Annabel Smyth wrote the following in:


On Fri, 9 Jul 2004 at 12:27:10, Robin May
wrote:
No it's not. I don't know where you got that idea from. Low floor
double deckers with wheelchair ramps are considered fully
accessible for wheelchair users. The fact that a wheelchair user
could not get upstairs in a double decker bendy bus is most
certainly *not* the reason that bendy buses are not double decker.

Er - ever heard of sarcasm?

Any sarcasm in your posts was far from obvious! In fact the sorts of
things you were saying is quite like what would be expected from
someone making "political correctness gone mad!!!" style arguments. I
don't know whether you make such arguments but seeing as someone could
conceivably say those things, I don't see how I could be expected to
realise you were being sarcastic.

--
message by Robin May-Silk and his close friend, Robert Kilroy-Kotton
"GIVE IN! IT'S TIME TO GO!" - The NHS offers a high standard of care.

Would you take the office of relief?:
http://robinmay.fotopic.net/p4600200.html

On Fri, 9 Jul 2004 10:08:08 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote:

On Fri, 9 Jul 2004, John Rowland wrote:

On Thu, 8 Jul 2004 17:49:53 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote:

Why are bendy-buses not double-decker?

You couldn't have a continuous floor upstairs

Why not? I've heard this said elsewhere, so i assume it's true, but what's
the problem?

tom

Think about how such a vehicle might have to articulate in the
vertical plane when the front section reaches an incline before the
rear. A hump back bridge could be an extreme example.

Any flexible joint between the two upper deck sections would have to
accommodate far more movement than the lower deck nearer the ground.

The coach mentioned elsewhere in the thread shows it can be done but
I would think its routes are far more restricted than what a vehicle
on bus operation might encounter in its service life.
And the cost of such a vehicle built in small numbers for a few
limited routes and just a couple of operators makes building one
unviable.

G.Harman

Annabel Smyth typed


On Fri, 9 Jul 2004 at 12:27:10, Robin May
wrote:
No it's not. I don't know where you got that idea from. Low floor
double deckers with wheelchair ramps are considered fully accessible
for wheelchair users. The fact that a wheelchair user could not get
upstairs in a double decker bendy bus is most certainly *not* the
reason that bendy buses are not double decker.

Er - ever heard of sarcasm? Modern buses are certainly accessible to
wheelchair users in a way that the Routemasters were not, but they are
far less accessible to people with other disabilities - the elderly, for
instance, who appreciate a helpful arm getting on and off, or those who
are able to stand and walk a little, but who now have to walk quite a
long
way down the bus to find a seat. If they can.

I think that although accessible buses have their advantages, the
disappearance of conductors actually raises more problems than it
solves.

Well said that lady!

Many double decker passengers are too lazy to go upstairs (most are
*much* more able-bodied than I am) and the buses would benefit from
conductors to encourage the punters upstairs. Too many buses are full
downstairs when upstairs seats are vacant. Drivers cannot let more
passengers board due to the crowding...

--
Helen D. Vecht:
Edgware.

On Fri, 9 Jul 2004 10:07:20 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote in :

I understand that in some places, they have
double-decked trams and trains, too. Seems like an easy and general way to
increase capacity (obviously not very practical for tube lines, though).

Certainly double-decker trains in Switzerland. From the entry
doors you descend several steps to the lower deck or climb stairs to the
upper. Many of the S-Bahn trains around Zurich are so equipped.

--
Ivan Reid, Electronic & Computer Engineering, ___ CMS Collaboration,
Brunel University. Room 40-1-B12, CERN

"Tom Anderson" wrote in message
...

I was trying to ask if there was any
conflict between decks and hinges,

Yes. Articulated vehicles don't just bend left to right, they bend up and
down as well. Assuming that the lower floor was of a fixed length, the upper
floor would have to be able to change length, i.e. there would need to be
something like a concertina section in the *floor* of the upper deck. The
best I can think of would be to have something like the combs used at the
end of an escalator, but because the combs would be sliding back and forth
unpredictably, I think it would be less safe than an escalator.

Hang on, there is also twisting to think of. That scuppers the combs idea,
so the only way to have a double-decker bendibus would be to have two
separate upper decks with two staircases.

Then again, if the bendibus had only four wheels - one at the front, two in
the articulation and one at the back - there would be no twisting movements
to worry about, so that resuscitates the combs idea.

I don't know what I'm talking about. I should shut up.

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes

Tom Anderson wrote:

Why couldn't a double-decker bendy have three doors, like a single-decker?



3 sets of doors on a double decker would leave very little space for
downstairs seating

"Dominic" wrote in message
om...

The Neoplan Jumbocruiser was an double deck articulated coach

http://www.atlantic-coast.com/neoplan/jumbocruiser.htm
http://jumbocruiser.mysite.wanadoo-m....uk/page7.html

A brief look through didn't tell me whether the upper deck is in one or two
parts.

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes

"Stuart" wrote in message
...
Tom Anderson wrote:

Why couldn't a double-decker bendy have three doors, like a
single-decker?

3 sets of doors on a double decker would leave very little space for
downstairs seating

Although the idea of a double-decker bendy is a non-starter for reasons
others have gone into in this thread there is no reason why a non-bendy
double-decker couldn't have three sets of doors. The only seating required
downstairs would be for the less able-bodied who couldn't climb the stairs.
For the rest of us we could go upstairs if we were going far on the route
and wanted to sit down, or we could stay downstairs and stand if we were
only going a short distance.

Dave.

"Dave Liney" wrote in message
...

"Stuart" wrote in message
...
Tom Anderson wrote:

Why couldn't a double-decker bendy have three doors, like a
single-decker?

3 sets of doors on a double decker would leave very little space for
downstairs seating

Although the idea of a double-decker bendy is a non-starter

Something to interest you at www.abbeyvision.co.uk/bus/bendy1.jpg then. :-)

Also www.abbeyvision.co.uk/bus/bendy2.jpg

On Sat, 10 Jul 2004 00:43:22 +0100, Stuart
wrote:

Tom Anderson wrote:

Why couldn't a double-decker bendy have three doors, like a single-decker?

3 sets of doors on a double decker would leave very little space for
downstairs seating

depends on how big the bus is. Berlin seem to be happy about such an
idea
http://www.mn.man.de/index/MAN-Nutzf...ews/pt212e.htm

I know people will say "they don't fit on london streets" but given that
tour bus operators happily run ex Hong Kong 12m buses all over the
central area you'll excuse me if I'm a tad cynical about TfL's refusal
to use such buses.

Buses of all sizes and configurations have their place in an operation
to size of London's. Big double decks would do very well on routes like
the 25, 29 or 253/4 where there is a balance between short and long
trips. I would prefer to see them on a route like the 73 as well but
alas that is not going to happen. I'll just wait for the moment two
bendies meet at the junction of Church St and Albion Rd in Stoke
Newington and see how long it takes for the bendies to untangle
themselves :-)
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!