What do you think of the new advert?

Richard Adamfi

In the message ...
"Richard Adamfi" wrote:

What do you think of the new advert?


I didn't see anything corresponding to the 'subject' of this message when I
was in London a fortnight ago, but it sounds rather like a copy of that used
by the Parisian transport authority (RATP) over 20 years ago: "[think of our
services as ] your second car". And I seem to recall a LT poster showing the
front of a tube train in the garage beside a suburban semi-detached home.

Not that there's anything wrong with recycling...

Regards,

- Alan (in Brussels)

Richard Adamfi wrote:
What do you think of the new advert?

Richard Adamfi


For anyone who hasn't seen it, if you have a fast connection you can see
it from he
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/press-re...n%201214.shtml

Nicely done. But I'm not convinced it will persuade suburbanites to
leave their cars at home. And I rarely see a bus lane work as well as
the one in the video - in central London your journey is as likely to be
held up by other buses and taxis as it is by cars! Do many suburban
routes have all-day bus lanes?

--
Dave Arquati
Imperial College, SW7
www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London

Dave Arquati wrote:
Richard Adamfi wrote:

What do you think of the new advert?

Richard Adamfi



For anyone who hasn't seen it, if you have a fast connection you can see
it from he
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/press-re...n%201214.shtml


Nicely done. But I'm not convinced it will persuade suburbanites to
leave their cars at home. And I rarely see a bus lane work as well as
the one in the video - in central London your journey is as likely to be
held up by other buses and taxis as it is by cars! Do many suburban
routes have all-day bus lanes?

Buses are shocking forms of transport, dirty, getting more exspensive
all the time and total crap in outer London. I teach in S Croydon and
commute from Grove Park, near Bromley. A bus journey would tkae a ten
minute walk to the correct bus stop this end, then at least two buses to
the other end before another ten minute walk - A 25 - 30 minute journey
in my car becomes well over an hour by bus. No thanks.

In article , James Looker
writes
Dave Arquati wrote:
Richard Adamfi wrote:

What do you think of the new advert?

Richard Adamfi

For anyone who hasn't seen it, if you have a fast connection you
can see it from he

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/press-re...ress-pn%201214
.shtml Nicely done. But I'm not convinced it will persuade
suburbanites to leave their cars at home. And I rarely see a bus lane
work as well as the one in the video - in central London your journey
is as likely to be held up by other buses and taxis as it is by cars!
Do many suburban routes have all-day bus lanes?

Buses are shocking forms of transport, dirty, getting more exspensive
all the time and total crap in outer London. I teach in S Croydon and
commute from Grove Park, near Bromley. A bus journey would tkae a ten
minute walk to the correct bus stop this end, then at least two buses
to the other end before another ten minute walk - A 25 - 30 minute
journey in my car becomes well over an hour by bus. No thanks.

Hmmm. Well, I live on the opposite side of London, and often use buses
to get to restaurants, the pub and to switch stations when one or other
line has problems.

I've never noticed them to be particularly dirty - certainly no more so
than an average minicab - and the services seem to run to time, pretty
much.

As I have a 1-5 travel card, I've already paid to use them, so the car
stays on the drive Monday to Friday, mostly. Unless I'm feeling like a
lazy git, or am moving a load (like the shopping).

In central London, congestion charging has made buses a realistic option
against a cab when I go (as I do most weeks) from Holborn Circus to
Trafalgar Sq. About five minutes slower, but £7 cheaper.

I don't think you've really used buses lately...

--
Steve
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PS+++ PE- t+ 5++ X- R* tv+ b+++ DI++ G e h---- r+++ z++++
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James Looker wrote:
Dave Arquati wrote:

Richard Adamfi wrote:

What do you think of the new advert?

Richard Adamfi




For anyone who hasn't seen it, if you have a fast connection you can
see it from he
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/press-re...n%201214.shtml


Nicely done. But I'm not convinced it will persuade suburbanites to
leave their cars at home. And I rarely see a bus lane work as well as
the one in the video - in central London your journey is as likely to
be held up by other buses and taxis as it is by cars! Do many suburban
routes have all-day bus lanes?

Buses are shocking forms of transport, dirty, getting more exspensive
all the time and total crap in outer London. I teach in S Croydon and
commute from Grove Park, near Bromley. A bus journey would tkae a ten
minute walk to the correct bus stop this end, then at least two buses to
the other end before another ten minute walk - A 25 - 30 minute journey
in my car becomes well over an hour by bus. No thanks.

I certainly wouldn't go to that end of the scale, as I use buses all the
time - cheaper than the Tube and the journey is more interesting. £9.50
per week is hardly expensive; how much does your car cost to run? The
buses I use are certainly never dirty either; they're remarkably clean,
certainly more so than the ones I use sometimes in High Wycombe which
have many fewer passengers using them.

Obviously buses aren't for everyone. I think that advert is encouraging
their use to your local town centre, rather than an out-of-town-centre
home to an out-of-town-centre workplace. I just wasn't convinced of the
depiction of a perfectly-working bus lane.

--
Dave Arquati
Imperial College, SW7
www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London

On Sat, 23 Oct 2004 10:58:31 +0100, Dave Arquati wrote:

Richard Adamfi wrote:
What do you think of the new advert?

Richard Adamfi


For anyone who hasn't seen it, if you have a fast connection you can see
it from he
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/press-re...n%201214.shtml

Nicely done. But I'm not convinced it will persuade suburbanites to
leave their cars at home. And I rarely see a bus lane work as well as
the one in the video - in central London your journey is as likely to be
held up by other buses and taxis as it is by cars! Do many suburban
routes have all-day bus lanes?

I agree that the bus lane depiction looks a little too good to be true
but there are loads of all day bus lanes in North / North East London
and they do make the buses move faster. They'd work better if people
didn't park their cars and vans in them.

My only other observation on the advert is that while I accept that some
buses have spare capacity on them there are now far too many routes
where you can encounter rush hour type crowding in the off peak -
especially at weekends. I doubt car users will find a crush on a bus
very enticing after their first encounter. And it would seem from the
latest TfL Board agenda (for this week's meeting that will approve the
new business plan) that not a lot is being done to keep improvements to
the bus network going. Therefore the network is going to stand still for
the next few years with overcrowding getting worse.
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!

In message , Dave Arquati
writes
Do many suburban routes have all-day bus lanes?

Quite a few, certainly around the Twickenham/Richmond area. Some are
quite shortish, but they mainly operate 7-7.

--
Martin @ Strawberry Hill

Steve wrote:

Hmmm. Well, I live on the opposite side of London, and often use buses
to get to restaurants, the pub and to switch stations when one or other
line has problems.

I've never noticed them to be particularly dirty - certainly no more so
than an average minicab - and the services seem to run to time, pretty
much.

As I have a 1-5 travel card, I've already paid to use them, so the car
stays on the drive Monday to Friday, mostly. Unless I'm feeling like a
lazy git, or am moving a load (like the shopping).

In central London, congestion charging has made buses a realistic option
against a cab when I go (as I do most weeks) from Holborn Circus to
Trafalgar Sq. About five minutes slower, but £7 cheaper.

I don't think you've really used buses lately...

I wouldn't go anywhere near as far as the poster you were replying to,
but I do feel buses need a lot of work outside central London. There
seems to be this perceived wisdom gathering gravitas, as such things do,
that buses are so much better recently. I don't think this is true for
areas outside the centre, and particularly areas that are dependent on
road travel. I have noticed more buses, which are welcome, but outside
central London they are still dogged by the same infrastructure we had
before, with congestion rendering them quite infuriating to use, and
there still not being enough on certain routes.

Dan

"Dan Gravell" wrote in message
...
I wouldn't go anywhere near as far as the poster you were replying to,

I would. Once you've cycled around central London, you'd never use any form
of public transport again. King's Cross Suburban station to Aldwych, 8
mins - literally door-to-door.