On 2016-09-18 14:16:41 +0000, said:

I had the distinct ... erm ... pleasure of riding on Roastmaster
(a.k.a. Borisbus) the other day.

I am neither a designer nor an automotive engineer, but I think that it
is safe to say that this is a poorly designed vehicle pretty much by
anybody's standards and that this is also what happens when you push
through a vanity project. Where was the oversight committee on this?

I find them quiet and comfortable and haven't been on one where it was
too hot. They really aren't that bad.

fare evasion can be rife.

I always pay my fare of course. I can't see how you can eliminate
evasion easily on these buses or the DLR.

On 2016-09-18 19:45:54 +0000, eastender said:

I find them quiet and comfortable and haven't been on one where it was
too hot. They really aren't that bad.

Agreed. I have no problem with them now the windows have been fitted
(nice big sliding ones, too, not poxy little hopper ventilators) to
solve the aircon issue.

I always pay my fare of course. I can't see how you can eliminate
evasion easily on these buses or the DLR.

Once it is legal to have remotely monitored barriers at completely
unstaffed stations the DLR can be barriered and I am sure it will be.
It is nothing more than an automated light rail version of the Tube.

As for these buses, once they give up on conductors they can easily be
reverted to the standard "on at the front, off at the back" approach.
Mark the staircases as one way to make it work even better.

Neil
--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the @ to reply.

On 18/09/2016 21:44, Neil Williams wrote:

On 2016-09-18 19:45:54 +0000, eastender said:

I find them quiet and comfortable and haven't been on one where it was
too hot. They really aren't that bad.

Agreed. I have no problem with them now the windows have been fitted
(nice big sliding ones, too, not poxy little hopper ventilators) to
solve the aircon issue.

It helps, yes, but it does not solve the issue. I dare say you have not
been on them in the hot weather over the summer. They are hotter than
other buses, even with the retro-fitted windows, no doubt.


I always pay my fare of course. I can't see how you can eliminate
evasion easily on these buses or the DLR.

Once it is legal to have remotely monitored barriers at completely
unstaffed stations the DLR can be barriered and I am sure it will be.
It is nothing more than an automated light rail version of the Tube.

As for these buses, once they give up on conductors they can easily be
reverted to the standard "on at the front, off at the back" approach.
Mark the staircases as one way to make it work even better.

Er, they have given up on conductors, and many routes that have had 'New
Routemasters' introduced on them never had conductors whatsoever. Plus
of course the conductors never checked the tickets, they were basically
just there to guard the open rear platform.

Boris made a big thing of saying 'Londoners want hop-on-hop-off open
platform buses, and that is what they shall have'... but that's not what
many people on NBfL routes ever got. But then again it was something
Boris said, so doesn't mean anything.

On 2016-09-18 20:53:41 +0000, Mizter T said:

It helps, yes, but it does not solve the issue. I dare say you have not
been on them in the hot weather over the summer. They are hotter than
other buses, even with the retro-fitted windows, no doubt.

I have and it was warm, but I do think the windows will solve much of
the issue.

Er, they have given up on conductors, and many routes that have had
'New Routemasters' introduced on them never had conductors whatsoever.
Plus of course the conductors never checked the tickets, they were
basically just there to guard the open rear platform.

They haven't all been withdrawn yet, I believe. Once they are, and
only then, you can convert back to front boarding, as really it needs
to be consistent. I think it would work particularly well on a bus
with a true rear door (so no disbenefit to moving all the way down),
with the middle really being for wheelchair use.

Neil
--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the @ to reply.

Neil Williams wrote on 18 Sep 2016 at
21:44 ...
On 2016-09-18 19:45:54 +0000, eastender said:

I find them quiet and comfortable and haven't been on one where it was
too hot. They really aren't that bad.

Agreed. I have no problem with them now the windows have been fitted
(nice big sliding ones, too, not poxy little hopper ventilators) to
solve the aircon issue.

Windows have not been fitted to any Roastmaster that I've used yet.
Another feature that annoys me is the rear door that hits passengers
waiting to get off as it opens. It ran over my foot the other day. It's
a terrible design.

--
Richard J.
(to email me, swap 'uk' and 'yon' in address)

On 18/09/2016 21:54, Richard J. wrote:

Neil Williams wrote on 18 Sep 2016 at
21:44 ...
On 2016-09-18 19:45:54 +0000, eastender said:

I find them quiet and comfortable and haven't been on one where it was
too hot. They really aren't that bad.

Agreed. I have no problem with them now the windows have been fitted
(nice big sliding ones, too, not poxy little hopper ventilators) to
solve the aircon issue.

Windows have not been fitted to any Roastmaster that I've used yet.
Another feature that annoys me is the rear door that hits passengers
waiting to get off as it opens. It ran over my foot the other day. It's
a terrible design.


The windows started to appear this summer, I think I first saw them in
July. They are a long way from being a universal fitting so far.

I've been intending to post about this 'innovation' but afraid I never
got round to it :-(


The newest Roastmaster buses have a sliding rear door - i.e. one that
cannot function as an open platform.

On 2016-09-18 20:54:50 +0000, Richard J. said:

Windows have not been fitted to any Roastmaster that I've used yet.
Another feature that annoys me is the rear door that hits passengers
waiting to get off as it opens. It ran over my foot the other day.
It's a terrible design.

I believe newer OPO-only versions have a plug door, I'd imagine this
can be retrofitted, again once conductor operation ceases permanently.

Neil
--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the @ to reply.

eastender writes:


I always pay my fare of course. I can't see how you can eliminate
evasion easily on these buses or the DLR.

Do not get rid of the conductors[1] and make it part of their duties to
observe that everyone boarding via the middle or rear door touches in
and the green light shows.

[1] I thought that they had already gone but when I was in London at the
end of last month, the only Boris Bus I travelled on had a conductor[2]
and the rear platform doors were open.

[2] I am assuming that the man, with a TfL logo on his shirt, standing
on the rear platform throughout my journey was the conductor.

Graham Murray wrote:
eastender writes:


I always pay my fare of course. I can't see how you can eliminate
evasion easily on these buses or the DLR.

Do not get rid of the conductors[1] and make it part of their duties to
observe that everyone boarding via the middle or rear door touches in
and the green light shows.

[1] I thought that they had already gone but when I was in London at the
end of last month, the only Boris Bus I travelled on had a conductor[2]
and the rear platform doors were open.

[2] I am assuming that the man, with a TfL logo on his shirt, standing
on the rear platform throughout my journey was the conductor.

They are not conductors, of course. They're 'platform attendants'. Their
sole job is to try and persuade passenger not to jump off moving buses, or
ones stopped in the middle of traffic. Perhaps their presence persuaded
more people to touch in, but that wasn't their role, and no-one supervised
the middle doors.

On 18/09/2016 22:24, Recliner wrote:

Graham Murray wrote:
[...]
I always pay my fare of course. I can't see how you can eliminate
evasion easily on these buses or the DLR.

Do not get rid of the conductors[1] and make it part of their duties to
observe that everyone boarding via the middle or rear door touches in
and the green light shows.

[1] I thought that they had already gone but when I was in London at the
end of last month, the only Boris Bus I travelled on had a conductor[2]
and the rear platform doors were open.

[2] I am assuming that the man, with a TfL logo on his shirt, standing
on the rear platform throughout my journey was the conductor.

They are not conductors, of course. They're 'platform attendants'. Their
sole job is to try and persuade passenger not to jump off moving buses, or
ones stopped in the middle of traffic. Perhaps their presence persuaded
more people to touch in, but that wasn't their role, and no-one supervised
the middle doors.


I recall one looking slightly alarmed as I ran and jumped on to an
accelerating bus, something I did that plenty of times on the old
Routemasters.

(I also learnt my lesson as a kid that jumping off a Routemaster too
early wasn't such a great idea! We used to have a bit of a competition
to see who was the most daring...)