Cal Nihoni wrote:
Ed Crowley wrote:
It would be nice if RMs were retained, even if it was only for tourist
services. Personally, I think the bendy buses are much better
(faster than a RM, less dangerous than a double-decker).

I dunno about less dangerous, having seen the bendy buses on the roads in
London I reckon a total mashing of either a car or an innocent pedestrian is
not far off.

I don't know either. My worry is that no-one is trying to find out in
case they don't like the answer. Collision statistics must be gathered
separately for bendy buses and ordinary ones, and no-one will tell me if
this is being done or not.

HGVs kill most of the cyclists who die on London roads - it is at least
possible that bendy buses will be equally dangerous.

Colin McKenzie

Colin McKenzie wrote:
Cal Nihoni wrote:

Ed Crowley wrote:

It would be nice if RMs were retained, even if it was only for tourist
services. Personally, I think the bendy buses are much better
(faster than a RM, less dangerous than a double-decker).

I dunno about less dangerous, having seen the bendy buses on the roads in
London I reckon a total mashing of either a car or an innocent pedestrian is
not far off.

HGVs kill most of the cyclists who die on London roads - it is at least
possible that bendy buses will be equally dangerous.

My biker flatmates are *seriously* worried about the bendibuses.

Nes wrote:
"Neil Williams" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 27 Jul 2003 22:40:34 +0100, Dave
wrote:

Do remember though, that no routes are crew-operated 24/7.

And also that the death knell has been sounded for the Routemaster
anyway - more and more bendy routes will be introduced, and once
off-bus ticketing and all-door boarding has been introduced on other
routes the loading speed advantage of the Routemaster will be as good
as wiped out.

Just wondering, can a bendy bus make that left turn from Lower Regent
Street into the Piccadilly bus lane without changing existing layouts?

Ditto for Regent Street left-turns into Oxford Street and vice versa?

I don't know, but they seem to manage the tight corners around Horseferry
Road on route 507 without problems. In fact they seem just as manoeuvrable
as a Routemaster.
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

"Colin Rosenstiel" wrote in message
...
In article ,
(Ed Crowley) wrote:

Personally, I think the bendy buses are much better (faster than
a RM, less dangerous than a double-decker).

You'd be surprised how stable double deckers are against toppling over.
Better than a lot of smaller vehicles, IIRC.

I saw something that said a London double-decker could tilt (something like)
30 degrees before tipping over!

I saw something that said a London double-decker could tilt (something like)
30 degrees before tipping over!


I think it is (or was) 28 degrees - with the top loaded alone!

In the old days when L.T. still had Aldenham Works, on an open day, they
allowed passengers to sit on a bus being thus tilted to 28 degrees (a
Routemaster) and it worked!

Marc.

In message , Ed Crowley
writes
I meant less dangerous for the passengers inside the bus! I've been
thrown down the stairs of a double-decker by the drivers'
over-enthusiastic braking on more than a few occasions.

And I've seen someone thrown down the whole length of a bus on a single
decker and hit the windscreen. (Learner driver pulled out in front of
bus. Bus driver had to brake very hard)
To be honest all vehicles can be dangerous in the wrong hands. And
accidents happen to all sizes of vehicles.
If you think big buses are dangerous. What about the huge lorries which
go through our roads?
--
CJG

"Ed Crowley" wrote in message t...

It would be nice if RMs were retained, even if it was only for tourist
services. Personally, I think the bendy buses are much better (faster than
a RM, less dangerous than a double-decker).

Having struggled down the Old Kent Road on the 453 and N453 a couple
of times, I think the bendy bus is slower and more cumbersome than a
Routemaster or regular double-decker.

They work a treat on faster routes like the Red Arrow - it suits the
507 down to the ground - but on slower, stop-start-stop-start services
they're an almighty pain.

Darryl

In article , Dave
writes
The Only Living Boy in New Cross writes
Most people I know prefer Routemasters to others buses. I'm not sure
what it is about them but they're just better liked.

People may *say* they like them, but they certainly don't like going
upstairs on them.

I always do. I might sit downstairs on other buses - but I always go
upstairs on a Routemaster. Because access to the stairs is much easier.


Yeh, well . . . when I was 20 I would bound up and down those stairs
like a gazelle, but now I'm approaching 50 I have a problem getting
easily down the stairs, which naturally is not helped by bus-drivers
driving like maniacs (all different in my day . . conductors more
courteous . . . children better behaved . . . less fare dodgers, more
inspectors, etc. etc.)

--
Martin @ Strawberry Hill

Darryl Chamberlain wrote:
Having struggled down the Old Kent Road on the 453 and N453 a couple
of times, I think the bendy bus is slower and more cumbersome than a
Routemaster or regular double-decker.

They work a treat on faster routes like the Red Arrow - it suits the
507 down to the ground - but on slower, stop-start-stop-start services
they're an almighty pain.

Write to London Buses and tell them. They've done a survey with
carefully chosen questions, which seems to show that overall people
prefer the bendy buses to RMs.

Colin McKenzie

Matthew Malthouse wrote:

On Sun, 03 Aug 2003 21:09:01 +0100 Colin McKenzie wrote:
} Darryl Chamberlain wrote:
} Having struggled down the Old Kent Road on the 453 and N453 a couple
} of times, I think the bendy bus is slower and more cumbersome than a
} Routemaster or regular double-decker.
}
} They work a treat on faster routes like the Red Arrow - it suits the
} 507 down to the ground - but on slower, stop-start-stop-start services
} they're an almighty pain.
}
} Write to London Buses and tell them. They've done a survey with
} carefully chosen questions, which seems to show that overall people
} prefer the bendy buses to RMs.

"carefully chosen questions" hints that maybe they designed it to get
the answer they wanted. Do you intend that interpretation?

Well, let's say to maximise the chance of getting the answer they
wanted.

Most people who design surveys do this unless they're doing
peer-reviewed research.

Colin McKenzie