I seem to remember reading that during certain times, all stops operate
by request, but I can't find such information on TfL's Buses site.

But on my recent visit to London, I was observing buses at a compulsory
stop in Holborn - all Arriva buses simply sailed past the stop (yes,
those buses *Do* stop there), and all (former) Stagecoach buses did stop.

Are all stops now request stops 24Hr/day, or are some companies
enforcing the rules more strictly than others?
--
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Joe Patrick ty ped


I seem to remember reading that during certain times, all stops operate
by request, but I can't find such information on TfL's Buses site.

But on my recent visit to London, I was observing buses at a compulsory
stop in Holborn - all Arriva buses simply sailed past the stop (yes,
those buses *Do* stop there), and all (former) Stagecoach buses did stop.

Are all stops now request stops 24Hr/day, or are some companies
enforcing the rules more strictly than others?

IME if you do not treat all bus stops as request stops all the time, you
will either miss your bus or your stop.

My partner was on a bus that did not stop as it passed the bus station
at Harrow on the Hill. He had intended to change buses there, assumed
the bus would stop and had a nasty shock & long walk.

Night Buses treat all stops as request stops anyway.

--
Helen D. Vecht:
Edgware.

Helen Deborah Vecht wrote:

Joe Patrick ty ped


I seem to remember reading that during certain times, all stops operate
by request, but I can't find such information on TfL's Buses site.

But on my recent visit to London, I was observing buses at a compulsory
stop in Holborn - all Arriva buses simply sailed past the stop (yes,
those buses *Do* stop there), and all (former) Stagecoach buses did stop.

Are all stops now request stops 24Hr/day, or are some companies
enforcing the rules more strictly than others?

IME if you do not treat all bus stops as request stops all the time, you
will either miss your bus or your stop.

My partner was on a bus that did not stop as it passed the bus station
at Harrow on the Hill. He had intended to change buses there, assumed
the bus would stop and had a nasty shock & long walk.

Night Buses treat all stops as request stops anyway.


Joe - as Helen says officially speaking it's only night buses that
don't stop unrequested at compulsory stops. As Helen also says it's
always worthwhile to hail the bus/ ring the bell during the day anyway
- it's not much effort anyway! Some bus drivers do slow down for
compulsory stops but if there's no-one at said stop - or no-one looking
keen to get on, and no-one at the exit door of the bus they just carry
on.

I don't quite know how things work now that many of the night buses
that exactly follow the routes of their daytime equivalents have lost
their 'N' prefix and have instead been subsumed into 24-hour a day
routes - perhaps there's some official timescale that defines when they
should & shouldn't adhere to compulsory stops. But forget the theory -
stick out your hand/ ding the bell whatever!

The practice in some other parts of the country seems to be the
complete opposite - at least when it comes to hailing the bus at a bus
stop. In Newcastle for example no-one seemed interested in sticking
their hand out, and lo and behold the bus would stop nontheless - there
was a visual clue to the driver of people shuffling towards the kerb.
Despite a few posters up in buses trying to encourage people to stick
their hand out, on subsequent journeys I fell into line with the local
practice rather than stick out like a sore thumb! I think I've observed
a similar lack of enthusiam for hailing in other parts of the country,
though perhaps not quite as pronounced.

Who would've thought there could be so much to say about hailing a bus
- well, at least I'm getting it out of my system here rather than using
it as a sparkling (ahem) conversation topic when out with friends - I
think they'd be giving doing the real world equivalent of killfiling
me! ;-)

Helen Deborah Vecht wrote:
Joe Patrick ty ped


I seem to remember reading that during certain times, all stops operate
by request, but I can't find such information on TfL's Buses site.

But on my recent visit to London, I was observing buses at a compulsory
stop in Holborn - all Arriva buses simply sailed past the stop (yes,
those buses *Do* stop there), and all (former) Stagecoach buses did stop.

Are all stops now request stops 24Hr/day, or are some companies
enforcing the rules more strictly than others?

IME if you do not treat all bus stops as request stops all the time, you
will either miss your bus or your stop.



Definitely the case, I've stood by the doors clearly waiting to get off
at the next compulsory stop, and the driver hasn't stopped.

But the more worrying issue is the bullying of bus drivers to improve
reliability (of the bus getting where it's going, rather than any
intended travellers), which probably compromises safety as well.

We know that drivers disregard compulsory stops. I've seen them
disregarding red traffic lights as well.

On 19 Aug 2006 17:18:19 -0700, "Mizter T" wrote:

Helen Deborah Vecht wrote:

Joe Patrick ty ped


I seem to remember reading that during certain times, all stops operate
by request, but I can't find such information on TfL's Buses site.

But on my recent visit to London, I was observing buses at a compulsory
stop in Holborn - all Arriva buses simply sailed past the stop (yes,
those buses *Do* stop there), and all (former) Stagecoach buses did stop.

Are all stops now request stops 24Hr/day, or are some companies
enforcing the rules more strictly than others?

Compliance with this rule is decidedly haphazard. I think it is
something that needs to be sorted out - especially as there can be so
many buses at stops that if they did not queue up and wait their turn it
is impossible for people to hail the bus they want. This is particularly
true if it is the last bus that then decides to whizz past everything
already at the stop.

Buses form an orderly queue in Hong Kong so that every bus lines up at
its stop. This can cause considerable delays in you are on a very busy
corridor but it is extremely rare that people miss a bus in HK if they
are in a queue or at a stop - the bus will pull in. I have to say it is
very reassuring; in London we have the worst of all options as it is a
complete lottery.

IME if you do not treat all bus stops as request stops all the time, you
will either miss your bus or your stop.

This is the only way round it. However I have witnessed two instances in
a week where people were at a stop, hailed the bus and in both cases the
bus drove straight pass for no good reason. Both were Arriva
interestingly.

I don't quite know how things work now that many of the night buses
that exactly follow the routes of their daytime equivalents have lost
their 'N' prefix and have instead been subsumed into 24-hour a day
routes - perhaps there's some official timescale that defines when they
should & shouldn't adhere to compulsory stops. But forget the theory -
stick out your hand/ ding the bell whatever!

There is a rule but I cannot remember it.

The practice in some other parts of the country seems to be the
complete opposite - at least when it comes to hailing the bus at a bus
stop. In Newcastle for example no-one seemed interested in sticking
their hand out, and lo and behold the bus would stop nontheless - there
was a visual clue to the driver of people shuffling towards the kerb.
Despite a few posters up in buses trying to encourage people to stick
their hand out, on subsequent journeys I fell into line with the local
practice rather than stick out like a sore thumb! I think I've observed
a similar lack of enthusiam for hailing in other parts of the country,
though perhaps not quite as pronounced.

I'm very surprised by the comment about Newcastle. The only compulsory
stops I can think of are in bus stations - which is a bit obvious
anyway. Having been brought up there I always stuck my hand out for a
bus - regardless of operator. Perhaps the desperate search for
passengers brought on by deregulation has changed behaviours in that
buses will stop to see if anyone wants to board a bus rather than
running the risk of leaving people behind?
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!

On Sat, 19 Aug 2006 Mizter T wrote:

As Helen also says it's always
worthwhile to hail the bus/ ring the bell.

I agree. But some people carry this to extremes. I frequently see
people ring the bell to stop a bus at its terminus.
--
Thoss

On Sun, 20 Aug 2006 Paul Corfield wrote:

Buses form an orderly queue in Hong Kong so that every bus lines up at
its stop. This can cause considerable delays

What we can look forward to on Uxbridge Road if the West London Tram
ever goes ahead.
--
Thoss

On Sun, 20 Aug 2006 10:13:30 +0100, Paul Corfield
wrote:

I'm very surprised by the comment about Newcastle. The only compulsory
stops I can think of are in bus stations - which is a bit obvious
anyway. Having been brought up there I always stuck my hand out for a
bus - regardless of operator. Perhaps the desperate search for
passengers brought on by deregulation has changed behaviours in that
buses will stop to see if anyone wants to board a bus rather than
running the risk of leaving people behind?

It's a while since I lived in Newcastle, and a couple of years since I
visited, but my recollection is that all stops are request stops.
However, bus drivers were capable of noticing passengers at the stop
and slowing down anyway - you often had to back away from the kerb if
you didn't want the wrong bus to stop.

I've always treated London bus-stops as Request, in fact I didn't
realise there were still compulsory stops, apart from terminals. But
then I've always done most of my London bus travelling in and around
Kingston and I'm not sure if suburban bus routes are run the same way
as central London.

thoss typed


On Sat, 19 Aug 2006 Mizter T wrote:

As Helen also says it's always
worthwhile to hail the bus/ ring the bell.

I agree. But some people carry this to extremes. I frequently see
people ring the bell to stop a bus at its terminus.

That can remind the driver to open the door to let you off. Drivers
don't always appear to be aware of passengers' presence.

--
Helen D. Vecht:
Edgware.

On Sun, 20 Aug 2006 10:49:39 GMT, Phil Clark
wrote:

On Sun, 20 Aug 2006 10:13:30 +0100, Paul Corfield
wrote:

I'm very surprised by the comment about Newcastle. The only compulsory
stops I can think of are in bus stations - which is a bit obvious
anyway. Having been brought up there I always stuck my hand out for a
bus - regardless of operator. Perhaps the desperate search for
passengers brought on by deregulation has changed behaviours in that
buses will stop to see if anyone wants to board a bus rather than
running the risk of leaving people behind?

It's a while since I lived in Newcastle, and a couple of years since I
visited, but my recollection is that all stops are request stops.

That would be mine too.

However, bus drivers were capable of noticing passengers at the stop
and slowing down anyway - you often had to back away from the kerb if
you didn't want the wrong bus to stop.

This is how it used to be - I've certainly done the stepping back thing.
However I was surprised by the "people never put their hand out" part of
Mr T's post.

I've always treated London bus-stops as Request, in fact I didn't
realise there were still compulsory stops, apart from terminals. But
then I've always done most of my London bus travelling in and around
Kingston and I'm not sure if suburban bus routes are run the same way
as central London.

There has been a thinning out of compulsory stops but they exist all
over London and are not just a central London item. I'd imagine most of
the stops in Central Kingston would be compulsory - white background
with red roundel rather than request - red background and white roundel
on the flag. I'd also say main stops in places like Surbiton, Raynes
Park etc would be compulsory ones too.
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!