On 2017-09-19 17:45:00 +0000, Roland Perry said:

That doesn't answer the question about whether the Big Green Bus
Company will take stage fares (rather than student seasons) on whatever
school runs they do before starting the 114 Cambridge to Addenbrookes
service[1] mid-morning.

[1] Is that really in need of subsidy?

Have a look through Notices and Proceedings to see if it is registered.
If it is, as it indeed probably is, they legally have to, as otherwise
they are fraudulently claiming BSOG and should be reported.

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

On 2017-09-19 16:27:05 +0000, Roland Perry said:

Do you mean the red London ones, or outside London.

Outside London is my main experience. All the MK ones are stage
carriage services which you can, if you wish, use yourself. Though I
don't think many people do, because they aren't really convenient, and
who wants to share their journey to work with a load of loud schoolkids
anyway?

Having looked at numerous of the latter earlier, they are all "pupils
with season tickets only".

Some are like that, but BSOG cannot be claimed, so they are more costly
to operate, having to pay fuel tax in full.

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

On Tue, 19 Sep 2017 12:28:48 +0000 (UTC), wrote:

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?

US school buses have a separate set of regulations.

--
jhk

In message , at 20:28:08 on Tue, 19
Sep 2017, Neil Williams remarked:

Having looked at numerous of the latter earlier, they are all "pupils
with season tickets only".

Some are like that, but BSOG cannot be claimed, so they are more costly
to operate, having to pay fuel tax in full.

I can believe they don't claim, given the high cost of many such student
seasons - which despite a guaranteed monthly income from a full load can
easily be in the region of a fiver per kid per day.
--
Roland Perry

On Tue, 19 Sep 2017 12:45:07 -0000 (UTC), Recliner
wrote:

wrote:
On Tue, 19 Sep 2017 13:08:51 +0100
(Mark Bestley) wrote:
Recliner wrote:

On Mon, 18 Sep 2017 19:57:45 +0200, Jarle Hammen Knudsen
wrote:

On Mon, 18 Sep 2017 09:52:14 -0700 (PDT), Offramp
wrote:

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.

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 also have more modern ones, but

still utilitarian.

I doubt any commuter in the Excited States or Canada would appreciate
having to board a 'school bus' to move from point A to point B.

The first problem is one-door entry/exit, which works fine as you pick
up/drop off the Dear Wee Kiddies and Stroppy Teens to/from their
school but falls flat for variable route coverage.

Second, I've yet to see a 'school bus' which is handicapped
accessible.

Third, their physical 'ride' is hellishly hard/rough; they're
basically trucks with closed-in bodies.

Having said that, a pile of discarded 'school buses' seem to migrate
to Latin America. Pay Bolivia a visit and look around while in La Paz
to observe what passes as public transport.

"Roland Perry" wrote

They are usually open to the public so BSOG can be claimed (typically a
cash fare is paid by a member of the public using one). Whether the
public would want to go within 100 miles of them is quite another
question.

Do you mean the red London ones, or outside London.

Having looked at numerous of the latter earlier, they are all "pupils with
season tickets only".

Nope, Surrey do it both ways and of course accept ENCTS passes

https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/schools-...-serve-schools

The list does not include coach and taxi services provided by Surrey County
Council, as they are not available to the general public.
==

https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/roads-an...timetables#635

https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/roads-an...timetables#678



--
Mike D

On Tuesday, 19 September 2017 17:27:10 UTC+1, Roland Perry wrote:

In somewhat similar conditions out in the English countryside, school
buses tend to be private hire rent-a-wrecks...

This made me think of Terry-Thomas's coach company in Blue Murder at St Trinian's.

In message , at 03:23:14 on Wed, 20
Sep 2017, Michael R N Dolbear remarked:



"Roland Perry" wrote

They are usually open to the public so BSOG can be claimed (typically
a cash fare is paid by a member of the public using one). Whether
the public would want to go within 100 miles of them is quite another
question.

Do you mean the red London ones, or outside London.

Having looked at numerous of the latter earlier, they are all "pupils
with season tickets only".

Nope, Surrey do it both ways and of course accept ENCTS passes

https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/schools-...chool-transpor
t/local-bus-services-which-serve-schools

That's the opposite of what we've been taking about - regular stage
buses which just happen to have schools on their route.

The list does not include coach and taxi services provided by Surrey
County Council, as they are not available to the general public.

And those are the ones we *are* talking about.
--
Roland Perry

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.

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.

Are the kids required to wear seat belts on them? If not, the bus
crashworthiness hardly matters.