On Tue, 16 Nov 2004 17:23:24 -0000, "Shane"
wrote:

Isn't it so the doors open only when someone wants to use them rather than
every time anyone moves in the vacinity? If not, they seem to do that job
quite well by happy coincidence.

Indeed - but a better and more intuitive solution would be a proper
button, or even better (though RVAR seems to rule it out) a
microswitched handle.

Neil

Boltar wrote:
Helen Deborah Vecht wrote...
Mrs Redboots typed


Do feel free to point out where Helen said she used a wheelchair?

Thanks. I'm not yet in a wheelchair and walk without a stick but I
*can't* walk very far (about 200 metres).

Well in that case unless the bus stops within 200 metres of your
destination then its useless to you anyway so your point is?

Fortunately London streets are well supplied with benches, so it's
likely that a walk of more than 200m can be split into two or more of
less than 200m.

Boltar wrote:
thoss wrote...
writes
Stuck in a traffic jam again this morning caused (surprise surprise)
by a bus crawling along the road and stopping in the middle of it even when
it could pull into the bus stop, I suddenly wondered why it was deemed
necessary to have a bus stop every 200 hundred metres. Are the people who
use the bus too bone idle to be able to walk more than the length of a
football pitch to get to the stop?

I take it you would be all in favour of the proposed West London Tram,
because that would drastically cut down the number of stops along
Uxbridge Road. It's one of the best arguments against the tram, IMHO.

Would intersecting routes have more stops just off Uxbridge Road to
compensate?

Sounds like a good idea to me then. No doubt the nimbys in croydon said the
same thing 5 years ago.

They said a lot of things, but that wasn't one of them.

Lets turn your argument on its head however and see
how it sounds - you have a nice fast tram service and someone comes along and
says "we're going to replace it with a slow bus that stops every 200 / 400
metres so lazy people don't have to walk so far.

'Tis not that simple, as Uxbridge Road currently has the limited stop
607 as well as the 207.

What do you think? Good idea?" I'm sure they'd be oh so popular.

A couple of years ago there was a proposal to install more stops in
Hurst Road between Station Road (Sidcup) and FootsCray Lane. This mile
was formerly part of (limited stop) route 726, so there were only three
stops - one at the end and one in front of each of two schools.

The plan was fiercely opposed by NIMBYs who didn't want a bus stop in
front of their house. However, the real mystery is why TfL wanted more
stops there, as the absence of sidestreets and the presence of stops on
the end roads meant that nobody in the area was more than about 500m
from a stop anyway.

I don't know what the eventual outcome was.

Aidan Stanger wrote to uk.transport.london on Thu, 18 Nov 2004:

Fortunately London streets are well supplied with benches, so it's
likely that a walk of more than 200m can be split into two or more of
less than 200m.

Oh? That might be true where you live, but it certainly isn't true here
in South London! Not a bench to be had for miles, except at bus
shelters - and by the time you've got to the bus stop anyway.....
--
"Mrs Redboots"
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/
Website updated 6 November 2004 with new photos

On Mon, 8 Nov 2004 19:42:00 +0000, Paul Terry
wrote:
I have to say that most of the bus stops around here (SW14) are much
closer together than that - 200 metres would probably be average.

indeed, it is the same where I live

When catching a bus, one is very grateful for the short walk, but when
on the bus one tends to get very irritated that the bus stops so
horribly frequently.

the best buses I've used are in Holland, and the bus stops are a very
long way apart by London standards. The 63 route on Farringdon Road
has two stops that can't be more than 15m apart - that's crazy

--
u n d e r a c h i e v e r

On 23 Nov 2004 10:26:39 GMT, u n d e r a c h i e v e r
wrote:

On Mon, 8 Nov 2004 19:42:00 +0000, Paul Terry
wrote:
I have to say that most of the bus stops around here (SW14) are much
closer together than that - 200 metres would probably be average.

indeed, it is the same where I live

When catching a bus, one is very grateful for the short walk, but when
on the bus one tends to get very irritated that the bus stops so
horribly frequently.

the best buses I've used are in Holland, and the bus stops are a very
long way apart by London standards. The 63 route on Farringdon Road
has two stops that can't be more than 15m apart - that's crazy

Stop spacing is a legacy issue. Routes which are consistently closely
spaced are ex-tram routes. The 207 stop spacing is a good example of
this.

With 17,500 bus stops in the Greater London a rationalisation process
would take many years and cost a lot of money.


Rob.
--
rob at robertwoolley dot co dot uk