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...)

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They haven't all been withdrawn yet, I believe.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.

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.

On 2016-09-18 22:33:37 +0000, Mizter T said:

Bit difficult to do with a paper ticket!

You're meant to board at the front if you have a paper ticket, but
experience suggests the London bus driver mentality continues to be not
to give a monkey's about revenue, so nothing is done about it.

(I recall a bendy bus driver deciding he didn't like the look of
someone who had got on at the middle door and hadn't touched in. He
said something over the PA, and the slightly befuddled passenger walked
up to the front and showed the driver his paper Travelcard.)

Unusual

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

On 19/09/2016 08:41, Neil Williams wrote:

On 2016-09-18 22:33:37 +0000, Mizter T said:

Bit difficult to do with a paper ticket!

You're meant to board at the front if you have a paper ticket, but
experience suggests the London bus driver mentality continues to be not
to give a monkey's about revenue, so nothing is done about it.

No you're not.

Only those with Saver tickets (no longer sold) need to board at the
front, and present the tear-off half to the driver.

See the sign on the door he
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/717/20036305714_6862073c64_o_d.jpg

New Routemaster drivers have no role in checking tickets apart from
collecting the chits from the Saver tickets that is.


(I recall a bendy bus driver deciding he didn't like the look of
someone who had got on at the middle door and hadn't touched in. He
said something over the PA, and the slightly befuddled passenger
walked up to the front and showed the driver his paper Travelcard.)

Unusual

Yep, I couldn't see anything objectionable about the passenger either.
Driver having a bad day perhaps.

In another thread that I am unable to find a poster mentioned the button, once used by the second warm-bodied staff-human on the bus to open the rear doors.

On a normal bus one is definitely not meant to use the button positioned over the doors in the middle of the bus to egrete oneself from the bus in traffic, or anywhere.

But is one allowed to use the rear door button on a roastmaster? Is it "allowed", and if so, where is it?

On Sunday, 18 September 2016 15:16:44 UTC+1, wrote:
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 was on one bus that had openable windows on its upper deck, though I
still felt extremely nauseous. I did this after the heatwave and I don't
easily get motion sickness, thus making me wonder if there are issues
with exhaust venting.

The Roastmaster is not fantastic but I think it has some good points. I think they are quieter than normal buses and they don't lurch around as much; normal buses seem to have only an emergency brake, giving the impression that the driver is constantly rehearsing the very first part of a handbrake turn.

I also liked the internal colours of brass and deep red, and the two staircases. The idea of the three doors was very good. It made boarding and alighting much quicker.

So it was not ALL bad.

On 2016-09-19 09:00:28 +0000, Offramp said:

In another thread that I am unable to find a poster mentioned the
button, once used by the second warm-bodied staff-human on the bus to
open the rear doors.

On a normal bus one is definitely not meant to use the button
positioned over the doors in the middle of the bus to egrete oneself
from the bus in traffic, or anywhere.

But is one allowed to use the rear door button on a roastmaster? Is it
"allowed", and if so, where is it?

If running with a conductor, the door is left open.

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

On Mon, 19 Sep 2016 02:17:37 -0700 (PDT)
Offramp wrote:
The Roastmaster is not fantastic but I think it has some good points. I thi=
nk they are quieter than normal buses and they don't lurch around as much; =

I've never driven a bus but I have driven HGVs and when they're empty the
brakes require a bit of finesse unless you want to do an almost emergency
stop because they're set up to brake well at maximum load. I wonder if an
almost empty bus has the same issues even though the max load as a percentage
of the unladed weight is less.

normal buses seem to have only an emergency brake, giving the impression th=
at the driver is constantly rehearsing the very first part of a handbrake t=
urn.=20

There are seemingly a lot of **** bus drivers working in London in my
experience. A lot of them don't give a toss if people are halfway up or down
the stairs when they accelerate or brake. Probably why you never see many
elderly upstairs even if they can walk ok.

--
Spud

On Mon, 19 Sep 2016 10:37:12 +0000 (UTC), d wrote:

On Mon, 19 Sep 2016 02:17:37 -0700 (PDT)
Offramp wrote:
The Roastmaster is not fantastic but I think it has some good points. I thi=
nk they are quieter than normal buses and they don't lurch around as much; =

I've never driven a bus but I have driven HGVs and when they're empty the
brakes require a bit of finesse unless you want to do an almost emergency
stop because they're set up to brake well at maximum load. I wonder if an
almost empty bus has the same issues even though the max load as a percentage
of the unladed weight is less.

normal buses seem to have only an emergency brake, giving the impression th=
at the driver is constantly rehearsing the very first part of a handbrake t=
urn.=20

There are seemingly a lot of **** bus drivers working in London in my
experience. A lot of them don't give a toss if people are halfway up or down
the stairs when they accelerate or brake. Probably why you never see many
elderly upstairs even if they can walk ok.

How do the drivers know if anyone is on the stairs?