One thing I've noticed a lot lately, both as a passenger and as a pedestrian
in central London, is the apparent gulf between the driving styles used on
many 'ordinary' buses, compared to that used on the bendy buses.

The former on the whole are badly driven, often with little concept of
smooth starting or smooth braking.

The Mercedes-built bendy buses seem a lot smoother - is this because drivers
of these much longer vehicles are actually trained to drive properly, or are
they - the buses, that is - fitted with some kind of smooth start/smooth
braking electronic trickery?

J D

I beg to differ.

The speed with which some bendies are driven (my experience is mainly
on Red Arrow route 521), especially around corners and on uneven ground
(and on inclines such as the Kingsway subway) is truly shocking. And
the habitual corner-cutting at places like Waterloo Road into Sandell
Street is appalling. I have bruises on my arms from being flung around
at that location, and my head has come within milimetres of hitting the
ceiling on several occasions. This is especially so when sitting in
the extended articulated part of the bus, which has the effect of being
an exaggerated see-saw whenever the bus goes over a bump or change in
latitude.

I agree however that the acceleration / deceleration is smoother than
on some other buses.

May be smoother but in my view more aggressive. The drivers never seem
to allow for the length of the vehicle when judging if they can go past
a traffic light/zebra corssing/etc. So when they are caught in the
traffic jam a few yards on the back of the vehicle is still blocking
the junction.

Peter

peter wrote:
So when they are caught in the
traffic jam a few yards on the back of the vehicle is still blocking
the junction.

How many £50 box-junction fines are given to bus drivers each year?
Are there public figures available?

peter wrote:
So when they are caught in the
traffic jam a few yards on the back of the vehicle is still blocking
the junction.

How many £50 box-junction fines are given to bus drivers each year?
Are there public figures available?

Paul Weaver wrote:
peter wrote:
So when they are caught in the
traffic jam a few yards on the back of the vehicle is still blocking
the junction.

How many £50 box-junction fines are given to bus drivers each year?
Are there public figures available?

You could try a Freedom of Information request if you wanted to find out.

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