On Tue, 19 Sep 2017 18:48:08 +0100, Roland Perry
wrote:

In message , at 17:42:38 on
Tue, 19 Sep 2017, Guy Gorton remarked:

I think I use the 655 more often than the school children.

So non-school people can use school buses in London?

From the picture, it's not actually a school bus as such, just an
ordinary double-decker bus deployed to a route aimed mainly at school
kids.

hich is what a school bus is in London (and I think UK) We don't have
the silly waste of separate school buses that the US have. Although that
does mean that some of ours are not very good buses.

Nobody seems to have mentioned the main reason for the yellow US
school bus - it has protected status on the road. It is illegal to
pass it when it stops,

I think that's "pass it when it has its 'Stop' sign out". Some local
jurisdictions might have "pass one ever, at all".

Yes. I forgot to include the huge flashing yellow lights front and
rear which are switched on as the bus slows for a stop and switched
off, hopefully, as it moves away again. That is usually the "don't
pass" sign.

not just on your side of the road but on the
other side too. As far as I know, the rule does not apply to the
other carriage way of a divided highway (to use the US terminology).
I have driven many thousands of miles in the USA and have never seen
anyone defy that rule.. Its unfortunate spin off is that children
adopt an arrogant saunter across the road and do not learn respect for
traffic..

Some of them are driven like Fire Trucks too - "I believe I have
absolute priority, so get the f*ck out of my way". Especially when
exiting blind from school premises.

I noted that too.
Many of our school buses round here (south Bucks) are 6-wheel
doubledeckers, generally well driven but often gettting in the way!
And the children know the rules about crossing the road after the bus
has gone.

Guy Gorton

In message , at 08:38:41 on Wed, 20 Sep
2017, remarked:
Those US school buses look like they were designed in the 1940s to me. Is
there some reason they can't use a modern bus but have to use some archaic
throwbacks?

They are robust and reliable. Why is anything more luxurious required?

So is a horse and cart. Also I'd be amazed if their crash worthiness and fuel
economy is as good as a normal bus.

No-one cares about fuel efficiency in the USA, nor do people crash into
school buses very often (they are large and conspicuous, getting too
close is frowned upon, let alone overtaking them, and they'd lock you up
and throw away the key. I doubt they ever get much above 30mph.
--
Roland Perry

In message , at 09:58:54 on
Wed, 20 Sep 2017, Guy Gorton remarked:
Nobody seems to have mentioned the main reason for the yellow US
school bus - it has protected status on the road. It is illegal to
pass it when it stops,

I think that's "pass it when it has its 'Stop' sign out". Some local
jurisdictions might have "pass one ever, at all".

Yes. I forgot to include the huge flashing yellow lights front and
rear which are switched on as the bus slows for a stop and switched
off, hopefully, as it moves away again. That is usually the "don't
pass" sign.

not just on your side of the road but on the
other side too. As far as I know, the rule does not apply to the
other carriage way of a divided highway (to use the US terminology).
I have driven many thousands of miles in the USA and have never seen
anyone defy that rule.. Its unfortunate spin off is that children
adopt an arrogant saunter across the road and do not learn respect for
traffic..

Some of them are driven like Fire Trucks too - "I believe I have
absolute priority, so get the f*ck out of my way". Especially when
exiting blind from school premises.

I noted that too.
Many of our school buses round here (south Bucks) are 6-wheel
doubledeckers, generally well driven but often gettting in the way!
And the children know the rules about crossing the road after the bus
has gone.

The USA scheme tends to involve the bus hanging around (with all the
traffic stopped) until the children have finished their crossing
manoeuvres. Try enforcing that in the UK!
--
Roland Perry

On Tuesday, 19 September 2017 10:23:09 UTC+1, Offramp wrote:
On Tuesday, 19 September 2017 10:20:12 UTC+1, Paul Corfield wrote:
On Monday, 18 September 2017 08:25:51 UTC+1, Hammersmith And City Line wrote:
Why is there no pictures on google of this route? its a bit suspicious. and who runs it??

Not again. ....

What was the story?? Fill us in! FILL US IN!!

No great story. Just someone commented under a photo I'd taken of a 675 and asking how I'd managed to take the photo. You'd think from the comments that I'd committed an act of espionage or I was an alien. It's just a bloomin' school bus that runs to a published timetable on public roads. There is nothing odd about it. The commenter never explained why they were expressing such a bizarre opinion but it's clearly cropped up here again but this time, despite there being public photos, making statements no such photos exist. The world is full of daft people.

--
Paul C
via Google

On Wed, 20 Sep 2017 10:31:04 +0100, Roland Perry
wrote:

In message , at 09:58:54 on
Wed, 20 Sep 2017, Guy Gorton remarked:
Nobody seems to have mentioned the main reason for the yellow US
school bus - it has protected status on the road. It is illegal to
pass it when it stops,

I think that's "pass it when it has its 'Stop' sign out". Some local
jurisdictions might have "pass one ever, at all".

Yes. I forgot to include the huge flashing yellow lights front and
rear which are switched on as the bus slows for a stop and switched
off, hopefully, as it moves away again. That is usually the "don't
pass" sign.

not just on your side of the road but on the
other side too. As far as I know, the rule does not apply to the
other carriage way of a divided highway (to use the US terminology).
I have driven many thousands of miles in the USA and have never seen
anyone defy that rule.. Its unfortunate spin off is that children
adopt an arrogant saunter across the road and do not learn respect for
traffic..

Some of them are driven like Fire Trucks too - "I believe I have
absolute priority, so get the f*ck out of my way". Especially when
exiting blind from school premises.

I noted that too.
Many of our school buses round here (south Bucks) are 6-wheel
doubledeckers, generally well driven but often gettting in the way!
And the children know the rules about crossing the road after the bus
has gone.

The USA scheme tends to involve the bus hanging around (with all the
traffic stopped) until the children have finished their crossing
manoeuvres. Try enforcing that in the UK!

And very bad training for children.

Guy Gorton

On Wed, 20 Sep 2017 08:38:41 +0000 (UTC), wrote:

On Tue, 19 Sep 2017 17:25:09 +0100
Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 12:28:48 on Tue, 19 Sep
2017, remarked:
Those US school buses look like they were designed in the 1940s to me. Is
there some reason they can't use a modern bus but have to use some archaic
throwbacks?

They are robust and reliable. Why is anything more luxurious required?

So is a horse and cart. Also I'd be amazed if their crash worthiness and fuel
economy is as good as a normal bus.

IMO a normal bus is better because of:

- Economy
- Accessibility (without a lot of fuss, both operationally and for the
passenger concerned)
- Reasonable comfort - don't laugh - as long as there is no 3-a-side
config
- Most importantly for the bus operator - gets kids used to using a
normal bus

Of course, for the last point to apply there has to *be* a normal bus,
but that's hardly a problem in London.

Richard.

In message , at 20:05:18 on
Wed, 20 Sep 2017, Richard remarked:
Those US school buses look like they were designed in the 1940s to me. Is
there some reason they can't use a modern bus but have to use some archaic
throwbacks?

They are robust and reliable. Why is anything more luxurious required?

So is a horse and cart. Also I'd be amazed if their crash worthiness and fuel
economy is as good as a normal bus.

IMO a normal bus is better because of:

- Economy
- Accessibility (without a lot of fuss, both operationally and for the
passenger concerned)
- Reasonable comfort - don't laugh - as long as there is no 3-a-side
config
- Most importantly for the bus operator - gets kids used to using a
normal bus

"Normal" buses are only used as the very last resort in the USA, largely
by economic migrants on minimum wage. There's very little overlap with
students who ever took a school bus to High School.

Of course, for the last point to apply there has to *be* a normal bus,
but that's hardly a problem in London.

It's a problem if we are discussing the majority of the USA.
--
Roland Perry

On Wed, 20 Sep 2017 21:24:11 +0100, Roland Perry
wrote:

In message , at 20:05:18 on
Wed, 20 Sep 2017, Richard remarked:
- Most importantly for the bus operator - gets kids used to using a
normal bus

"Normal" buses are only used as the very last resort in the USA, largely
by economic migrants on minimum wage. There's very little overlap with
students who ever took a school bus to High School.

Of course, for the last point to apply there has to *be* a normal bus,
but that's hardly a problem in London.

It's a problem if we are discussing the majority of the USA.

Certainly is, but it's why I didn't want to see too many US school
buses here.

Richard.

In message , at 22:14:06 on
Wed, 20 Sep 2017, Richard remarked:
- Most importantly for the bus operator - gets kids used to using a
normal bus

"Normal" buses are only used as the very last resort in the USA, largely
by economic migrants on minimum wage. There's very little overlap with
students who ever took a school bus to High School.

Of course, for the last point to apply there has to *be* a normal bus,
but that's hardly a problem in London.

It's a problem if we are discussing the majority of the USA.

Certainly is, but it's why I didn't want to see too many US school
buses here.

The rent-a-wreck school buses I see round here (and today was the first
time I noticed a singe decker variant) are not exactly a good advert for
stage buses.
--
Roland Perry

On Wed, 20 Sep 2017 17:38:28 +0100, Guy Gorton
wrote:

On Wed, 20 Sep 2017 10:31:04 +0100, Roland Perry
wrote:

In message , at 09:58:54 on
Wed, 20 Sep 2017, Guy Gorton remarked:
Nobody seems to have mentioned the main reason for the yellow US
school bus - it has protected status on the road. It is illegal to
pass it when it stops,

I think that's "pass it when it has its 'Stop' sign out". Some local
jurisdictions might have "pass one ever, at all".

Yes. I forgot to include the huge flashing yellow lights front and
rear which are switched on as the bus slows for a stop and switched
off, hopefully, as it moves away again. That is usually the "don't
pass" sign.

not just on your side of the road but on the
other side too. As far as I know, the rule does not apply to the
other carriage way of a divided highway (to use the US terminology).
I have driven many thousands of miles in the USA and have never seen
anyone defy that rule.. Its unfortunate spin off is that children
adopt an arrogant saunter across the road and do not learn respect for
traffic..

Some of them are driven like Fire Trucks too - "I believe I have
absolute priority, so get the f*ck out of my way". Especially when
exiting blind from school premises.

I noted that too.
Many of our school buses round here (south Bucks) are 6-wheel
doubledeckers, generally well driven but often gettting in the way!
And the children know the rules about crossing the road after the bus
has gone.

The USA scheme tends to involve the bus hanging around (with all the
traffic stopped) until the children have finished their crossing
manoeuvres. Try enforcing that in the UK!

And very bad training for children.

Guy Gorton

Scratching head

Pedestrians under law in British Columbia have the right-of-way at any
intersection: the rule of any intersection, controlled or not, creates
an unmarked crosswalk.