On 26/09/2019 15:18, Recliner wrote:

It seems Jeff Wright preferred to fund his church rather than his bus
business.

And to hell, as it were, with the employees.

Great British business at it's best. Never mind Brexit, this is the
reason we're the laughing stock of the world now.


--
Ria in Aberdeen

[Send address is invalid, use sipsoup at gmail dot com to reply direct]

MissRiaElaine wrote:
On 26/09/2019 15:18, Recliner wrote:

It seems Jeff Wright preferred to fund his church rather than his bus
business.

And to hell, as it were, with the employees.

Yup


Great British business at it's best. Never mind Brexit, this is the
reason we're the laughing stock of the world now.

More like typical Ulster bigoted behaviour, much less likely to be
encountered in Britain.

And today Boris's latest idea is to spend (or is he expecting someone
else to spend) £220m on new buses (and all contactless payment) because
the Roastmaster was such a success, apparently.

And at least one town to be completely zero carbon. Ballemena, perhaps,
using the £50m to reopen the factory, there?
--
Roland Perry

On Mon, Sep 30, 2019 at 12:22:22PM +0100, Roland Perry wrote:

And today Boris's latest idea is to spend (or is he expecting someone
else to spend) ?220m on new buses (and all contactless payment) because
the Roastmaster was such a success, apparently.

I don't get this antipathy to the Boris buses. I'm a passenger,
frequently. They do their job well, combining the benefits of a normal
double decker with the one benefit of the bendy monstrosities - quick
boarding - without the humungous downsides of the bendies taking up too
much road space and blocking junctions.

--
David Cantrell | Reality Engineer, Ministry of Information

Eye have a spelling chequer / It came with my pea sea
It planely marques four my revue / Miss Steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a quay and type a word / And weight for it to say
Weather eye am wrong oar write / It shows me strait a weigh.

David Cantrell wrote:
On Mon, Sep 30, 2019 at 12:22:22PM +0100, Roland Perry wrote:

And today Boris's latest idea is to spend (or is he expecting someone
else to spend) ?220m on new buses (and all contactless payment) because
the Roastmaster was such a success, apparently.

I don't get this antipathy to the Boris buses. I'm a passenger,
frequently. They do their job well, combining the benefits of a normal
double decker with the one benefit of the bendy monstrosities - quick
boarding - without the humungous downsides of the bendies taking up too
much road space and blocking junctions.


They're very heavy, which limits their capacity as does the rear platform
and second staircase, the hybrid system has never worked properly, perhaps
because of the very limited space for the power unit under the rear stairs,
like the bendies they have double the fare evasion of normal buses, and
they cost almost twice as much as a conventional double decker (£350k vs
£190k). They acquired their 'Roastmaster' nickname because their
air-cooling didn't work and they lacked ventilation, which had to be
retro-fitted.

So, we have a bus that's 84% more expensive, with less capacity, longer and
heavier than a normal double-decker, less comfortable, worse fuel
consumption and whose entire reason for existence, the open rear platform,
is not used. No wonder the hoped-for sale of the design to other cities
never happened.

It's truly a fitting metaphor for the Boris Johnson mayoralty.

And let's hope his Brexit deal isn't as bad as his bus.

In message , at 10:05:41 on Tue, 1 Oct 2019,
Recliner remarked:
David Cantrell wrote:
On Mon, Sep 30, 2019 at 12:22:22PM +0100, Roland Perry wrote:

And today Boris's latest idea is to spend (or is he expecting someone
else to spend) ?220m on new buses (and all contactless payment) because
the Roastmaster was such a success, apparently.

I don't get this antipathy to the Boris buses. I'm a passenger,
frequently. They do their job well, combining the benefits of a normal
double decker with the one benefit of the bendy monstrosities - quick
boarding - without the humungous downsides of the bendies taking up too
much road space and blocking junctions.

They're very heavy, which limits their capacity as does the rear platform
and second staircase, the hybrid system has never worked properly, perhaps
because of the very limited space for the power unit under the rear stairs,
like the bendies they have double the fare evasion of normal buses, and
they cost almost twice as much as a conventional double decker (£350k vs
£190k). They acquired their 'Roastmaster' nickname because their
air-cooling didn't work and they lacked ventilation, which had to be
retro-fitted.

So, we have a bus that's 84% more expensive, with less capacity, longer and
heavier than a normal double-decker, less comfortable, worse fuel
consumption and whose entire reason for existence, the open rear platform,
is not used. No wonder the hoped-for sale of the design to other cities
never happened.

It's truly a fitting metaphor for the Boris Johnson mayoralty.

And let's hope his Brexit deal isn't as bad as his bus.

He was wittering on about buses on BBC Breakfast again this morning.

Mentioned smartcards as one of the ways to drive up usage.

Now, what happened to this initiative:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...smart-cards-tr
avel-across-country-2018-network/

Every rail commuter will be able to use a pay-as-you-go smart
card to take them anywhere in the country, Chris Grayling says
today [December 2016].

Last time I looked, it wasn't 2018 any more. And while a very few
commuters can load season tickets onto smartcards, are there any at all
(outside of Oyster which already existed) doing PAYG? [Obviously he must
also have meant capped PAYG, or it makes no economic sense to the
traveller].

ps Has anyone with more stamina than I waded through yesterday's
announcements to identify which is the all-electric-bus town they
have in mind.

I'm reminded of Northstowe being Gordon Brown's first eco-town. Not
only is it not an eco-town, but they only started building ten years
after his announcement.

And in megaphone-policy-convergence, the local hospital has been on
its knees the last decade on account of the lack of predicted
additional demand from new town. Latest rumours are they are going
to close its A&E.

But hurrah, Northstowe did get its guided buses, for no-one to need
to use. And their fancy smart-ticketing scheme was still-born too.
--
Roland Perry

Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 10:05:41 on Tue, 1 Oct 2019,
Recliner remarked:
David Cantrell wrote:
On Mon, Sep 30, 2019 at 12:22:22PM +0100, Roland Perry wrote:

And today Boris's latest idea is to spend (or is he expecting someone
else to spend) ?220m on new buses (and all contactless payment) because
the Roastmaster was such a success, apparently.

I don't get this antipathy to the Boris buses. I'm a passenger,
frequently. They do their job well, combining the benefits of a normal
double decker with the one benefit of the bendy monstrosities - quick
boarding - without the humungous downsides of the bendies taking up too
much road space and blocking junctions.

They're very heavy, which limits their capacity as does the rear platform
and second staircase, the hybrid system has never worked properly, perhaps
because of the very limited space for the power unit under the rear stairs,
like the bendies they have double the fare evasion of normal buses, and
they cost almost twice as much as a conventional double decker (£350k vs
£190k). They acquired their 'Roastmaster' nickname because their
air-cooling didn't work and they lacked ventilation, which had to be
retro-fitted.

So, we have a bus that's 84% more expensive, with less capacity, longer and
heavier than a normal double-decker, less comfortable, worse fuel
consumption and whose entire reason for existence, the open rear platform,
is not used. No wonder the hoped-for sale of the design to other cities
never happened.

It's truly a fitting metaphor for the Boris Johnson mayoralty.

And let's hope his Brexit deal isn't as bad as his bus.

He was wittering on about buses on BBC Breakfast again this morning.

Mentioned smartcards as one of the ways to drive up usage.

There are various smartcard tickets in West Yorkshire, including one onto
which you can load daily, weekly or monthly passes (bus only or bus and
rail for various combinations of rail zones), and another which is a
stored-value card for bus travel.

Unfortunately, the only smart day pass offering is bus-only, which is a bit
annoying. A day pass for bus and rail, valid in the peak, would be very
useful for me.
--
Jeremy Double

In message

t, at 12:06:30 on Tue, 1 Oct 2019, Jeremy Double
remarked:
So, we have a bus that's 84% more expensive, with less capacity, longer and
heavier than a normal double-decker, less comfortable, worse fuel
consumption and whose entire reason for existence, the open rear platform,
is not used. No wonder the hoped-for sale of the design to other cities
never happened.

It's truly a fitting metaphor for the Boris Johnson mayoralty.

And let's hope his Brexit deal isn't as bad as his bus.

He was wittering on about buses on BBC Breakfast again this morning.

Mentioned smartcards as one of the ways to drive up usage.

There are various smartcard tickets in West Yorkshire, including one onto
which you can load daily, weekly or monthly passes (bus only or bus and
rail for various combinations of rail zones), and another which is a
stored-value card for bus travel.

Unfortunately, the only smart day pass offering is bus-only, which is a bit
annoying.

There are plenty of smartcard schemes for buses, some of which have been
in place for more than a decade.

It's unfortunate that the one for Nottingham used to include the trams,
but after they were re-franchised doesn't any longer.

Most of its attraction was being a cut-price carnet of the already
existing "all day" paper ticket. That works well as an alternative to
tracking and capping every bus trip because it breaks even at two
singles, rather than the four singles under TfL.

A day pass for bus and rail, valid in the peak, would be very
useful for me.

Perhaps Boris would consider funding rail as well as bus for Twiry card
holders outside London?
--
Roland Perry

On Tue, 1 Oct 2019 10:05:41 -0000 (UTC), Recliner
wrote:

David Cantrell wrote:
On Mon, Sep 30, 2019 at 12:22:22PM +0100, Roland Perry wrote:

And today Boris's latest idea is to spend (or is he expecting someone
else to spend) ?220m on new buses (and all contactless payment) because
the Roastmaster was such a success, apparently.

I don't get this antipathy to the Boris buses. I'm a passenger,
frequently. They do their job well, combining the benefits of a normal
double decker with the one benefit of the bendy monstrosities - quick
boarding - without the humungous downsides of the bendies taking up too
much road space and blocking junctions.


They're very heavy, which limits their capacity as does the rear platform
and second staircase, the hybrid system has never worked properly, perhaps
because of the very limited space for the power unit under the rear stairs,
like the bendies they have double the fare evasion of normal buses, and
they cost almost twice as much as a conventional double decker (£350k vs
£190k). They acquired their 'Roastmaster' nickname because their
air-cooling didn't work and they lacked ventilation, which had to be
retro-fitted.

So, we have a bus that's 84% more expensive, with less capacity, longer and
heavier than a normal double-decker, less comfortable, worse fuel
consumption and whose entire reason for existence, the open rear platform,
is not used. No wonder the hoped-for sale of the design to other cities
never happened.

Yes, all granted. But apart from that, they're fine.

Actually I really dislike them. I can't really say why, but they seem
cramped. And, as I normally have a paper ticket (an ODTC from outside
London) I can't take advantage of the mid/rear dors.

---
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG.
https://www.avg.com

On Tue, 01 Oct 2019 14:31:56 +0100, Trolleybus
wrote:

On Tue, 1 Oct 2019 10:05:41 -0000 (UTC), Recliner
wrote:

David Cantrell wrote:
On Mon, Sep 30, 2019 at 12:22:22PM +0100, Roland Perry wrote:

And today Boris's latest idea is to spend (or is he expecting someone
else to spend) ?220m on new buses (and all contactless payment) because
the Roastmaster was such a success, apparently.

I don't get this antipathy to the Boris buses. I'm a passenger,
frequently. They do their job well, combining the benefits of a normal
double decker with the one benefit of the bendy monstrosities - quick
boarding - without the humungous downsides of the bendies taking up too
much road space and blocking junctions.


They're very heavy, which limits their capacity as does the rear platform
and second staircase, the hybrid system has never worked properly, perhaps
because of the very limited space for the power unit under the rear stairs,
like the bendies they have double the fare evasion of normal buses, and
they cost almost twice as much as a conventional double decker (£350k vs
£190k). They acquired their 'Roastmaster' nickname because their
air-cooling didn't work and they lacked ventilation, which had to be
retro-fitted.

So, we have a bus that's 84% more expensive, with less capacity, longer and
heavier than a normal double-decker, less comfortable, worse fuel
consumption and whose entire reason for existence, the open rear platform,
is not used. No wonder the hoped-for sale of the design to other cities
never happened.

Yes, all granted. But apart from that, they're fine.

Actually I really dislike them. I can't really say why, but they seem
cramped. And, as I normally have a paper ticket (an ODTC from outside
London) I can't take advantage of the mid/rear dors.

You can rejoice, as soon you'll be in the same position as all the
other passengers: the current proposal is to ban boarding from the
mid/rear doors, so they'll be exit-only. Everyone will have to board
from the front door, just like all other London buses, thus removing
the one supposed advantage of the bus, faster boarding.

This is to reduce the high level of fare evasion, more than double the
rate on the much cheaper, more economical, more reliable, more
comfortable conventional buses.

https://londonist.com/london/transport/routemaster-buses-trialling-boarding-by-the-front-door-only

I wasn't aware of this other problem with them:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-38800789

I wonder what will happen to the manufacturer's guarantee and software
support if Wrightbus is shut down?

It's interesting that Boris apparently regards this as the triumph of
his mayoralty, along with the overseas trade missions for London that
included his otherwise unqualified, pole-dancing American mistress.