned [...]".

The more immediate future holds bendy buses being replaced by standard
double-deckers that operate under the conventional arrangement whereby
passengers enter via the front door and have their tickets checked as
they pass by the driver. I think the replacement double-deckers for
the 'Red Arrow' services (routes 507 and 521) are possibly to offer
either door boarding, but these are quite specialist routes (weekday
only linking central London termini).

A significant part of the objections to bendy buses is that they are
seen as 'free buses' - I think this objection is rather overblown, but
I won't get into that debate now - the point being the 'driver doesn't
check tickets' model of operation (as seen on bendy buses - we could
call it the 'open bus' model) looks as though it doesn't have much of
a future.

At least in the immediate future... how fare collection will work on
the new 'Boris buses' (the new Routemasters) is very unclear at the
moment. There are calls to bring back conductors, but given the very
high proportion of passengers these days who have pre-paid tickets
(whether Oyster PAYG, Travelcards or bus passes) it is perhaps
questionable whether that would be a of use of resources. That said,
if there were to be an open platform on the bus then conductors seem
to be necessary. But if there aren't conductors (and thus I suppose no
open platform) then the 'driver doesn't check tickets' model of
operation could be used on these buses. But that wouldn't quite mesh
with (a) Boris' desire to bring back conductors and (b) the criticism
that people might not pay their fares under the 'open bus' model, a
criticism that has certainly been espoused by Team Boris.

So I don't think your assumption that the 'open bus' model will
continue is necessarily that well grounded in how things are
developing.