On Thu, 8 Apr 2021 18:07:28 +0100
Graeme Wall wrote:
On 08/04/2021 15:53, wrote:
On Thu, 8 Apr 2021 13:56:46 +0100
Basil Jet wrote:
On 08/04/2021 13:16, Sam Wilson wrote:
Basil Jet wrote:
On 08/04/2021 06:24, Recliner wrote:

Obviously not an option with LO, as the fleet is mostly shared between
routes. '

Shared over a week, but are there any shared diagrams? Is there any
downside to having mostly dedicated fleets with a few spares in
corporate livery?

I haven’t noticed it so much recently, but Edinburgh used to have quite a

lot of dedicated buses with the route number included in the livery as well

as on the indicator blinds.

London too... Route 13 springs to mind
http://www.showbus.co.uk/photos/jjd417d.JPG

That was a special service though. IIRC 13 was the only route left with
Routemasters on it. If however you're a bus company with multiple routes
and a general fleet of buses, painting specific route numbers on the sides
doesn't sound like the smartest idea for obvious reasons.


Quite a lot do it though.

Yes, I find it a bit odd tbh as it must limit vehicle flexibility
considerably.

Basil Jet wrote:
On 08/04/2021 18:07, Graeme Wall wrote:
On 08/04/2021 15:53, wrote:
On Thu, 8 Apr 2021 13:56:46 +0100
Basil Jet wrote:
On 08/04/2021 13:16, Sam Wilson wrote:
Basil Jet wrote:
On 08/04/2021 06:24, Recliner wrote:

Obviously not an option with LO, as the fleet is mostly shared
between
routes. '

Shared over a week, but are there any shared diagrams? Is there any
downside to having mostly dedicated fleets with a few spares in
corporate livery?

I haven’t noticed it so much recently, but Edinburgh used to have
quite a
lot of dedicated buses with the route number included in the livery
as well
as on the indicator blinds.

London too... Route 13 springs to mind
http://www.showbus.co.uk/photos/jjd417d.JPG

That was a special service though. IIRC 13 was the only route left with
Routemasters on it. If however you're a bus company with multiple routes
and a general fleet of buses, painting specific route numbers on the
sides
doesn't sound like the smartest idea for obvious reasons.


Quite a lot do it though.


Here's a Brighton one...



And some Edinburgh ones:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lothian_Buses_bus_720_Volvo_B7TL_Wrightbus_Ec lipse_Gemini_SN55_BLV_Madder_and_White_livery_Rout e_3_Connect_branding.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lothian_Buses_bus_715_Volvo_B7TL_Wrightbus_Ec lipse_Gemini_SN55_BKY_Harlequin_livery_Route_3_Clu b_Class_branding.jpg
http://www.edinphoto.org.uk/0_edin_t/0_edinburgh_transport_buses_2005_bus_670_003100_10 00.htm
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-a-number-26-lothian-bus-on-princes-street-with-a-frog-advertising-104234367.html
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lothian_Buses_bus_745_Volvo_B7TL_Wrightbus_Ec lipse_Gemini_SN55_BOU_Harlequin_livery_Route_44_Se rvice_with_a_Sparkle_route_branding.jpg

Sam

--
The entity formerly known as
Spit the dummy to reply

On 07/04/2021 23:15, Graham Harrison wrote:
When I was tested for colour blindness there was some interesting
literature I was provided with which suggested that the spectacles
that get prescribed for colour blindness have been shown to help some
dyslexics. I don't know, just reporting what was claimed. But one
thing a dyslexic child was claimed to have said stuck with me "the
letters in the words dance across the page". It made me realise
there's an awful lot we don't know about ourselves.

A friend of mine had a couple of children who had reading difficulties.
She had them tested for Meares-Irlen syndrome and their reading improved
with coloured / tinted glasses.

On 08/04/2021 13:16, Sam Wilson wrote:
I haven’t noticed it so much recently, but Edinburgh used to have quite a
lot of dedicated buses with the route number included in the livery as well
as on the indicator blinds.

A different colour outline too, so those in the know could spot their
orange 29 coming amongst a herd of pink 22s. I expect the reduction in
flexibility made it inefficient, so they were all repainted in maroon.

wrote:
On Thu, 8 Apr 2021 18:07:28 +0100
Graeme Wall wrote:
On 08/04/2021 15:53, wrote:
On Thu, 8 Apr 2021 13:56:46 +0100
Basil Jet wrote:
On 08/04/2021 13:16, Sam Wilson wrote:
Basil Jet wrote:
On 08/04/2021 06:24, Recliner wrote:

Obviously not an option with LO, as the fleet is mostly shared between
routes. '

Shared over a week, but are there any shared diagrams? Is there any
downside to having mostly dedicated fleets with a few spares in
corporate livery?

I haven’t noticed it so much recently, but Edinburgh used to have quite a

lot of dedicated buses with the route number included in the livery as well

as on the indicator blinds.

London too... Route 13 springs to mind
http://www.showbus.co.uk/photos/jjd417d.JPG

That was a special service though. IIRC 13 was the only route left with
Routemasters on it. If however you're a bus company with multiple routes
and a general fleet of buses, painting specific route numbers on the sides
doesn't sound like the smartest idea for obvious reasons.


Quite a lot do it though.

Yes, I find it a bit odd tbh as it must limit vehicle flexibility
considerably.



It needs a handful of extra unbranded spare vehicles across a fleet, which
was obviously considered and costed when the first few companies began to
introduce it. It's obviously seen as a worthwhile expenditure for the
increased visual recognition of the buses and routes, not just among
passengers but among potential passengers, including those who don't
realise they're potential passengers yet.

In any case, it's not uncommon for different routes to have different
fleets in any case, even if they're not branded differently - eg in my area
the 'prime' pair of routes (direct to the city centre) have always had
newer vehicles than the routes which meander through less salubrious parts
of town on their way to the centre.

Not to mention different vehicle sizes - in the '90s Crosville Wales around
where I lived, had some routes operated by the small minibuses, some by
bigger minibuses, some by small full-size buses, some by bigger full-size
buses and finally the double decker routes.


Anna Noyd-Dryver

Anna Noyd-Dryver wrote:
wrote:
On Thu, 8 Apr 2021 18:07:28 +0100
Graeme Wall wrote:
On 08/04/2021 15:53, wrote:
On Thu, 8 Apr 2021 13:56:46 +0100
Basil Jet wrote:
On 08/04/2021 13:16, Sam Wilson wrote:
Basil Jet wrote:
On 08/04/2021 06:24, Recliner wrote:

Obviously not an option with LO, as the fleet is mostly shared between
routes. '

Shared over a week, but are there any shared diagrams? Is there any
downside to having mostly dedicated fleets with a few spares in
corporate livery?

I haven’t noticed it so much recently, but Edinburgh used to have quite a

lot of dedicated buses with the route number included in the livery as well

as on the indicator blinds.

London too... Route 13 springs to mind
http://www.showbus.co.uk/photos/jjd417d.JPG

That was a special service though. IIRC 13 was the only route left with
Routemasters on it. If however you're a bus company with multiple routes
and a general fleet of buses, painting specific route numbers on the sides
doesn't sound like the smartest idea for obvious reasons.


Quite a lot do it though.

Yes, I find it a bit odd tbh as it must limit vehicle flexibility
considerably.



It needs a handful of extra unbranded spare vehicles across a fleet, which
was obviously considered and costed when the first few companies began to
introduce it. It's obviously seen as a worthwhile expenditure for the
increased visual recognition of the buses and routes, not just among
passengers but among potential passengers, including those who don't
realise they're potential passengers yet.

In any case, it's not uncommon for different routes to have different
fleets in any case, even if they're not branded differently - eg in my area
the 'prime' pair of routes (direct to the city centre) have always had
newer vehicles than the routes which meander through less salubrious parts
of town on their way to the centre.

As more operators purchase battery electric buses they seem to be
allocating them to specific routes which makes sense, it is the 21st
century version of what took place when buses replaced Trams or in some
cases Trolleybuses and for the operators of the latter another change a
decade or two later.

GH

On Thu, 8 Apr 2021 23:20:42 +0100, Roger Lynn
wrote:

On 08/04/2021 13:16, Sam Wilson wrote:
I haven’t noticed it so much recently, but Edinburgh used to have quite a
lot of dedicated buses with the route number included in the livery as well
as on the indicator blinds.

Stagecoach do that a lot (at least in some areas). At weekends it's common
to see buses on the wrong routes.

Back when it was still all London Transport, did red buses ever appear
on green (country) routes or vice versa, where the two systems
overlapped?

On Fri, 9 Apr 2021 11:37:02 -0000 (UTC)
Anna Noyd-Dryver wrote:
It needs a handful of extra unbranded spare vehicles across a fleet, which
was obviously considered and costed when the first few companies began to
introduce it. It's obviously seen as a worthwhile expenditure for the
increased visual recognition of the buses and routes, not just among
passengers but among potential passengers, including those who don't
realise they're potential passengers yet.

I can't imagine too many people see a bus and think "Ooh, nice branding, I
must travel on it sometime!". Though I will grant you if its one of the ones
that has the route map down the side there may be some people who didn't
realise where it went and may use it in future.

On 9 Apr 2021 12:21:24 GMT
Marland wrote:
Anna Noyd-Dryver wrote:
In any case, it's not uncommon for different routes to have different
fleets in any case, even if they're not branded differently - eg in my area
the 'prime' pair of routes (direct to the city centre) have always had
newer vehicles than the routes which meander through less salubrious parts
of town on their way to the centre.

As more operators purchase battery electric buses they seem to be
allocating them to specific routes which makes sense, it is the 21st

The flat routes presumably. I can't imagine many electric buses would last
long - in the sense of running time - in dales or hills even with regen
braking.

century version of what took place when buses replaced Trams or in some
cases Trolleybuses and for the operators of the latter another change a
decade or two later.

I wouldn't be surprised if induction charging points end up being spread
around the countryside and perhaps some cities for electric buses in the
future, because with the best will in the world, battery tech for large
vehicles isn't up to the job yet on the longer distance routes. And I can't
imagine National Express have done much flicking through electric bus
brochures yet.

wrote:
On 9 Apr 2021 12:21:24 GMT
Marland wrote:
Anna Noyd-Dryver wrote:
In any case, it's not uncommon for different routes to have different
fleets in any case, even if they're not branded differently - eg in my area
the 'prime' pair of routes (direct to the city centre) have always had
newer vehicles than the routes which meander through less salubrious parts
of town on their way to the centre.

As more operators purchase battery electric buses they seem to be
allocating them to specific routes which makes sense, it is the 21st

The flat routes presumably. I can't imagine many electric buses would last
long - in the sense of running time - in dales or hills even with regen
braking.

century version of what took place when buses replaced Trams or in some
cases Trolleybuses and for the operators of the latter another change a
decade or two later.

I wouldn't be surprised if induction charging points end up being spread
around the countryside and perhaps some cities for electric buses in the
future, because with the best will in the world, battery tech for large
vehicles isn't up to the job yet on the longer distance routes.

It's claimed to have a 300km range, more than enough to run all day on
urban routes. It gets a four hour overnight charge in Willesden bus garage.

BYD designed and developed the 10.2m long vehicles to TfL specifications
which feature air conditioning, seats for 54 passengers and space for 27
standing passengers.

https://www.metroline.co.uk/blog/progress/world’s-first-zero-emission-electric-double-decker



And I can't
imagine National Express have done much flicking through electric bus
brochures yet.

No, not yet. They may have hydrogen-powered buses before battery electric
ones.