kytelly wrote:
Ok last saturday my friend and I hopped on a bendy bus outside
Selfridges to go a few stops down Oxford Street to Poland street (She
had a bad leg we're not just lazy!)

However when we got to Oxford circus the rest of the street was blocked
off and the bus was sent on a diversion down Regent street. Fine we
thought we'll get off at the next stop. However three stops later and
no sign of the bus stopping my friend started getting very anxious
(This is when I found out she was a bit claustrophobic) Anyway she
asked the driver if we could get off at the next stop but he refused
saying he wasnt allowed to stop at any stop on the diversion. She was
then joined by heavily pregnant woman who also needed to get off but
still the driver said he couldnt let anyone off and he said he had
disabled the emergancy door releases.

After a lot more harranging he eventually opened the doors on
Shaftsbury Avenue about twenty minutes after the diversion had started.

I recall a story from the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. There were huge
traffic problems, and some British journalists found themselves stuck on
an official press transfer bus, with no prospect of moving. The driver
was adamant that he would not open the doors, since the bus was not at a
stop.

The journalists' simple solution was to light cigarettes. They were
immediately ejected from the bus...

--
Larry Lard

The address is real, but unread - please reply to the group

It was a bendy. Does anyone know if they can be turned off then or if
the driver was talking through his hat?

I'm more surprised you've found a bus driver that's willing to speak! ;-)
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Perhaps a bus with a smaller turning circle than the current buses,
enabling them to move quickly arround the narrow London streets without
causing major blockages to multiple lanes, and in the case of bendy
buses, and even the normal ones.

Perhaps you could somehow segregate the driver from passangers, as in
trains, allowing the driver to concentrate fully on the road instead of
checking tickets? Maybe a guard could be employed, as on trains, to
check and sell tickets, and assist passangers (which the driver can't
do)?

If you can't afford a guard on every bus, have a "buy before boarding"
policy, and enforce with RPIs like on the trains and bendy buses that
we have.

does anyone know of a bus that would fill those requirements?

Sounds like the monstrosity of the Ftr that's running in York -
http://www.goftr.com/.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ftr.
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On 15 Aug 2006 06:22:32 -0700, Mizter T wrote:

Emerency exit buttons cannot be disabled, but as a poster has pointed
out elsewhere they can be counter-acted by the driver pressing and
holding the close button. I've seen shady characters use them on
multiple occasions to get off the bus. One should bear in mind that
using the emergency exit button will be against the rules so you could
conceivably end up in trouble for using it in a non-emergency.

Really? Is it actually illegal?

asdf wrote:

On 15 Aug 2006 06:22:32 -0700, Mizter T wrote:

Emerency exit buttons cannot be disabled, but as a poster has pointed
out elsewhere they can be counter-acted by the driver pressing and
holding the close button. I've seen shady characters use them on
multiple occasions to get off the bus. One should bear in mind that
using the emergency exit button will be against the rules so you could
conceivably end up in trouble for using it in a non-emergency.

Really? Is it actually illegal?


It would appear so. Section 4.5 of TfL's Conditions of Carriage [1]
states:

-----
"For safety reasons, on our buses, in our bus stations and on London
Underground stations and trains you must not:
[...]
* use emergency exits except in an emergency or when instructed to do
so by our staff.

You may be prosecuted for disobeying these requirements.

Additionally:
* on our bus services, you must board or alight from the vehicle only
at official bus stops except in places where we advertise the bus
service as being operated as 'hail and ride'
-----

Also if you look at page 3 of the Conditions of Carriage you'll find a
list of other documents (statutes, regulations and byelaws) that "set
out your rights and duties in other particular circumstances".

Of particular relevance to bus travel is the "Public Service Vehicle
(Conduct of Drivers, Inspectors, Conductors and Passengers) Regulations
1990 (as amended in 2002) ('the Conduct Regulations')".

And no, I haven't read the aforementioned regulations, but I guess they
might have something to say about how passengers shouldn't use
emergency exits when there isn't an emergency.


[1]
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/fares-tick...y06.pdf#page=8

kytelly wrote:
Ok last saturday my friend and I hopped on a bendy bus outside
Selfridges to go a few stops down Oxford Street to Poland street (She
had a bad leg we're not just lazy!)

However when we got to Oxford circus the rest of the street was blocked
off and the bus was sent on a diversion down Regent street. Fine we
thought we'll get off at the next stop. However three stops later and
no sign of the bus stopping my friend started getting very anxious
(This is when I found out she was a bit claustrophobic) Anyway she
asked the driver if we could get off at the next stop but he refused
saying he wasnt allowed to stop at any stop on the diversion. She was
then joined by heavily pregnant woman who also needed to get off but
still the driver said he couldnt let anyone off and he said he had
disabled the emergancy door releases.

After a lot more harranging he eventually opened the doors on
Shaftsbury Avenue about twenty minutes after the diversion had started.

Now I know drivers cant let people off anywhere other than the official
stops but surely thats not applicable where a bus is on diversion?
Basically we were forced to stay on the bus againest our will for
twenty minutes as it had got caught up in the regent st traffic.

I got off the bus feeling very self rightous but what are peoples
thoughts on this?


Tell the driver you're going to throw up. They soon let you off.

Every Strangers Eyes wrote in message
:

I got off the bus feeling very self rightous but what are peoples
thoughts on this?

Tell the driver you're going to throw up. They soon let you off.

It's worth a try, especially if you go up to his cab and lean in towards him
as you say it!!!

When buses are on a planned diversion, so the drivers make any effort to
warn the passengers beforehand, so as to say "this is the last stop [before
the diversion] where you can get off for the next n miles"? Silly question -
I'm sure they don't - that would involve thinking of their passengers' needs
before the needs of Health and Safety.

Martin Underwood wrote in message
:

Every Strangers Eyes wrote in message
:

I got off the bus feeling very self rightous but what are peoples
thoughts on this?

Tell the driver you're going to throw up. They soon let you off.

It's worth a try, especially if you go up to his cab and lean in
towards him as you say it!!!

When buses are on a planned diversion, so the drivers make any effort
to warn the passengers beforehand, so as to say "this is the last
stop [before the diversion] where you can get off for the next n
miles"? Silly question - I'm sure they don't - that would involve
thinking of their passengers' needs before the needs of Health and
Safety.

Sorry, that should read "When buses are on a planned diversion, DO the
drivers make any effort..."

Martin Underwood wrote:

Martin Underwood wrote in message
:

Every Strangers Eyes wrote in message
:

I got off the bus feeling very self rightous but what are peoples
thoughts on this?

Tell the driver you're going to throw up. They soon let you off.

It's worth a try, especially if you go up to his cab and lean in
towards him as you say it!!!

When buses are on a planned diversion, so the drivers make any effort
to warn the passengers beforehand, so as to say "this is the last
stop [before the diversion] where you can get off for the next n
miles"? Silly question - I'm sure they don't - that would involve
thinking of their passengers' needs before the needs of Health and
Safety.

Sorry, that should read "When buses are on a planned diversion, DO the
drivers make any effort..."

Occasionally they do, more often than not they don't. Would be great if
it became standard practice.

Nobody, apart from you, has made any connection to health and safety
rules precluding drivers making announcements. Basic common sense would
suggest that as buses are now often fitted with PA systems there is no
such exclusion. Basic common sense would also suggest that
announcements are not best made when a driver is negotiating a
difficult section of road.

The lack of announcements woud appear to be a case of poor practice,
perhaps in part because the lack of PA systems until recently means
there hasn't been time for such a good practice to emerge, rather a
result of the ever present H&S gremlin that many appear to believe is
perpetually lurking in the shadows pulling the strings on order to
frustrate them.

On 15 Aug 2006 06:22:32 -0700, "Mizter T" wrote:

One should bear in mind that
using the emergency exit button will be against the rules so you could
conceivably end up in trouble for using it in a non-emergency.

Any subsequent investigation or charges would get the driver in
trouble for not allowing passengers off or warning of the diversion as
he should, so I'd be completely fine with that.